Martin McLean Buchan (born 6 March 1949) is a Scottish former professional

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 as a

centre 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 ...

. Born in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), a ...

, he played for

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 Salford to the west. The ...

and

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

. He also played in 34 international matches for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

between 1971 and 1978 including at two World Cups. Buchan later managed

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Br ...

Playing career

Aberdeen

Buchan started his professional career with his hometown club

. He captained the team when they won the

1970 Scottish Cup Final The 1970 Scottish Cup Final was played on 11 April 1970 at Hampden Park in Glasgow and was the final of the 85th Scottish Cup. Aberdeen and Celtic contested the match, Aberdeen won the match 3–1 with a goal from Joe Harper and two from Derek ...

3–1 against Jock Stein's

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

Manchester United

Buchan was signed by

Manchester 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 Salford to the west. The ...

United manager

Frank O'Farrell Francis O'Farrell (9 October 1927 – 6 March 2022) was an Irish football player and manager. He played as a wing half for Cork United, West Ham United and Preston North End. He made over 300 appearances in the Football League before joining We ...

on 29 February 1972 for £120,000, and at the time was the club's record signing. His first game for United came on 4 March 1972 against

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, Wal ...

in the First Division. He was unable to prevent United from suffering relegation to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

in 1973–74. However, United bounced back at the first attempt as Second Division champions. Buchan became club captain in 1975 following the departure of

Willie Morgan William Morgan (born 2 October 1944) is a Scottish former professional footballer. Club career A winger, Morgan started his career with Burnley, making his first-team debut against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough in 1963. He took over from ...

. Buchan helped United win the

1977 FA Cup Final The 1977 FA Cup Final was the final match of the 1976–77 FA Cup, the 96th season of England's premier cup football competition. The match was played on 21 May 1977 at Wembley Stadium, London, and it was contested by Manchester United and Liver ...

against

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

, which they won 2–1. This meant that Buchan became the only player to captain both Scottish and English FA Cup-winning sides. He also helped United reach another FA Cup final in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

, where they lost 3–2 to

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 mostl ...

. He was still with United when they beat

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

4–0 in the replayed

1983 FA Cup Final The 1983 FA Cup Final was contested by Manchester United and Brighton & Hove Albion at Wembley Stadium. Manchester United were the favourites, as Brighton had been relegated from the First Division that season, and had never reached a cup fin ...

, but he did not make the team for the final. Buchan left the club in August 1983 after injuries caught up with him, signing for

on a free transfer. He had played in 456 games, scoring 4 goals, one of which was a superb, yet somewhat uncharacteristic, long-range drive against Everton.

International

Buchan won 34

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for

, making his international debut in 1971 against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

and his last appearance in 1978 against the same country. He played in the 1974 World Cup finals and 1978 World Cup finals and captained Scotland twice: in 1975 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 ...

and in 1977 against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

After playing

On 22 June 1985, Buchan was appointed manager of

, who had just been relegated to the Fourth Division for the first time in their history – 25 years after being league champions. Buchan lasted less than four months at

Turf Moor Turf Moor is an association football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Burnley F.C. since 1883. This unbroken service makes Turf Moor the second-longest continuously used ground in English professional footba ...

, resigning on 10 October 1985. Buchan worked for the

Professional Footballers' Association The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) is the trade union for professional association footballers in England and Wales. Founded in 1907, it is the world's oldest professional sport trade union, and has over 5,000 members. The aims of ...

(PFA) in Manchester for 17 years before retiring in 2017.

Personal life

Buchan's brother George and father Martin senior both played for Aberdeen, the latter only in unofficial competitions during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. His son

Jamie Jamie is a unisex name. It is a diminutive form of James or, more rarely, other names. It is also given as a name in its own right. People Female * Jamie Anne Allman (born 1977), American actress * Jamie Babbit (born 1970), American film and t ...

played with Aberdeen, Dundee United and Partick Thistle.Jamie Buchan
AFC Heritage Trust

Honours

Club

Aberdeen *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1969–70 Manchester United *

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 compet ...

: 1976–77 *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier L ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buchan, Martin Scottish footballers Scottish football managers Scotland international footballers Association football central defenders Banks O' Dee F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players Burnley F.C. managers Manchester United F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Washington Whips players 1974 FIFA World Cup players 1978 FIFA World Cup players People educated at Robert Gordon's College Footballers from Aberdeen 1949 births Living people Scottish Junior Football Association players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Scotland under-23 international footballers Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductees Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States Scottish expatriate footballers FA Cup Final players