Jackie McNamara
Encyclopedia
Jackie McNamara is a Scottish football player and manager
who currently manages Partick Thistle
. He is a former Scottish international
and has filled a variety of defensive roles in his career and captained Celtic
under the management of Martin O'Neill
.
and Hibernian
player Jackie McNamara, Sr.
, he started his career at Dunfermline Athletic
as an attacking right wing-back.
for £
650,000 in 1995. He marked an impressive start to his Celtic career, being named Scottish PFA Young Player of the Year
in 1996. He won his first trophy with the club in the 1997–1998 season when Celtic won the Scottish Premier Division, preventing arch-rivals Rangers
from winning 10-in-a-row, which would have seen them eclipse Celtic's record of 9-in-a-row. He featured regularly in the Celtic first eleven until the arrival of Martin O'Neill
in the 2000–01 season saw him become more of a fringe player, although he did score the opening goal in the 2001 Scottish Cup Final
.
However, McNamara became a consistent player for Celtic during the later part of O'Neill's tenure, being awarded the Football Writers Player of the Year in 2004. The following year McNamara was named captain when then-captain Paul Lambert
was injured and missed much of the season. McNamara proved himself a consistent and reliable performer on the field, playing almost every game in the league in the 2004–05 season.
To reward his loyalty to the club over a 10-year period, Celtic played a testimonial match against the Republic of Ireland. The match ended 1–0 to Ireland, with Robbie Keane
scoring. At the end of the 2004–05 season Martin O'Neill
left as manager and Celtic brought in Gordon Strachan
as his replacement.
McNamara's contract was also due to expire at the end of the 2004–05 season. Strachan assured McNamara that he wanted him at the club but Celtic were slow to offer a new contract, waiting until the close season to do so. By that time McNamara had already accepted an offer from Wolverhampton Wanderers as he had assumed Celtic no longer wanted his services. As he went on record saying he still wanted to play for the club, he was told he was still needed by the club by its manager, and he was offered the contract he wanted while still in a position to accept it, the incident has caused much speculation amongst supporters and the media as to who was to blame for his departure from Celtic. The club accused McNamara of being unreasonable and of moving for monetary reasons. They also blamed his agent for not encouraging negotiations and setting unhelpful deadlines.
McNamara had gone on record as saying he wanted to end his career with Celtic and seemed to be bemused when no new contract was forthcoming. After he had accepted the Wolves offer, McNamara felt that Celtic showed a lack of respect to him in their comments to the media and he accused them of harming his reputation for their own benefit. It also emerged that in his new contract at Wolves, he was earning the same wages as his previous contract with Celtic.
that he would join Wolverhampton Wanderers
in the summer of 2005 on a free transfer under the Bosman ruling
.
After a promising start to his Wolves career, McNamara sustained a cruciate knee ligament
injury in the home match with Leicester City
in September 2005. He came back in the penultimate game of the 2005/06 season at home to Brighton and Hove Albion.
from Wolves on a two-year contract in 2007, but he left Pittodrie
before the end of the season, with manager Jimmy Calderwood
citing "travelling and injuries" as the reasons for his departure. Three weeks later, it was revealed that McNamara would join Falkirk
for the 2008–09 season
.
in February 2010, making him available to debut the following day against Dundee if selected. The terms of the deal allowed it to be extended beyond its initial period, but McNamara suffered a leg break during a match against Ayr United, prematurely ending his 2009–10 season.
McNamara subsequently signed a one year contract with Partick for the 2010-11 season.
and played at the 1998 FIFA World Cup
.
appointed McNamara caretaker manager on 15 April 2011, after Ian McCall
left his job. He was then appointed manager on a one-year rolling contract a month later.
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...
who currently manages 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...
. He is a former Scottish international
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
and has filled a variety of defensive roles in his career and captained Celtic
Celtic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
under the management of Martin O'Neill
Martin O'Neill
Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, OBE, is a Northern Irish football manager and former player.Until resigning the post on 9 August 2010, he was manager of Aston Villa. Starting his career in his native Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his playing career with Nottingham...
