Angus McLean (20 September 1925 – 1 July 1979) was a

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 club manager. A solidly built centre-half who began his career with

Aberystwyth Town Aberystwyth Town Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-Droed Tref Aberystwyth) is a Welsh semi-professional Association football, football team, currently playing in the Cymru Premier, the top tier of football in Wales. They are the only top flight men ...

, McLean moved on to Hilton Main before joining

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 ...

as an amateur in 1939. McLean turned professional in November 1942 and helped Wolves to top six finishes in each of the first three post-

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

seasons. A knee injury kept him out of the team for most of the 1948–49 season and so he missed out on a place in Wolves' 1949

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

winning side. McLean left Wolves in May 1951 to become player-manager at Aberystwyth Town, subsequently joining Bromsgrove Rovers as a player. In May 1953, McLean joined

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

as player-coach, moving to

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

as a player the following June. After leaving Crewe he coached a number of non-league sides before taking over from

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 Englis ...

as manager of

Hartlepools 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 Har ...

in May 1967. The following season, he led Hartlepool to their first ever promotion, but they were relegated after just one season. Despite relegation, McLean remained in charge, but was sacked in April 1970 when Hartlepool finished in the bottom four and were forced to seek re-election to

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

. McLean managed Bromsgrove Rovers between 1973 and 1975, after which time he worked as a scout until his death in 1979.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mclean, Angus 1925 births 1979 deaths Footballers from Flintshire Welsh men's footballers Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Bromsgrove Rovers F.C. players Bury F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players English Football League players Welsh football managers Hartlepool United F.C. managers Aberystwyth Town F.C. managers Men's association football fullbacks Welsh people of Scottish descent People from Hawarden