David McLean (3 February 1884 – 14 February 1951) was a Scottish

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 lea ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. McLean played as a Winger.

Playing career

McLean was born in Buckhaven, Fife. He played for Buckhaven United, Cambuslang Rangers,

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 Foot ...

, Ayr United and

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath () is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 1890. According to a 20 ...

. He first joined East Fife in 1911 as player-manager.

Coaching career

East Fife and Bristol Rovers

After joining East Fife as player manager he led them to victory in the

Scottish Qualifying Cup The Scottish Qualifying Cup was a football competition played in Scotland between 1895 and 2007. During that time, apart from a brief spell in the 1950s, it was the only way for non-league teams to qualify for the Scottish Cup. The Qualifying Cu ...

Final in 1920-21. East Fife were admitted to the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4&nbs ...

in 1921 and reached the 1927 Scottish Cup Final. McLean was appointed manager of

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

in 1929. He left after just over a year. He and returned to East Fife in 1931. McLean led them to victory over

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

in the 1938 Scottish Cup Final.

Heart of Midlothian

Hearts appointed McLean manager on a five-year contract in June 1941. He played a significant role in rebuilding the club during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The first seeds of the Tommy Walker managerial success at Hearts were sown by McLean. On 9 October 1948, after a mediocre start to the 1948–49 season McLean combined three young forwards,

Jimmy Wardhaugh James Alexander Douglas Wardhaugh (21 March 1929 – 2 January 1978) was a professional footballer, who was part of the ''Terrible Trio'' Heart of Midlothian forward line of the 1950s, alongside Willie Bauld and Alfie Conn. He was also the cl ...

Willie Bauld William Russell Logan Bauld (24 January 1928 – 11 March 1977) was a footballer who played for Newtongrange Star, Heart of Midlothian, Edinburgh City and the Scotland national team. Heart of Midlothian Bauld was born in Newcraighall, Edin ...

and Alfie Conn Sr., for the first time.Scott, ''The Terrible Trio'', 10–11 They became dubbed the ''Terrible Trio'' and scored over 900 Hearts goals between them (Wardhaugh 376, Bauld 355, Conn 221).Scott, ''The Terrible Trio'', 101–103 A few weeks later in December 1948, Tommy Walker left during his third season at Chelsea to return to Hearts. He took the role of player-assistant to McLean, whose intention was that Walker would be a steadying influence in a developing young team. However, after a single appearance at right-half in a 1–0 home defeat by

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

, Walker retired to concentrate fully on learning the managerial ropes. Tangible progress was made in the League Championship in 1949-50 when Hearts finished third. As Walker had become more influential, McLean was co-opted to the board on 16 March 1950. McLean's death on 14 February 1951 saw Walker promoted to the position of manager; his reign was to prove the most successful period in the club's history.Price, P12 Walker was always quick to acknowledge the contribution made by McLean and his fatherly interest in the welfare and development of the players. The important foundations Walker inherited from McLean included the ''Terrible Trio'' forwards, the full back pair of Bobby Parker and Tam McKenzie and half backs

Bobby Dougan Bobby Dougan (3 December 1926 – 7 February 2010) was a Scottish footballer, who played as a centre half for Heart of Midlothian and Kilmarnock in the Scottish Football League, having started his career with Shawfield. Playing career Dougan w ...

and Davie Laing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mclean, David 1884 births 1951 deaths Men's association football wingers Scottish men's footballers Cambuslang Rangers F.C. players Celtic F.C. players Ayr United F.C. players Cowdenbeath F.C. players East Fife F.C. players Scottish Football League players Scottish football managers East Fife F.C. managers Bristol Rovers F.C. managers Heart of Midlothian F.C. managers English Football League managers Scottish Football League managers People from Buckhaven Footballers from Fife Scottish Junior Football Association players