.
Dunfermline Athletic
The son of former CelticCeltic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
and 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...
player Jackie McNamara, Sr.
Jackie McNamara, Sr.
Jackie McNamara is a retired Scottish professional footballer who played for Cumbernauld United, Celtic, Hibernian and Greenock Morton. His son – Jackie McNamara, Jr...
, he started his career at Dunfermline Athletic
Dunfermline Athletic F.C.
Dunfermline Athletic Football Club are a Scottish football team based in Dunfermline, Fife, commonly known as just Dunfermline. They currently compete in the Scottish Premier League....
as an attacking right wing-back.
Celtic
McNamara moved to CelticCeltic F.C.
Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...
for £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
650,000 in 1995. He marked an impressive start to his Celtic career, being named Scottish PFA Young Player of the Year
Scottish PFA Young Player of the Year
The Scottish PFA Young Player of the Year is named at the end of every Scottish football season. The members of the Professional Footballers' Association vote on which of its young members played the best football in the previous year. The award was first given in 1978.- List of winners :-Winners...
in 1996. He won his first trophy with the club in the 1997–1998 season when Celtic won the Scottish Premier Division, preventing arch-rivals 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...
from winning 10-in-a-row, which would have seen them eclipse Celtic's record of 9-in-a-row. He featured regularly in the Celtic first eleven until the arrival of Martin O'Neill
Martin O'Neill
Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, OBE, is a Northern Irish football manager and former player.Until resigning the post on 9 August 2010, he was manager of Aston Villa. Starting his career in his native Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his playing career with Nottingham...
in the 2000–01 season saw him become more of a fringe player, although he did score the opening goal in the 2001 Scottish Cup Final
2001 Scottish Cup Final
The 2001 Scottish Cup Final was played on 26 May 2001 at Hampden Park in Glasgow and was the final of the 116th Scottish Cup competition. Celtic and Hibernian contested the match, Celtic won the match 3–0. Jackie McNamara opened the scoring in the first half running onto a through ball to angle the...
.
However, McNamara became a consistent player for Celtic during the later part of O'Neill's tenure, being awarded the Football Writers Player of the Year in 2004. The following year McNamara was named captain when then-captain Paul Lambert
Paul Lambert
Paul Christopher Lambert is a Scottish football manager and former player who is the manager of Norwich City. He won numerous trophies as a player, winning the Scottish Cup with St...
was injured and missed much of the season. McNamara proved himself a consistent and reliable performer on the field, playing almost every game in the league in the 2004–05 season.
To reward his loyalty to the club over a 10-year period, Celtic played a testimonial match against the Republic of Ireland. The match ended 1–0 to Ireland, with Robbie Keane
Robbie Keane
Robert David "Robbie" Keane is an Irish association football player who plays as a striker for Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer and captains the Irish national football team....
scoring. At the end of the 2004–05 season Martin O'Neill
Martin O'Neill
Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, OBE, is a Northern Irish football manager and former player.Until resigning the post on 9 August 2010, he was manager of Aston Villa. Starting his career in his native Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his playing career with Nottingham...
left as manager and Celtic brought in Gordon Strachan
Gordon Strachan
Gordon David Strachan OBE is a Scottish football manager and former player. He is currently without a club, having last managed Middlesbrough. Strachan played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. Prior to Middlesbrough,...
as his replacement.
McNamara's contract was also due to expire at the end of the 2004–05 season. Strachan assured McNamara that he wanted him at the club but Celtic were slow to offer a new contract, waiting until the close season to do so. By that time McNamara had already accepted an offer from Wolverhampton Wanderers as he had assumed Celtic no longer wanted his services. As he went on record saying he still wanted to play for the club, he was told he was still needed by the club by its manager, and he was offered the contract he wanted while still in a position to accept it, the incident has caused much speculation amongst supporters and the media as to who was to blame for his departure from Celtic. The club accused McNamara of being unreasonable and of moving for monetary reasons. They also blamed his agent for not encouraging negotiations and setting unhelpful deadlines.
