Alexander McLeish (born 21 January 1959) is a Scottish professional

football manager ''Football Manager'' (also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008) is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game bega ...

and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who ...

. He played as a defender for

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

during their 1980s glory years, making nearly 500 League appearances for the club, and won 77

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. McLeish started his managerial career with spells at Motherwell and Hibernian, before guiding Rangers to two championships and five cup wins in five years. McLeish spent ten months as manager of the Scotland national team which narrowly failed to qualify for the finals of the

2008 UEFA European championship The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

. He then resigned this post in November 2007 to become manager of

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

, who were in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

at the time. Though Birmingham were

relegated In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

at the end of the season, McLeish guided them back to the Premier League in 2009. Birmingham then won the

2011 Football League Cup Final The 2011 Football League Cup Final was the final match of the 2010–11 Football League Cup, the 51st season of the Football League Cup, a football competition for the 92 teams in the Premier League and the Football League. The match was conteste ...

, but were relegated again from the Premier League at the end of the 2010–11 season. Following this relegation he resigned his post at Birmingham to become manager at their city rivals, Aston Villa. This made him the first manager to move directly from Birmingham City to Aston Villa, and only the second manager after

Ron Saunders Ronald Saunders (6 November 1932 – 7 December 2019) was an English football player and manager. He played for Everton, Tonbridge Angels, Gillingham, Portsmouth, Watford and Charlton Athletic during a 16-year playing career, before moving in ...

to manage both clubs. Having only narrowly avoided relegation in the 2011–12 Premier League season, his contract was terminated by Villa at the end of his first season. McLeish was appointed manager of Championship club

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

in December 2012, but left after 40 days by mutual consent. He managed

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 tea ...

club

Genk Genk () is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality only comprises the town of Genk itself. It is one of the most important industrial towns in Flanders, located on the Albert Canal, ...

in the 2014–15 season, and

Zamalek Zamalek ( ar, الزمالك , ''al zamalek'') is an affluent district of western Cairo encompassing the northern portion of Gezira Island in the Nile River. The island is connected with the river banks through three bridges each on the east ...

of the Egyptian Premier League in 2016. He then had a second stint as Scotland national team manager. In recognition of his distinguished service to Scottish sport, in 2008 McLeish was awarded an honorary doctorate by the

University of Aberdeen , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

Early years

McLeish was born in Duke Street Hospital, Glasgow to parents Alex, a shipyard worker, and Jean. He has younger siblings Angela and Ian. After living in the

Parkhead Parkhead ( sco, Pairkheid) is a district in the East End of Glasgow. Its name comes from a small weaving hamlet at the meeting place of the Great Eastern Road (now the Gallowgate and Tollcross Road) and Westmuir Street. Glasgow's Eastern Necrop ...

and

Kinning Park Kinning Park is a southern suburb of Glasgow, Scotland. It was formerly a separate police burgh between 1871 and 1905 before being absorbed by the city. In 1897, it had a population of 14,326.Govan Parish School Board, ''The Members' Year Book ...

districts of the city, the family moved to

Barrhead Barrhead ( sco, Baurheid, gd, Ceann a' Bharra) is a town in East Renfrewshire, Scotland, southwest of Glasgow city centre on the edge of the Gleniffer Braes. At the 2011 census its population was 17,268. History Barrhead was formed when ...

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Re ...

soon after McLeish had reached school age. He attended Springhill Primary, Barrhead High School – where he was one year below future Aberdeen and Scotland teammate

Peter Weir Peter Lindsay Weir ( ; born August 21, 1944) is a retired Australian film director. He's known for directing films crossing various genres over forty years with films such as '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975), ''Gallipoli'' (1981), ''Witness ...

– and John Neilson High School in Paisley. As a juvenile he played for Barrhead Youth Club, alongside Weir, and Glasgow United as well as training for a short period with

Hamilton Accies Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the 2020–21 Scottis ...

. After a local cup final with Glasgow United in 1976 which was watched by a delegation from Aberdeen, including then manager

Ally MacLeod Alistair Reid "Ally" MacLeod (26 February 1931 – 1 February 2004) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. He is perhaps best known for his time as the Scotland national football team manager, including their appearance at t ...

, McLeish signed for the Pittodrie club the following day.

Playing career

Club

McLeish spent the majority of his first two seasons at

in the reserves and also had a loan spell at local Junior side Lewis United. He made his competitive debut under

Billy McNeill William McNeill (2 March 1940 – 22 April 2019) was a Scottish football player and manager. He had a long association with Celtic, spanning more than sixty years as a player, manager and club ambassador. McNeill captained Celtic's 'Lisbon Lio ...

in a New Year fixture against

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

on 2 January 1978. His first major final appearance was under the management of Alex Ferguson as a substitute in a 2–1 defeat to Rangers in the 1978–79 League Cup and most of his appearances during the 1970s were as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, with Willie Garner and

Doug Rougvie Douglas Rougvie (born 24 May 1956) is a Scottish former footballer, who played mainly for Aberdeen and Chelsea. Rougvie played in one international match for Scotland, in 1983. Playing career Aberdeen A hard-tackling and committed defender, ...

preferred in defence. However McLeish eventually made the centre-back position his own, and over the next seven seasons he enjoyed great success, winning eight domestic and two European trophies. Highlights included scoring in a 4–1 victory over Rangers in the 1982 Scottish Cup Final on his 200th Dons appearance, and a vital goal against Bayern Munich during the campaign leading to the

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

win over Real Madrid in

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

. During this period, McLeish formed a formidable defensive triumvirate with

Willie Miller William Ferguson Miller MBE (born 2 May 1955) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager, who made a club record 560 league appearances for Aberdeen. Sir Alex Ferguson described Miller as "the best penalty box defender in th ...

and

Jim Leighton James Leighton (born 24 July 1958) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Leighton started his career with Aberdeen, where he won seven domestic trophies and the 1982–83 European Cup Winners' Cup under the m ...

for both club and country. