Raymond McKinnon (born 5 August 1970) is a Scottish football player and coach, and is currently the manager of

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 ...

. An alumnus of St Saviour's Roman Catholic High School, as a player McKinnon was 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 ...

for such clubs as

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 ...

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 ...

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, Livingston,

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 Leagu ...

and Montrose. He represented the Scotland under-21 team. McKinnon began his managerial career in junior football with Lochee United before managing senior clubs

Brechin City Brechin City Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the townDespite the name of the football club, Brechin is not an official city. Brechin was historically known as a city because it has a cathedral. of Brechin in Angus. The club ...

Morton Morton may refer to: People * Morton (surname) * Morton (given name) Fictional * Morton Koopa, Jr., a character and boss in ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' * A character in the ''Charlie and Lola'' franchise * A character in the 2008 film '' Horton H ...

, Falkirk and Queen's Park.

Playing career

McKinnon was born in Dundee on 5 August 1970. He started his career with

, turning professional on 12 August 1986. He soon gained attention as one of the most promising young midfielders in Scottish football. He impressed

Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Engl ...

enough to win a £750,000 move to

in July 1992, but almost as quickly as he had arrived found himself out of first team contention, Clough deciding that his skilful passing was not what he wanted for his midfield. He left to join

on 8 February 1994, costing the Dons £300,000. He returned to Dundee United on 3 November 1995, for a fee of £200,000, where he famously scored a hat-trick of free-kicks in a 3–2 win over Kilmarnock at

Rugby Park Rugby Park, also known as The BBSP Stadium Rugby Park for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium situated in the Scottish town of Kilmarnock. It was first used in 1899 and is the home of Kilmarnock F.C. Rugby Park has also been used for co ...

in February 1997. He remained at

Tannadice Park Tannadice Park ( gd, Pàirc Thanachais), usually referred to as Tannadice, is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland. It is the home ground of Dundee United F.C., who have played at Tannadice since the club was founded as Dundee Hibernian in 1 ...

until being released at the end of the 1997–98 season during which he had struggled to gain a first team place. In the close-season he attracted interest from

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

, as well as French sides

Auxerre Auxerre ( , ) is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxerre's population today is about 35,000; the urban area (''aire d'attraction'') comprises roughly 113,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are r ...

and

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...

, but joined

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

on 6 August. He left to join Livingston on 12 September 1999, and after an injury hit season and a trial with

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

under

Colin Lee Colin Lee (born 12 June 1956) is an English football manager and former footballer. He is currently head of football at South Dartmoor Community College in Ashburton, Devon along with Chris Beard. Playing career Lee began his football career ...

, joined

on a short-term contract on 28 July 2000. Raith were unable to meet his wage demands, so he left and began training with

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 ...

. He joined

Portadown Portadown () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of a ...

in October 2000, playing one game. In need of first team football to regain his match fitness he joined

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 ...

on trial on 27 October, playing in the match against Queen's Park at Hampden Park. He joined East Fife, originally as a triallist on 17 November, leaving on 25 January. On 15 March 2001 he joined

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

on non-contract terms, but left just five days later without appearing in the first team after the re-emergence of a

groin In human anatomy, the groin (the adjective is ''inguinal'', as in inguinal canal) is the junctional area (also known as the inguinal region) between the abdomen and the thigh on either side of the pubic bone. This is also known as the medial comp ...

injury. He returned to Torquay as a trialist on 30 July 2001, but along with most of the many players

Roy McFarland Roy Leslie McFarland (born 5 April 1948) is an English former football manager and former player. With Derby County, he played 442 league games, helping him to earn 28 caps for England. Playing career Born in Liverpool, McFarland was a player f ...

considered during the round of pre-season friendlies was released without earning a contract. In November 2001 he joined Montrose as a trialist, making his debut in the 1–1 draw with Stirling Albion at Forthbank on 10 November and scoring two weeks later in the 2–1 win over East Fife. Although linked with a return to England to have another attempt at breaking back into full-time football, he signed a deal to stay with Montrose until the end of the season in December 2001. He remained with Montrose until joining Raith Rovers for a second time in January 2003.

