Billy McLaren

Last updated

Billy McLaren
Personal information
Date of birth (1948-06-07) 7 June 1948 (age 75)
Place of birth Glasgow, Scotland
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
–1969 Kirkintilloch Rob Roy
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1969–1971 Dunfermline Athletic 29 (2)
1971–1972 East Fife 14 (1)
1972–1973 Raith Rovers 23 (4)
1973–1978 Queen of the South 169 (13)
1978–1980 Greenock Morton 56 (1)
1980–1982 Hibernian 38 (0)
1982–1983 Clyde 16 (1)
1983–1984 Queen of the South 29 (1)
1984–1985 Partick Thistle 5 (0)
Managerial career
1989–1990 Queen of the South
1990–1992 Hamilton Academical
1992–1993 Albion Rovers
1993–1996 Queen of the South
1998–1999 Albion Rovers
1999–2003 Stranraer
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Billy McLaren (born 7 June 1948 in Glasgow) is a Scottish former association football player and manager.

Contents

Player

McLaren was well-travelled as a player, serving eight different Scottish league clubs. His longest service was to Dumfries club, Queen of the South. In a subsequent interview, teammate Jocky Dempster named McLaren in what he felt was the eleven best players at the club in the 1970s. [1] Iain McChesney was another to name McLaren in the best players at Palmerston Park at the time. [1]

He helped Hibernian gain promotion back to the Scottish Premier Division in 1981 after signing for the club in December 1980. [2] McLaren trained with Hibs part-time while retaining a job as a civil servant. [2]

His last club was Partick Thistle, where manager Benny Rooney had intended McLaren to coach, but he was pressed into service due to injuries to other players. [3]

Management

McLaren managed Hamilton Academical from 1990 to 1992 in a spell that most Accies fans consider to be one of their best ever. In season 1991/1992 Accies won the B&Q Cup, defeating Partick Thistle, East Fife, and Meadowbank Thistle on the way to the final at Fir Park v Ayr United in November 1991. Colin Harris scored the winning goal. Billy McLaren’s Accies team came back from behind to win 13 times in season 91/92 and lost out on promotion to the Scottish Premier League by two goals. The team played with a style of football that the fans appreciated, and to this day, that team is credited with giving the fans belief that the club was capable of achieving SPL status. Notably, McLaren brought Billy Reid to Accies, the man would eventually bring them success, with promotion back into Scottish Football’s top flight in season 2007/2008. Billy McLaren is still given great respect by the Accies fans when spotted scouting at New Douglas Park.

McLaren managed both Queen of the South and Albion Rovers in two different spells, resigning from the Albion job to retake the Queen of the South job in 1993. [4] McChesney was among his back room staff in both managerial spells at Queens. It was in McLaren's first spell at Queens that he signed the teenage Andy Thomson. [5] He is included in the hall of fame at Palmerston.[ citation needed ]

He was Stranraer manager during the 2002–03 season, when the club began a remarkable run of being either promoted or relegated every season. [6] This brought an unsuccessful end to a spell during which he had won manager of the month awards in December 1999 [7] and October 2002. [8] The club had pushed for promotion in the 2000–01 season [9] and reached the quarter-final stage of the Scottish Cup for the first time in their history, in the 2002–03 season. [10]

McLaren is currently employed in the senior scouting group for Rangers. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ross County F.C.</span> Association football club in Scotland

Ross County Football Club is a professional football club based in Dingwall, Scotland. They play all of their home matches at Victoria Park in Dingwall. The club currently play in the Scottish Premiership, being promoted after winning the Scottish Championship in the 2018–19 season. Prior to the 1994–95 season they played in the Highland Football League, a competition they won three times. They have also won the Scottish First Division, Scottish Championship, Second Division, Third Division and the Challenge Cup on three occasions. In 2010, they reached the Scottish Cup Final, and in 2016 they won the Scottish League Cup. Nicknamed The Staggies, County's colours are dark blue, red and white.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stranraer F.C.</span> Association football club in Scotland

Stranraer Football Club is a Scottish semi-professional football club based in the town of Stranraer in Dumfries and Galloway. The club was founded in 1870, making it the third-oldest football club in Scotland behind Queen's Park and Kilmarnock and one of the 20 oldest in the world. The club currently competes in Scottish League Two as a member of the Scottish Professional Football League.

