Billy McKinlay

For the South Carolina tailor and legislator, see William McKinlay.

Not to be confused with Bill McKinley.

Billy McKinlay

Personal information
Full name	William James Alexander McKinlay [1]
Date of birth	(1969-04-22) 22 April 1969 (age 54) [1]
Place of birth	Glasgow, [1] Scotland
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) [2]
Position(s)	Midfielder [1]
Team information
Current team	West Ham United (Assistant Manager)
Youth career
1984–1985	Hamilton Thistle
1985–1986	Dundee United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1986–1995	Dundee United	222	(23)
1995–2000	Blackburn Rovers	91	(3)
2000	→ Leicester City (loan)	0	(0)
2000–2001	Bradford City	11	(0)
2001	Preston North End	0	(0)
2001–2002	Clydebank	8	(0)
2002–2004	Leicester City	53	(1)
2004–2005	Fulham	2	(0)
Total		387	(27)
International career
1988–1989	Scotland U21	6	(1)
1990–1994	Scotland B	2	(0)
1990 [3]	Scottish League XI	1	(0)
1993–1998	Scotland	29	(4)
Managerial career
2014	Watford
2015–2016	Stabæk
2017	Sunderland (caretaker)
2019–2021	Stoke City (assistant)
2021–	West Ham United (assistant)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

William James Alexander McKinlay (born 22 April 1969) is a Scottish football manager and former professional footballer who is assistant manager of West Ham United.

As a player, he was a midfielder who notably played in the Premier League for Blackburn Rovers, Leicester City, Bradford City and Fulham. He also played in the Scottish Premiership for Dundee United, the Football League for Preston North End and the Scottish Football League for Clydebank. McKinlay appeared 29 times for Scotland and played at Euro 1996 and the 1998 World Cup.

As a coach, he has worked for Fulham, the Northern Ireland national team and Watford. He was appointed Watford head coach in September 2014 but left the post after eight days. After a spell as assistant head coach with Real Sociedad in Spain, he joined Norwegian club Stabæk in November 2015, before being sacked in July 2016. He has since worked at Sunderland and Stoke City is currently the assistant manager of West Ham United.

Club career

A product of Dundee United's scouting and coaching network in the west of Scotland, Glasgow-born McKinlay was signed from Hamilton Thistle in 1986. He played in the 1988 Scottish Cup Final side at the age of 19, after only twelve Scottish Football League appearances. He went on to play over two hundred matches for United, but missed out on the club's 1994 Scottish Cup win due to suspension.

Following Dundee United's relegation in 1995, McKinlay requested a transfer. He was sold to English Premier League champions Blackburn Rovers in October 1995 for a fee of £1.75 million. After leaving Blackburn in 2000, McKinlay had brief spells with Bradford City, Preston North End and Clydebank. In 2002, he joined Leicester City, scoring his only goal for them against Coventry City. ^[4] In 2004, Fulham manager Chris Coleman signed McKinlay, primarily to assist the reserve squad.

International career

McKinlay represented Scotland at under-21 ^[5] and B international ^[6] level before making his full debut in 1993. He made 14 appearances for Scotland while with Dundee United, the last two as a First Division player. He is one of only three players from that division to play at full international level for Scotland since 1975.^{[ citation needed ]} In total he played 29 times for Scotland between 1993 and 1998, scoring four goals. He was selected for the Euro 1996 and 1998 World Cup squads, making one appearance at each tournament.

Coaching career

Fulham

On 21 December 2007, Fulham first-team coach Ray Lewington and reserve team manager McKinlay took over after manager Lawrie Sanchez was sacked. Roy Hodgson was appointed nine days later. ^[7] McKinlay coached Fulham's reserve side and developed youth talent, and in 2012 became Northern Ireland assistant manager, but returned to Fulham to manage the side's 4–0 defeat at Everton, on 28 April 2012 due to Martin Jol's chest infection and was again in charge on Merseyside, for Fulham's win against Liverpool. On 2 December 2013, McKinlay left Fulham after Martin Jol's departure a day earlier. ^[8]

Watford

McKinlay was appointed as Watford first-team coach, under head coach Óscar Garcia, on 26 September 2014. ^[9] McKinlay replaced Garcia a few days later as head coach, after the Spaniard resigned due to suffering from ill health. ^[10] McKinlay relinquished his role as Northern Ireland's assistant manager after becoming the Watford manager. ^[11] After just eight days in the job, McKinlay was replaced as Watford head coach by Slaviša Jokanović. ^[12] McKinlay had taken charge of two matches, a win against Brentford and a draw with Brighton. ^[12]

Real Sociedad

On 27 November 2014, McKinlay joined Spanish club Real Sociedad as an assistant coach, working alongside David Moyes. ^[13] He was sacked, along with Moyes, on 9 November 2015. ^[14]

