John McClelland (born 7 December 1955) is a former

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

international

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, rugb ...

who played for several teams during a 23-year career. He worked for

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 ...

as part of the tour groups for

Elland Road Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England. The ...

Club career

McClelland played for

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 ...

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

Bangor City Bangor City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Bangor) are an inactive Welsh football club from the City of Bangor, Gwynedd. They started the 2021–22 season in the Cymru North the second level of the Welsh football league system, bu ...

(he was

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the mo ...

runner up with both of these clubs), and

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ye ...

, before signing for Rangers for £90,000 in June 1981. There he won two

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 existe ...

winner's medals, and was twice a

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

paid £225,000 for his services. During his five years at

Vicarage Road Vicarage Road is a stadium in Watford, England, and is the home stadium of championship club Watford. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 22,200. History It has been the home of Watford since 1922, when the club moved from Cas ...

he was voted Watford Player of the Season twice. He later played for

, where he played 18 times as Leeds won the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

title in the 1991–92 season, the last season before the formation of the Premier League. During his time at Leeds he spent time on loan at old club Watford and

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

. In his later career he spent a season at St Johnstone as player manager, had a brief spell in the Irish League with

Carrick Rangers Carrick Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional Northern Irish football club playing in NIFL Premiership. The club, founded in 1939, hails from Carrickfergus, County Antrim and plays its home matches at Taylors Avenue which is known as th ...

, before playing for

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( gd, Obar Bhrothaig ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the council area of Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast some ENE of Dundee and SSW of Aberdeen. Th ...

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...

, Yeovil Town and

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underw ...

. By the time he retired he had played in every country in the United Kingdom and in every tier of English football.

International career

At international level McClelland was also successful. He played for

at the 1982 and 1986 World Cups. He eventually won 53 caps, scoring one goal in a win over

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

. He was also captain of Northern Ireland from after the 1986 World Cup until his retirement in 1990.

International goals

''Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first. ''

Post football

He was player-manager at St Johnstone in the early 1990s. For a brief time after retirement McClelland could be found working at

taking tour groups around

. He is now a Postman in the Wakefield area.

Honours

Player

;

champions: 1991–92

Manager

;St Johnstone *

Forfarshire Cup The Forfarshire Cup is a football competition in Scotland competed for by teams in the Forfarshire Football Association from Angus, Dundee and Perth. The name of the competition is often baffling to some, as "Forfarshire" is an archaic and angli ...

: 1992-93

References

External links

John McClelland
Post War English & Scottish Football League A – Z Player's Database {{DEFAULTSORT:McClelland, John 1955 births Living people Association footballers from Belfast Association footballers from Northern Ireland Football managers from Northern Ireland Northern Ireland international footballers Cardiff City F.C. players Bangor City F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Watford F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Notts County F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. managers Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Portadown F.C. players 1982 FIFA World Cup players 1986 FIFA World Cup players NIFL Premiership players English Football League players Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League managers Arbroath F.C. players Leeds United F.C. non-playing staff Association football defenders