Michael Oliver (born 16 November 1957) is a Scottish former professional

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 ...

player and manager.

Career

Oliver had successful spells at QOS and Albion Rovers, winning the Division 2 championship. After retiring as a player, Oliver was appointed

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 ...

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 ...

Oliver named as scout to Levein

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

, 8 January 2010. in 1991. He also worked as assistant manager to

Gordon Dalziel Gordon Dalziel (born 16 March 1962) is a Scottish football player and manager. Dalziel spent most of his playing career with Raith Rovers, scoring 170 goals in 360 league appearances, and winning the 1994–95 Scottish League Cup. He also play ...

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 ...

, where he was building a growing reputation as a coach and especially in developing young players. Oliver then moved to be general manager at

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 ...

. Since leaving the latter of those positions, Oliver has built up a great reputation in the area of player identification and has worked as a scout for

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 ...

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

and

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

. Oliver was hired by 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 ...

after

Craig Levein Craig William Levein (born 22 October 1964) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He is currently a full-time advisor to the board of directors at Highland Football League club Brechin City. During his playing career ...

was appointed as national team manager. Levein explained at the time of Oliver's appointment that he wanted to inform his players about all of their opponents, which necessitated the hiring of a full-time scout.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oliver, Michael 1957 births Living people Sportspeople from Kirkintilloch Footballers from East Dunbartonshire Men's association football defenders Scottish men's footballers Falkirk F.C. players Cowdenbeath F.C. players Queen of the South F.C. players Stenhousemuir F.C. players Albion Rovers F.C. players Stranraer F.C. players East Stirlingshire F.C. players Arbroath F.C. players Scottish Football League players Scottish football managers Albion Rovers F.C. managers Scottish Football League managers Clydebank F.C. (1965) non-playing staff