McNamara had gone on record as saying he wanted to end his career with Celtic and seemed to be bemused when no new contract was forthcoming. After he had accepted the Wolves offer, McNamara felt that Celtic showed a lack of respect to him in their comments to the media and he accused them of harming his reputation for their own benefit. It also emerged that in his new contract at Wolves, he was earning the same wages as his previous contract with Celtic.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
However McNamara had agreed with then manager Glenn HoddleGlenn Hoddle
Glenn Hoddle is an English former footballer and manager who played as an attacking midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, AS Monaco, Chelsea and Swindon Town and at international level for England....
that he would join Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...
in the summer of 2005 on a free transfer under the Bosman ruling
Bosman ruling
Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association ASBL v Jean-Marc Bosman is a 1995 European Court of Justice decision concerning freedom of movement for workers, freedom of association, and direct effect of article 39 of the EC Treaty...
.
After a promising start to his Wolves career, McNamara sustained a cruciate knee ligament
Cruciate ligament
Cruciate ligaments are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee...
injury in the home match with Leicester City
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...
in September 2005. He came back in the penultimate game of the 2005/06 season at home to Brighton and Hove Albion.
Aberdeen
McNamara joined AberdeenAberdeen F.C.
Aberdeen Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen...
from Wolves on a two-year contract in 2007, but he left Pittodrie
Pittodrie Stadium
Pittodrie Stadium is an all-seated football stadium situated in the Scottish city of Aberdeen. It was first used in 1899 and from 1903 has been the home of Aberdeen Football Club...
before the end of the season, with manager Jimmy Calderwood
Jimmy Calderwood
James "Jimmy" Calderwood is a Scottish former footballer and currently without a club having recently been manager of Ross County. Calderwood played for English clubs Birmingham City and Cambridge United and Dutch clubs Sparta Rotterdam, Willem II Tilburg, Roda JC and Heracles Almelo...
citing "travelling and injuries" as the reasons for his departure. Three weeks later, it was revealed that McNamara would join Falkirk
Falkirk F.C.
Falkirk Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Falkirk. It is one of two professional football teams from the town, the other being East Stirlingshire...
for the 2008–09 season
2008-09 in Scottish football
The 2008–09 season was the 112th season of competitive football in Scotland.-Overview:* Hamilton Academical competed in the Scottish Premier League for the first time, their first season in the top-flight since the 1988–89 season, after being promoted as First Division champions the...
.
Partick Thistle
McNamara signed a one month loan deal with Partick ThistlePartick 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...
in February 2010, making him available to debut the following day against Dundee if selected. The terms of the deal allowed it to be extended beyond its initial period, but McNamara suffered a leg break during a match against Ayr United, prematurely ending his 2009–10 season.
McNamara subsequently signed a one year contract with Partick for the 2010-11 season.
International career
McNamara has 33 caps for ScotlandScotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
and played at the 1998 FIFA World Cup
1998 FIFA World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th FIFA World Cup, was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. France was chosen as host nation by FIFA on 2 July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final...
.
Managerial career
Partick ThistlePartick 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...
appointed McNamara caretaker manager on 15 April 2011, after Ian McCall
Ian McCall
Ian Holland McCall is a Scottish former footballer and is currently without a job having resigned as the manager of First Division side Partick Thistle.-Playing career:...
left his job. He was then appointed manager on a one-year rolling contract a month later.
Honours
Celtic- Scottish Premier LeagueScottish Premier LeagueThe Scottish Premier League , also known as the SPL , is a professional league competition for association football clubs in Scotland...
: 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004
- Scottish CupScottish CupThe 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...
: 1995, 2001, 2004
- Scottish League CupScottish League CupThe Scottish League Cup is a football competition open to all Scottish Football League and Scottish Premier League clubs. At present it is also known as the Scottish Communities League Cup owing to the sponsorship deal in place with the Scottish Government. In the past it has been sponsored by...
: 1998, 2000, 2001