Ian Andrew Wallace (born 23 May 1956) is a Scottish former football player and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

. He played as a striker in the 1970s and 1980s for

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

, Sunderland, Marítimo and Melbourne Croatia. Wallace played in three international matches for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

in the late 1970s.

Playing career

Career in Scotland

Born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Wallace started at Scottish Junior club Yoker Athletic. He then joined the senior ranks with Scottish Football League club

Coventry City

Wallace was purchased for £70,000 by the then

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

manager

Gordon Milne Gordon Milne (born 29 March 1937) is an English former football player and manager. Personal life Gordon Milne was born in Preston, Lancashire, England and is the son of the Scottish former Preston player Jimmy Milne and Jesse Milne. Club car ...

in 1976. Milne paired his small frame with his larger strike partner

Mick Ferguson Michael John Ferguson (born 3 October 1954) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), striker. He spent the best years of his playing career at Coventry City F.C., Coventr ...

. He emerged from a car accident whilst at the club sporting a deep scar on the forehead. He also suffered a detached a retina whilst playing for Coventry at

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

. Coventry finished 7th in the 1977-78 Football League, their second best ever placing after the team of 1969-70. Unlike in 1969-70 they missed out on a UEFA competition place. Wallace played that season alongside Ferguson,

Tommy Hutchison Thomas Hutchison (born 22 September 1947) is a Scottish former footballer who played as a midfielder. He made over 1,100 appearances, including 314 in the Football League alone for Coventry City, and more than 160 apiece in the competition f ...

Terry Yorath Terry is a unisex given name, derived from French Thierry and Theodoric. It can also be used as a diminutive nickname for the names Teresa or Theresa (feminine) or Terence or Terrier (masculine). People Male * Terry Albritton (1955–2005), A ...

, Graham Oakey,

Bobby MacDonald Robert Wood McDonald (born 13 April 1955) is a former Scottish footballer, who played in the left back position. McDonald was a defender of great control and positional sense who also had a happy knack of scoring goals. He played for King St ...

and Jim Blyth. Wallace scored 23 goals that season, his first of three in a row as Coventry's top scorer. He was later inducted in to the Coventry City Hall of Fame.

Nottingham Forest

Wallace moved then reigning European champions

in July 1980 for £1.25 million making him one of the world's most expensive players. His first game was their

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...

defeat to Valencia that summer. Wallace went on to be Forest's top scorer for the first three of the four seasons he played there, scoring 13 goals in each season he top scored.

Later career

Wallace moved to French club

for a short spell in 1984. He returned to English football with Sunderland around New Year in season 1984–85. In 1986 he joined Portuguese club Marítimo. In 1987 he signed for Melbourne Croatia in Australia, where he ended his playing career.

International

Wallace scored his on his full international debut, a 2–1 win against

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

in February 1978. Coventry team-mate Jim Blyth was in goal for Scotland. He then played in a 1–0 defeat in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

in May 1978 and in a 3–0 loss in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

in November of the following year. All three of his caps came when he was playing for Coventry City.

Managerial career

Wallace returned to

as manager in November 1996 replacing Jim Fallon. He was dismissed from this job in October 1999 and was replaced by Jimmy Brown.

Statistics

Honours

* Coventry City Hall of Fame

References

External links

*
Scotland U21 stats
at Fitbastats {{DEFAULTSORT:Wallace, Ian 1956 births Living people Scottish footballers Scotland international footballers Scottish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Portugal Scottish expatriate sportspeople in France Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Dumbarton F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Stade Brestois 29 players Sunderland A.F.C. players C.S. Marítimo players Scottish football managers Footballers from Glasgow Dumbarton F.C. managers National Soccer League (Australia) players Melbourne Knights FC players Yoker Athletic F.C. players Scotland under-21 international footballers Scottish Football League managers Scottish Football League players English Football League players Primeira Liga players Association football forwards Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate soccer players in Australia Scottish Junior Football Association players Scotland junior international footballers