John Livingstone "Ian" McMillan (born 18 March 1931) 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 ...

who played for Airdrieonians, Rangers and the Scotland national team.

Playing career

McMillan was born in Airdrie. Nicknamed "The Wee Prime Minister" (he shared a variant of his surname with the incumbent of the era),Hall of Fame , Ian McMillan
Rangers FC he started his career with local club Airdrieonians in 1948 where he would go on to become a club legend.Greatest XI
Airdrieonians FC He scored 102 goals in 249 league appearances over ten years for the club in this spell, in the role of scheming inside-forward (a creative midfield position in today's football parlance). McMillan was at Rangers from 1958 until 1964, making 127 league appearances and 200 in all competitions, including the 1961 European Cup Winners' Cup Final. The ''Gers'' lost out in that tie to

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

, but his spell was otherwise very successful, featuring four Scottish League titles ( 1958–59, 1960–61, 1962–63 and 1963–64), three

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

and

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

), and two from the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

(

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Jan ...

and

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

). Despite his prominent role at a major club, he also continued to work in his other profession as a mining surveyor as he had done as a part-time player. He studied geology as a student at Edinburgh University. He returned to Airdrieonians in 1964 where he would remain for a further two years, though affected by injuries.

International

He was Cap (sport), capped six times by the Scotland national team between 1952 and 1961, scoring twice – both against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in April 1952. McMillan was in Scotland's 22-man 1954 World Cup squad, but the SFA decided to take only 13 of the group to the finals, with McMillan staying at home on reserve with the likes of

Bobby Combe James Robert Combe (29 January 1924 – 19 January 1991) was a Scottish footballer, who played for Hibernian and was player/manager of Dumbarton for one season. He also represented Scotland and the Scottish Football League XI. A schoolboy inter ...

and

Jimmy Binning James Binning (21 December 1922 – 1991) was a Scottish footballer who played for Arbroath and Dumfries side Queen of the South. Career From the season 1948–1949 until his departure, Binning scored six goals in his 84 league games for Arbro ...

(inside forward George Hamilton was also on reserve, but travelled after

Bobby Johnstone Robert Johnstone (7 September 1929 – 22 August 2001) was a Scottish footballer, who played for Selkirk, Hibernian, Manchester City, Oldham Athletic and Witton Albion. Johnstone also represented Scotland and the Scottish League. Johnston ...

withdrew through injury).

After playing

McMillan later managed Airdrieonians between 1970 and 1976, taking them to 1975 Scottish Cup Final. He is currently ''Honorary president'' of the current Airdrieonians, a club that was formed as 'Airdrie United' after the original Airdrieonians went out of business in 2002. He is the grandfather of modern-day player,

Iain Russell Iain Thomas Russell (born 14 November 1982) is a Former Scottish professional footballer who last played as a forward for Cowdenbeath, on loan from Pollok. Russell came through the youth teams at Annan Athletic and Rangers before making a f ...

Career statistics

International appearances

International goals

Honours

Scottish Football Hall of Fame The Scottish Football Hall of Fame is located at the Scottish Football Museum. Nominations are made each year by fans and a committee selects the inductees. The first inductions to the Hall of Fame were in November 2004 in a ceremony at Hampden Pa ...

inductee: 2018

References

External links

*
International stats
at Londonhearts.com {{DEFAULTSORT:McMillan, Ian Living people 1931 births Scottish footballers Scotland international footballers Scottish football managers Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) players Rangers F.C. players Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) managers 1954 FIFA World Cup players Scotland B international footballers Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League representative players Footballers from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire Association football inside forwards Scottish Football League managers Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductees