Billy McLaren
Encyclopedia
Billy McLaren is a Scottish
former association football player and manager
.
as a player, serving eight different Scottish league
clubs. His longest service was to Dumfries
club, Queen of the South
. In a subsequent interview, team mate Jocky Dempster
named McLaren in what he felt was the eleven best players at the club in the 1970s. Iain McChesney was another to name McLaren in the best players at Palmerston Park
at the time.
He helped Hibernian
gain promotion back to the Scottish Premier Division in 1981 after signing for the club in December 1980. McLaren trained with Hibs part-time while retaining a job as a civil servant.
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.
.
He was Stranraer
manager during the 2002–03 season, when the club began a remarkable run of being either promoted or relegated
every season. This brought an unsuccessful end to a spell during which he had won manager of the month awards in December 1999 and October 2002. The club had pushed for promotion in the 2000–01 season and reached the quarter-final stage of the Scottish Cup
for the first time in their history, in the 2002–03 season.
McLaren is currently employed as a youth scout for Rangers
.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
former association football player and manager
Manager (association football)
In association football, a manager is responsible for running a football club or a national team. The manager of a professional club is responsible directly to the club president. The position of manager is almost exclusively used in British football...
.
Player
McLaren was something of a journeymanJourneyman
A journeyman is someone who completed an apprenticeship and was fully educated in a trade or craft, but not yet a master. To become a master, a journeyman had to submit a master work piece to a guild for evaluation and be admitted to the guild as a master....
as a player, serving eight different Scottish league
Scottish Football League
The Scottish Football League is a league of football teams in Scotland, comprising theScottish First Division, Scottish Second Division and Scottish Third Division. From the league's foundation in 1890 until the breakaway Scottish Premier League was formed in 1998, the Scottish Football League...
clubs. His longest service was to Dumfries
Dumfries
Dumfries is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth. Dumfries was the county town of the former county of Dumfriesshire. Dumfries is nicknamed Queen of the South...
club, Queen of the South
Queen of the South F.C.
Queen of the South Football Club is a Scottish professional football club founded in 1919 and located in Dumfries. The club currently plays in the Scottish First Division, the second tier of Scottish football. They are officially nicknamed The Doonhamers, but usually referred to as Queens or QoS...
. In a subsequent interview, team mate Jocky Dempster
Jocky Dempster
John 'Jocky' Dempster is a Scottish former professional footballer.- Career :Dempster played with junior outfit Muirkirk before signing for Queen of the South F.C. at the start of the 1969-70 season....
named McLaren in what he felt was the eleven best players at the club in the 1970s. Iain McChesney was another to name McLaren in the best players at Palmerston Park
Palmerston Park
Palmerston Park is a multi-purpose stadium on Terregles Street in Dumfries, south west Scotland. The site of the ground was formerly a farm called Palmers Toun. This is on the Maxwelltown side of the River Nith in Dumfries. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of...
at the time.
He helped Hibernian
Hibernian F.C.
Hibernian Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Leith, in the north of Edinburgh. They are one of two Scottish Premier League clubs in the city, the other being their Edinburgh derby rivals, Hearts...
gain promotion back to the Scottish Premier Division in 1981 after signing for the club in December 1980. McLaren trained with Hibs part-time while retaining a job as a civil servant.
His last club was Partick Thistle
Partick Thistle F.C.
Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football club from Glasgow. Despite their name, the club are based in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908...
, where manager
Head coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches...
Benny Rooney
Benny Rooney
Benny Rooney is a Scottish former association football player and manager.-Playing career:Rooney played for Celtic as a youth, but was allowed to sign for Dundee United on a free transfer in 1963. He was frequently relegated to United's reserve team, however, and he was eventually sold to St....
had intended McLaren to coach, but he was pressed into service due to injuries to other players.
Management
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. 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 ThomsonAndy Thomson (Scottish footballer)
Andrew "Andy" Thomson is a former Scottish professional football player. He played in 549 league matches, scoring 195 league goals in a career that saw him play for Queen of the South, Partick Thistle, Falkirk and Stenhousemuir in Scotland and Southend United, Oxford United, Gillingham and...
.
He was Stranraer
Stranraer F.C.
Stranraer Football Club is a Scottish semi-professional football team based in the town of Stranraer, Dumfries and Galloway. They are members of the Scottish Football League, and currently play in the Third Division.-History:...
manager during the 2002–03 season, when the club began a remarkable run of being either promoted or relegated
Promotion and relegation
In many sports leagues around the world, promotion and relegation is a process that takes place at the end of each season. Through it, teams are transferred between divisions based on their performance that season...
every season. This brought an unsuccessful end to a spell during which he had won manager of the month awards in December 1999 and October 2002. The club had pushed for promotion in the 2000–01 season and reached the quarter-final stage of the Scottish Cup
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,, commonly known as the Scottish Cup or the William Hill Scottish Cup for sponsorship purposes, is the main national cup competition in Scottish football. It is a knockout cup competition run by and named after the Scottish Football Association.The...
for the first time in their history, in the 2002–03 season.
McLaren is currently employed as a youth scout for Rangers
Rangers F.C.
Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...
.
External links
- Billy McLaren, Neil Brown's player database