Robert McNab (born 20 July 1943) is an English 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 as a defender. McNab featured for clubs

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

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 ...

San Antonio Thunder The San Antonio Thunder were an American soccer team based in San Antonio, Texas. Founded in 1975 as a member of the North American Soccer League, the team played two seasons in San Antonio before the franchise rights were moved to Hawaii. The t ...

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...

and Tacoma Stars in his playing career. He also played for England's national football team. As a manager he was at the helm of

, Tacoma Stars,

San Jose Grizzlies The San Jose Grizzlies were a professional indoor soccer team based in San Jose, California. The team was founded on November 24, 1993, and played in the Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL). After playing in the 1994 and 1995 CISL seasons, th ...

and

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

Club career

Born in

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, McNab started out at local club,

, where he made close to seventy appearances. In October 1966 he was signed by

Bertie Mee Bertram Mee OBE (25 December 1918 – 21 October 2001) was an English footballer who played as a winger for Derby County and Mansfield Town. Mee was also a manager, noted for leading Arsenal to their first Double win in 1971. Playing career Bor ...

for

for £50,000. He made his debut for the club in a defeat to

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

on 15 October 1966. McNab went on to become a regular and to play in the

1969 Football League Cup Final The 1969 Football League Cup Final took place on 15 March 1969 at Wembley Stadium. It was the ninth final and the third to be played at Wembley. It was contested between Arsenal and Swindon Town. The Football League Cup winners were given a place ...

which Arsenal lost to

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...

. With Arsenal he won the

1969–70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The 1969–70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was the 12th Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. The competition was won by Arsenal over two legs in the final against Anderlecht. It was the first of Arsenal's two European trophies, the other being the European Cup Winn ...

. In the back line alongside

Pat Rice Patrick James Rice, MBE (born 17 March 1949) is a Northern Irish former footballer and coach. As a player, he made over 500 appearances for Arsenal, winning the Double, and later made a hundred more appearances for Watford. He also won 49 ca ...

and

Frank McLintock Francis McLintock MBE (born 28 December 1939) is a former Scotland international footballer, football manager and businessman. He also worked as a sports agent and football pundit in his later life. He began his career in Scottish Junior footba ...

, McNab played 62 matches in Arsenal's Double-winning season, missing just two games, and winning a League and FA Cup Double in 1970–71. He missed much of the 1971–72 season due to injury, with

Sammy Nelson Samuel Nelson (born 1 April 1949) is a former footballer who played as a left back in the Football League for Arsenal and Brighton & Hove Albion. He was capped 51 times for Northern Ireland and played at the 1982 FIFA World Cup. Club career Ars ...

deputising for him, though he was able to play at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

in the

1972 FA Cup Final The 1972 FA Cup Final took place on 6 May 1972 at Wembley Stadium. It was the centenary final (although only the 91st final due to the world wars) and the 44th to be played at Wembley. It was contested between cup holders Arsenal, who had won th ...

which Arsenal lost to

. McNab returned to full fitness, playing over 50 matches the following season. However, in 1973–74 he suffered another curtailing injury and again had to share the role of left back. With the younger Nelson being in favour, the 32-year-old McNab left the club on a free transfer in the summer of 1975. In total he played 365 matches for Arsenal, scoring six goals. After leaving Arsenal, he at first played for

before linking up in the U.S. with the NASL's

. He then returned to England to join up

, only to move back across the Atlantic to Canada where he played for the NASL's

, where he brought his playing days to a close. McNab went on to coach the Whitecaps and thereafter the Tacoma Stars of the Major Indoor Soccer League. He left being at the helm of the Stars in December 1983 only to become the club's assistant manager. During the 1983–84 season, whilst in the aforesaid role he also played a solo game for the Stars. He was reappointed as the side's manager in March 1985. McNab later emigrated to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where he presently lives and works as a property developer. In 1999, he was part of a consortium led by

Milan Mandaric Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city has ...

that took over

. He was for an instance a

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular Manager (association football), manager is dismissed or leaves for a ...

of the side until the appointment of

Tony Pulis Anthony Richard Pulis (; born 16 January 1958) is a Welsh football manager and former footballer who last managed Sheffield Wednesday. Pulis obtained his FA coaching badge at age 19, followed by his UEFA 'A' licence aged 21 – making him one ...

within the following month.

International career

McNab made his debut for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

on 6 November 1968 against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. He made a sum total of four appearances for England. These caps came in home and away draws to Romania as well as a 3–1 win over

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

in Belfast and a 1–1 draw at

against

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

Personal life

As well as being a footballer, Bob McNab was a media personality in the 1970s, appearing on the panel for ITV's coverage of the

1970 FIFA World Cup The 1970 FIFA World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's senior national teams. Held from 31 May t ...

, and he had a cameo role in the 1973 ''

On The Buses ''On the Buses'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom that was broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 1969 to 1973. It was created by Chesney and Wolfe, Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe, who wrote most of the episodes. It spawned thr ...

'' episode "The Football Match". His daughter

Mercedes McNab Mercedes Alicia McNab (born March 14, 1980) is a Canadian former actress. She is known for her role as Harmony Kendall on ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' (1997–2001) and its spinoff ''Angel'' (2001–2004). She additionally is known for her role a ...

is a retired actress known for her recurring role as

Harmony Kendall Harmony Kendall is a fictional character created by Joss Whedon for the television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and its spin-off ''Angel''. The character is portrayed by Mercedes McNab. Originally cast as a minor character, McNab's credited ...

on the American television series ''

Buffy the Vampire Slayer ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film), 1992 film of the same name, also written by W ...

'' and its spinoff series, ''

Angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

''. McNab was injured for the majority of the 1971–72 season and was thus doubtful for the FA Cup semi final played at the neutral venue of

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway stations ...

against Stoke City. This scenario was referenced in the film

Fever Pitch ''Fever Pitch: A Fan's Life'' is a 1992 autobiographical essay by British author Nick Hornby. The book is the basis for two films: ''Fever Pitch'' (1997, UK) and ''Fever Pitch'' (2005, U.S.). The first edition was subtitled "A Fan's Life", but ...

, where Paul Ashworth correctly predicts part of the game's lineup with the line, "McNab won't play. Bertie Mee wouldn't risk him."

Honours

;Arsenal * First Division: 1970–71 *

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 ...

: 1970–71 *

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European Association football, football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecess ...

: 1969–70

References

External links

Bob McNab's FA Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McNab, Bob Arsenal F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Continental Indoor Soccer League coaches England international footballers English expatriate footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Canada English football managers English footballers English emigrants to the United States English people of Scottish descent Expatriate soccer players in Canada Expatriate soccer players in the United States Association football central defenders Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) coaches Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) coaches North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Footballers from Huddersfield Soccer players from Los Angeles Portsmouth F.C. managers San Antonio Thunder players English Football League players Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984) coaches Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984) players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players 1943 births Living people English Football League representative players Tacoma Stars players English expatriate sportspeople in the United States FA Cup Final players