Coaching career

McKinnon moved to Lochee United in 2004, before leaving in July 2005 to take up a player/coach position with Broughty Athletic. McKinnon returned as Lochee manager in 2006. He was linked with the managerial posts at both

and Montrose in December 2008, with Lochee stating their desire that he stay until at least the end of their run in the Scottish FA Cup. On 16 July, McKinnon was appointed the new Technical Development Officer of the Scottish Football Association. He replaced Mark McNally, who became assistant manager at

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 ...

club

. McKinnon was appointed manager of

Scottish Second Division The Scottish Football League Second Division was the third tier of the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The Second Division was created in 1975, as part of a wider reconstruction of the Scottish Football League (SFL ...

club

on 9 October 2012.

Raith Rovers

On 23 May 2015, it was confirmed that McKinnon had been appointed manager of

. McKinnon guided Raith to fourth place in the 2015–16 Scottish Championship, qualifying for the promotion playoffs. He resigned on 11 May, after entering discussions with

about their managerial vacancy.

Dundee United

On 12 May 2016,

announced that they had appointed McKinnon as their manager on a three-year contract. In his first season in charge, United won the

2017 Scottish Challenge Cup Final The 2017 Scottish Challenge Cup Final, also known as the Irn-Bru Cup Final for sponsorship reasons, is a football match that took place on 25 March 2017 at Fir Park, between Dundee United and St Mirren. It was the 26th final of the Scottish Chall ...

, beating St Mirren 2–1. They went on to finish third in the Championship and qualified for the promotion playoffs. They progressed to the final by beating

and Falkirk, but lost 1–0 to

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

in the final. United sacked McKinnon in October 2017, after losses to Livingston and Inverness left them in fourth place.

Morton

McKinnon was appointed manager of

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

club

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 ...

on 30 May 2018, and he appointed long-term deputy Darren Taylor as his 'first team coach'. The first match of his reign as Morton manager was a 0–0 draw in a friendly away to

. On 31 August 2018, after holding a Morton training session in the morning, McKinnon agreed to take over at their Championship rivals Falkirk. Falkirk were later fined by the SPFL for breaching league rules in their recruitment of McKinnon and his assistant Darren Taylor. In the following October, on Falkirk's first visit to Cappielow with McKinnon in charge, Morton fans greeted McKinnon with "

Judas Judas Iscariot (; grc-x-biblical, Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης; syc, ܝܗܘܕܐ ܣܟܪܝܘܛܐ; died AD) was a disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. According to all four canonical gospels, Judas betr ...

" branded red card posters provided by the ''Greenock Telegraph'' newspaper.

Falkirk

McKinnon was appointed Falkirk manager on 31 August 2018. Under his management, Falkirk were relegated to the third tier of the Scottish leagues for the first time since 1980. McKinnon was sacked on 16 November 2019, with the team sitting fourth in

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

Queen's Park

McKinnon became manager of Queen's Park in January 2020. He became the first manager of Queen's Park since the 1980s to secure two wins in his first two matches in charge, and the team won 2020–21 Scottish League Two (and promotion to League One) under his management. McKinnon left the club after the 2020–21 season had ended.

Forfar Athletic

On 10 November 2022, McKinnon was named as the new manager of

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 e ...

club

on a rolling contract until 2025.

Career statistics

Playing

Managerial

Honours

Player

; Scotland U21 * UEFA under-21 Euros: Bronze 1992 *

Toulon Tournament The Toulon Tournament (officially the Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello) is a football (training match) tournament, which traditionally features invited national teams composed of youth players from U-17 to U-23 level. ...

: Bronze 1991

Manager

; Lochee United * East Region Super League : 2004–05, 2007–08 * Redwood Leisure Cup. : 2007–08 * DJ Laing League Cup : 2007–08 ; Dundee United * Scottish Challenge Cup : 2016–17 ; Queen's Park *

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Personal life

McKinnon opened a restaurant in Dundee in 2004.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McKinnon, Ray 1970 births Aberdeen F.C. players Ayr United F.C. players Brechin City F.C. managers Broughty Athletic F.C. players Dundee United F.C. players East Fife F.C. players Living people Livingston F.C. players Lochee United F.C. managers Lochee United F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Montrose F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Portadown F.C. players Premier League players Raith Rovers F.C. managers Raith Rovers F.C. players Scotland men's under-21 international footballers Scottish Football League managers Scottish Football League players Scottish football managers Scottish footballers Scottish Professional Football League managers Footballers from Dundee Stirling Albion F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Dundee United F.C. managers Greenock Morton F.C. managers Men's association football midfielders Falkirk F.C. managers Scottish Junior Football Association managers Queen's Park F.C. managers Forfar Athletic F.C. managers