James Callaghan "Chic" Charnley is a Scottish former football player and coach. Charnley's playing career lasted nearly 20 years, with spells at Hamilton Academical, St Mirren, Hibernian and Dundee, however he is perhaps best known for his numerous spells at Partick Thistle. He also was a coach at Thistle for a short time and was briefly assistant manager of Clyde. Throughout his career, Charnley had a reputation as being a hot-head; he was sent off 17 times in a senior career which lasted for nearly 20 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian McCall (footballer)</span> Scottish Football coach and former player (born 1964)

Ian Holland McCall is a Scottish former football player and coach. During his playing days McCall played for Queen's Park, Dunfermline Athletic, Rangers, Bradford City, Dundee, Falkirk, Hamilton Academical, Happy Valley, Partick Thistle and Clydebank.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Lambie (footballer, born 1941)</span> Scottish footballer and manager

John Lambie was a Scottish football player and manager. Lambie made over 200 appearances for Falkirk and also had a successful time with St Johnstone.

Mark Roberts is a Scottish football player and coach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willie Gibson (footballer, born 1984)</span> Scottish footballer

William Gibson is a Scottish football player and coach who currently plays for Scottish League Two club Annan Athletic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Potter (footballer)</span>

John Potter is a Scottish football player and coach, who was most recently the manager of Kelty Hearts.

Jamie Adams is a Scottish former football player.

Gerard Collins is a Scottish former football player and coach who managed Falkirk and Partick Thistle for short spells. Collins was assistant manager to John Lambie at both clubs before being promoted to manager.

James Grady is a Scottish former footballer who spent the majority of his career in the top two divisions in Scottish football. He played as a striker, and became player/manager for Greenock Morton in the First Division between 2009 and 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tomáš Černý</span> Czech footballer

Tomáš Černý is a Czech retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Černý has played football in the Czech Republic, Scotland, Bulgaria and Greece for Sigma Olomouc, Hamilton Academical, CSKA Sofia, Ergotelis, Hibernian, Partick Thistle and Aberdeen respectively. He has also played youth international football for the Czech Republic.

Iain McChesney is a former professional association footballer with Scottish Football League club Queen of the South from Dumfries. McChesney is the longest serving player in the club's history, playing with them from 1960 to 1981. McChesney was a utility player.

Paul Thomas McDonald is a Scottish former footballer who played as a winger.

John Husband was a Scottish professional football player and manager. Husband spent the majority of his club career at Partick Thistle, where he made almost 400 appearances in all competitions, and was also capped twice by Scotland. Husband also spent a short time as manager of Queen of the South.

Davie McParland was a Scottish football player and manager. He played for Partick Thistle for his whole senior career, making over 400 league appearances.

Paul Cairney is a Scottish footballer, who plays as a midfielder.

Robert"Nobby"Clark is a Scottish former professional footballer who played for Partick Thistle and then served Queen of the South as both player and manager.

Mike Jackson is a Scottish former professional association footballer and manager. Jackson played as an inside forward for Benburb, Celtic, St Johnstone, Third Lanark, Clyde, Queen of the South and Clydebank in Scotland and Drumcondra in Ireland. Jackson had two spells as the manager of the Doonhamers, (1975–78) and (1986–87), the club in Dumfries where he played for the longest time during his career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022–23 in Scottish football</span>

The 2022–23 season was the 126th season of competitive football in Scotland. The domestic season began on 9 July 2022 with the first Scottish League Cup group stage matches, and the first round of matches in the 2022–23 Scottish Premiership were played on 30 July.

References

  1. 1 2 "John Dempster and Iain McChesney interviews". Queen of the South F.C. official website.
  2. 1 2 Jeffrey, pp110.
  3. ↑ MacDonald, Lewis. "Billy McLaren (1984/85)". ptfc.net. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  4. ↑ "Sporting Digest: Football". The Independent . 2 April 1993. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  5. ↑ "Andy Thomson". Queen of the South F.C. official website.
  6. ↑ Wilson, Fraser (7 April 2009). "Exclusive: Stranraer claim new record with eighth league change in a row". Daily Record . Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  7. ↑ "Sporting Digest: Football". The Independent . 31 December 1999. Retrieved 23 October 2010.[ dead link ]
  8. ↑ "Blackadder Brace Helps Raith Go Forth". Sporting Life . Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  9. ↑ "Full-time: Stranraer 0–1 Arbroath". ESPN Soccernet . 25 March 2001. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  10. ↑ "Cup Win Will Boost Town - McLaren". Sporting Life . Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  11. ↑ "Kirky Welcomes New Faces". Rangers F.C. official website. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.