Robert McKinnon (born 31 July 1966) 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 le ...

, who played at both professional and international levels as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. Active in Scotland, England, and the Netherlands, McKinnon made over 500 League appearances in a career which lasted from 1985 to 2002.

Career

Early years in England

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 ...

, McKinnon played youth football in

East Kilbride East Kilbride (; gd, Cille Bhrìghde an Ear ) is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland and the country's sixth-largest locality by population. It was also designated Scotland's first new town on 6 May 1947. The area lies on a rais ...

where his father coached a team. He began his career playing

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 ...

football with Rutherglen Glencairn before turning professional in 1985 with

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

; however he only played one

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

game for the ''Magpies'', a heavy defeat to

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Waltham ...

in which he was replaced by

Paul Gascoigne Paul John Gascoigne (, born 27 May 1967), nicknamed Gazza, is an English former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is described by the National Football Museum as "widely recognised as the most naturally talente ...

(whose career was also in its infancy). McKinnon moved on to

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

, where he helped the club achieve promotion from English football's fourth tier in 1990–91. He also spent a short time on loan at

Manchester United 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 City of Salford, Salford to ...

, although he did not play a competitive match for them.

Motherwell

In January 1992 McKinnon returned to Scotland and joined

Scottish Premier Division The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) Th ...

club

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 ...

. He formed part of a strong team built by manager

Tommy McLean Thomas McLean Jr. (born 2 June 1947 in Larkhall) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager. McLean played for Kilmarnock, Rangers and Scotland as a midfielder. He managed Morton, Motherwell, Hearts, Raith Rovers and Dundee ...

and his successor

Alex McLeish Alexander McLeish (born 21 January 1959) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He played as a defender for Aberdeen during their 1980s glory years, making nearly 500 League appearances for the club, and won 77 caps for ...

- Motherwell achieved third place in 1993–94 and were runners-up in 1994–95, and McKinnon gained international recognition along with teammates

Chris McCart Christopher McCart (born 17 April 1967 in Baillieston) is a Scottish former footballer who played as a defender. Playing career McCart started his career at Motherwell where he was voted player of the year in 1991. McCart spent the next twelve ...

, Brian Martin and

Paul Lambert Paul Lambert (born 7 August 1969) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player, who was most recently the manager of Ipswich Town. Lambert played as a midfielder and won the Scottish Cup in 1987 with St Mirren as a 17-year-ol ...

. However, Motherwell could not afford the wages to keep the players, and McKinnon and Lambert decided to move to continental clubs on a free transfer when their contracts expired in summer 1996 under the recently implemented

Bosman ruling ''Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association ASBL v Jean-Marc Bosman'' (1995) C-415/93 (known as the Bosman ruling) is a 1995 European Court of Justice decision concerning freedom of movement for workers, freedom of association ...

. Lambert signed for

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional footb ...

, and McKinnon made the move to Dutch football, joining

FC Twente Football Club Twente () is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, sometimes known internationally as Twente Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub Enschede with Enschedese Bo ...

Eredivisie and return

McKinnon played regularly with Twente in the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

for two seasons – in

the first The First may refer to: * ''The First'' (album), the first Japanese studio album by South Korean boy group Shinee * ''The First'' (musical), a musical with a book by critic Joel Siegel * The First (TV channel), an American conservative opinion ne ...

, the team finished third and qualified for the following year's

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 ...

. He returned to Scotland with Hearts on another free transfer, but was unable to hold down a regular place in the side. He went back to Hartlepool on loan during

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, and had another loan with

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

before being released by Hearts. He then moved down the divisions with

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 ...

for two seasons, before reverting to Junior football in 2002 with

Bellshill Athletic Bellshill Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the town of Bellshill, North Lanarkshire. It plays in the . History The history of the club can be traced back as far as 1897 when Bellshill Athletic were founded as a Ju ...

where he had a period as player-coach alongside former Motherwell teammate

Tommy Coyne Thomas Coyne (born 14 November 1962) is a former football player and manager. Coyne played for several clubs, mostly in Scotland, including Clydebank, Dundee United, Dundee, Celtic and Motherwell. He was the top goalscorer of the Scottish ...

. Finally he turned out for hometown club East Kilbride Thistle at the age of 39.

International

McKinnon was capped three times by the Scottish national side between 1993 and 1995 while playing with Motherwell, as well as appearing for the

B side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

in the same period.

Personal life

His nephew

Ross McKinnon Ross McKinnon (1914-1962) was an Australian rugby league footballer and coach. Born in Oberon, New South Wales, he played for the University, Eastern Suburbs, New South Wales and for the Australian national side. Playing career McKinnon, who ...

is also a footballer and plays as a defender.

Honours

Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...

: 1989–90 Fourth Division

References

External links

* * * *
Newcastle profile
at ''Toon1892''
Hartlepool profile
at ''In The Mad Crowd''

at ''FC Twente-Files''

at ''London Hearts'' {{DEFAULTSORT:McKinnon, Rob 1966 births Living people Footballers from Glasgow Association football fullbacks Scottish footballers Scotland international footballers Scotland B international footballers Newcastle United F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Rutherglen Glencairn F.C. players Bellshill Athletic F.C. players Clydebank F.C. (1965) players FC Twente players Eredivisie players English Football League players Scottish Football League players Scottish Junior Football Association players Scottish Premier League players Scottish expatriate footballers Sportspeople from East Kilbride Footballers from South Lanarkshire