Mark McNally (born 10 March 1971) is a Scottish former
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
who played in
defence
Defense or defence may refer to:
Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups
* Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare
* Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks
* Defense industr ...
, primarily as a centre-half although he also played occasionally at right-back.
Career
Celtic to England
McNally began his career with
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 ...
youths and progressed on to the first team, making his debut against
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 ...
in November 1990 in a 2–1 win. McNally went on to become a regular member of the Celtic first team for the next few seasons, making over 100 league appearances. He struggled for a place in the team during season 1994–95 under new manager Tommy Burns, but still won the
Scottish Cup Final
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the Scottish Cup, is a knockout cup competition in Scottish football. Organised by the Scottish Football Association, it is the third oldest existing football competition in the w ...
in what transpired to be his final game for the club. After a very brief period on loan at
Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
, McNally was transferred to
Southend United
Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...
in December 1995 for £50,000. McNally made his debut for Southend United on 17 August 1996 against
Tranmere Rovers
Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...
. McNally spent two seasons with Southend United making over fifty league appearances for the club before being transferred to
Stoke City
Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...
for £120,000 in 1997. McNally made his debut for Stoke City on 31 March 1997 against
Bradford City
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes.
Th ...
. McNally was released by Stoke City at the end of the 1997–98 season after making only seven appearances for the club.
Return to Scotland
After McNally was released by Stoke City he returned to Scotland to join
Dundee United
Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...
making his debut for the club against
Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...
on 1 August 1998. In January 2000 McNally was placed on loan to
Ayr United
Ayr United Football Club are a football club in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Formed in 1910 by the merger of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., their nickname is ...
until the end of the season. McNally made his debut for Ayr United on 12 February 2000 against
Falkirk
Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow.
Falkirk had a ...
. At the end on the 1999/2000 season McNally was released by Dundee United to enable him to sign up for
Partick Thistle
Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...
. McNally made his debut for Partick on 7 October 2000. McNally was at Partick for a season, scoring once against
Stranraer
Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; gd, An t-Sròn Reamhar ), also known as The Toon, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Inch in the historic county of Wigtownshire. It lies on the shores of L ...
, and was released despite being the fans player of the season. After being released by Partick Thistle, McNally was signed by
Clydebank
Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...
making his debut on 4 August 2001 against
Forfar Athletic
Forfar Athletic Football Club are a Scottish semi-professional football club from the town of Forfar, Angus. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League and currently play in Scottish League Two. They play their home games a ...
. McNally stayed at Clydebank until the club removed from both the
Scottish Football League
The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...
and the
Scottish Football Association
The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the Sport governing body, governing body of association football, football in Scot ...
. McNally went on to join former Partick Thistle teammate
Allan Moore
Allan Moore (born 25 December 1964) is a Scottish football player and manager.
Playing career
During his playing career he turned out for several Scottish clubs including Dumbarton, Heart of Midlothian, St Johnstone, Partick Thistle and Mor ...
at
Stirling Albion
Stirling Albion Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Stirling. The club was founded in 1945 following the demise of King's Park after World War II. The club currently competes in Scottish League Two as a member of the ...
where he made his debut against
Albion Rovers
Albion Rovers Football Club is a semi-professional football team from Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League Two, the fourth tier of the Scotti ...
on 3 August 2002. McNally went on to make over 100 appearances for Stirling Albion and in 2005 McNally was appointed as
Assistant 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 o ...
, McNally remained as a player with the club.
McNally left Stirling Albion at the end of the 2007–08 season to join the
Scottish Football Association
The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the Sport governing body, governing body of association football, football in Scot ...
as part of the youth coaching system.
Managerial career
At the beginning of the 2007–08 season McNally started as a full-time Assistant Manager for Stirling Albion.
On 9 June 2010 he was appointed as
Allan Moore
Allan Moore (born 25 December 1964) is a Scottish football player and manager.
Playing career
During his playing career he turned out for several Scottish clubs including Dumbarton, Heart of Midlothian, St Johnstone, Partick Thistle and Mor ...
's assistant at
Greenock Morton
Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Green ...
. He and Moore were sacked on 23 November 2013 after a 5–1 home defeat to Livingston.
McNally has been a coach with Celtic's youth academy since 2013.
Career statistics
Source:
Honours
*
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1994–95
*
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 ...