Stabæk

On 30 November 2015, McKinlay was appointed as manager of Norwegian Tippeligaen side Stabæk Fotball on a two-year contract. ^[15] McKinlay resigned as manager on 8 July 2016, after being knocked out of the Europa League by Connah's Quay Nomads. ^[16]

Sunderland

McKinlay joined Sunderland as a scout, initially under Moyes, in 2016. In October 2017 he was promoted to a temporary first team coaching role by manager Simon Grayson when assistant manager Glynn Snodin became ill. ^[17] Following Grayson's sacking, McKinlay and Robbie Stockdale were appointed the club's joint caretaker managers in November 2017. ^[18] After one game in charge, a 1–0 loss against Middlesbrough on 5 November 2017, ^[19]

West Ham United

McKinlay left Sunderland to take a coaching position at West Ham United. ^[20] He left the east London club at the end of the 2017–18 season, after manager David Moyes' contract was not renewed. ^[21]

Stoke City

McKinlay joined Stoke City on 21 November 2019, as assistant manager to Michael O'Neill. ^{[22] [23]} McKinlay left Stoke by Mutual consent on 12 April 2021. ^[24]

Return to West Ham United

In July 2021, McKinlay rejoined West Ham United as part of David Moyes' coaching staff. ^[25]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by national team and year ^[26]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Scotland	1993	1	1
	1994	6	2
	1995	8	1
	1996	4	0
	1997	3	0
	1998	7	0
Total		29	4

Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each McKinlay goal.

List of international goals scored by Billy McKinlay ^[27]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	17 November 1993	National Stadium, Ta' Qali, Malta	Malta	1–0	2–0	1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	20 April 1994	Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria	Austria	2–1	2–1	Friendly
3	12 October 1994	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland	Faroe Islands	4–0	5–1	UEFA Euro 1996 qualification
4	7 June 1995	Svangaskarð, Toftir, Faroes	Faroe Islands	1–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 1996 qualification

Managerial statistics

As of match played 5 November 2017

Team	From	To	Record
			G	W	D	L	Win %
Watford	29 September 2014	7 October 2014	2	1	1	0	050.00
Stabæk	30 November 2015	8 July 2016	20	6	2	12	030.00
Sunderland (joint caretaker)	1 November 2017	12 November 2017	1	0	0	1	000.00
Total			23	7	3	13	030.43

References

1. "Billy McKinlay". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
2. "Billy McKinlay: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
3. "From the archives: Centenary match". Scottish Professional Football League. 18 August 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
4. "Coventry 1–2 Leicester". BBC. 21 March 2003. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
5. "Scotland U21 profile". Fitbastats.com. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
6. "Scotland B profile". Fitbastats.com. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
7. "Fulham appoint Hodgson as manager". BBC Sport. 28 December 2007. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
8. "Coaching Staff Update". Fulham F.C. 2 December 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
9. "OFFICIAL: Hornets Appoint McKinlay As First Team Coach". Watford F.C. 26 September 2014. Archived from the original on 29 September 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
10. Watford: Oscar Garcia replaced by Billy McKinlay as head coach, BBC Sport
11. Watford coach Billy McKinlay quits Northern Ireland role, BBC Sport
12. Watford: Slavisa Jokanovic replaces Billy McKinlay as boss, BBC Sport
13. "David Moyes: Billy McKinlay named Real Sociedad assistant". BBC Sport. 27 November 2014. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
14. "Real Sociedad sack former Man Utd manager". BBC Sport. 9 November 2015.
15. "Fra Bob til Billy" (in Norwegian). Stabæk Fotball. 30 November 2015. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
16. "Billy McKinlay fratrer som trener" (in Norwegian). Stabæk Fotball. 8 July 2016. Archived from the original on 14 July 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
17. "Simon Grayson on what Billy McKinlay brings to Sunderland coaching staff". Sunderland Echo. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
18. "Sunderland: Billy McKinlay & Robbie Stockdale in caretaker charge but experienced boss wanted". BBC Sport. 1 November 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
19. "Middlesbrough 1-0 Sunderland". BBC Sport. 5 November 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
20. Gregory, Ross (12 November 2017). "Sunderland in chaos as caretaker boss Billy McKinlay quits for West Ham". Sunderland Echo. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
21. "David Moyes: West Ham manager departs after just six months in charge". BBC Sport. 16 May 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
22. "Billy checks-in". Stoke City F.C. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
23. "Billy McKinlay: Former Scotland midfielder reunited with O'Neill at Stoke City". BBC Sport. 21 November 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
24. "Billy McKinlay: Stoke City assistant manager leaves by mutual consent". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
25. Press Association (3 July 2021). "Billy McKinlay rejoins West Ham United coaching team". Sports Mole.
26. Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Billy McKinlay (Player)". national-football-teams.com.
27. "Billy McKinlay | Scotland | Scottish FA". Scottish Football Association.

External links

• Billy McKinlay at Soccerbase
• Billy McKinlay at the Scottish Football Association
• Career statistics
• Dundee United FC Historical Archive profile