Jason Dair (born 15 June 1974) is a Scottish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach and former professional player who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

or full-back. Dair had a spell as

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular Manager (association football), manager is dismissed or leaves for a ...

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 18 ...

, after former manager

Colin Nish Colin John Nish (born 7 March 1981) is a Scottish former football player, coach and manager. Nish played for Dunfermline Athletic, Alloa Athletic, Clyde, Kilmarnock, Hibernian, Hartlepool United, Dundee, Dumbarton and Cowdenbeath. Whilst pl ...

was sacked in May 2016. Dair also managed East of Scotland team Dundonald Bluebell before taking up a coaching role at

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...

. After a short time away Jason came back into management at East of Scotland side

Hill of Beath Hill of Beath (; sco, Hill o Beath) is a hill and a village in Fife, Scotland, just outside Dunfermline and joined to Cowdenbeath. On 16 June 1670 the Hill of Beath was the location of a celebrated meeting of the Covenanters at which preachers ...

where he was the manager before joining his brother Lee Dair at

Inverkeithing Inverkeithing ( ; gd, Inbhir Chèitinn) is a port town and parish, in Fife, Scotland, on the Firth of Forth. A town of ancient origin, Inverkeithing was given royal burgh status during the reign of Malcolm IV in the 12th century. It was an impo ...

as part of the management team in May 2023.

Playing career

Dair, who was born in

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; sco, Dunfaurlin, gd, Dùn Phàrlain) is a city, parish and former Royal Burgh, in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. The city currently has an estimated population of 58,508. Accord ...

, began his career in 1991 with local

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

team

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leag ...

. A First Division winner in 1992–93, Dair suffered relegation in Raith's first season in the Premier Division. Months into Raith's season back in the First Division, Dair was part of the side that beat

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

to win the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

, ensuring

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

football for the following season. Buoyed by the cup success, Raith won the title on the last day of the season and were promoted again at the first attempt. Dair scored Raith's first ever European goal, netting from close range against Faroese team GÍ Gøta and Raith won through the first two rounds to face

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

, losing 4–1 on aggregate. Unfortunately, Raith suffered domestic relegation again and when manager

Jimmy Nicholl James Michael Nicholl (born 28 December 1956) is a Northern Irish former professional Association football, footballer who played for several clubs, including Manchester United F.C., Manchester United and Rangers F.C., Rangers. He was mainly a ...

left in February 1996 to join

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

, Dair – along with

Stevie Crawford Stephen Crawford (born 9 January 1974) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player. Crawford started his career with Raith Rovers, with whom he won the 1994 Scottish League Cup final and played in the UEFA Cup. This earned him ...

and David Sinclair – went with him. Dair's time in London was brief and he returned to

Stark's Park Stark's Park is a football stadium in Kirkcaldy, Scotland. It is the home ground of Raith Rovers, who have played there since 1891. The ground has an all-seated capacity of 9000 History Raith started using the ground in 1891 and it seats ...

within eighteen months. With no trophies during his second spell in

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; sco, Kirkcaldy; gd, Cair Chaladain) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, ...

, Dair moved on in February 1999 to Rovers' rivals

, where he would go on to spend four years. Following notice that he was transfer listed along with several other players, Dair was released from

East End Park East End Park, currently named KDM Group East End Park for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium situated in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland with a seating capacity of . The stadium plays host to the home matches of Scottish Championship sid ...

in September 2003, although he quickly moved to

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

. Dair joined

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

on a one-year contract at the start of the 2004–05 season, extending his stay by a second year in June 2005. Upon his contract expiry, he was released by Livi and made a brief return to

in September 2006 when he played 72 minutes for Raith as a trialist against

Alloa Alloa (Received Pronunciation ; educated Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; gd, Alamhagh, possibly meaning "rock plain") is a town in Clackmannanshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is on the north bank of the Forth at the spot where ...

. The following week, he moved to East Fife, where he went on to play nine times during the season.

Coaching career

Dair took up a coaching role at East Fife and replaced

Scott Crabbe Scott Crabbe (born 12 August 1968 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish retired footballer. he played for several Scottish clubs, including Heart of Midlothian, Dundee United and Falkirk. He represented the Scotland under-21 team and was named SPFA Youn ...

as assistant manager prior to the 2010/11 season. He was appointed manager of

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

club Oakley United in May 2012 however he resigned from this position in May 2014. In December 2015, Dair was appointed assistant manager to

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as cinch League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League One was e ...

side

, the two having previously played together whilst at

. With Nish being sacked following Cowdenbeath's relegation to

Scottish League Two The Scottish League Two, known as cinch League Two for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League Two was ...

, Dair was appointed

pending the appointment of a new manager. After

Liam Fox Liam Fox (born 22 September 1961) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for International Trade from 2016 to 2019 and Secretary of State for Defence from 2010 to 2011. A member of the Conservative Party, Fox has served as th ...

was appointed head coach, Dair left the Blue Brazil at the start of the 2016–17 season. In June 2019, Dair left his position as manager of Dundonald Bluebell to return to former club

with former teammate

as manager. Dair took up the role of first team coach having previously been Crawford's assistant at East Fife. Following the resignation of Crawford in May 2021, Dair also left the club shortly after.

Personal life

He is the nephew of legendary Rangers wing half

Jim Baxter James Curran Baxter (29 September 1939 – 14 April 2001) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a left half. He is generally regarded as one of the country's greatest ever players. He was born, educated and started his career i ...

Honours

Raith Rovers *

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

: 1994–95 *

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as t ...

: 1992–93, 1994–95 East Fife * Fife Cup: 2007–08

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dair, Jason Scottish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Raith Rovers F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Livingston F.C. players East Fife F.C. players Cowdenbeath F.C. managers Scottish Football League players English Football League players 1974 births Living people Footballers from Dunfermline Scottish Premier League players Scottish football managers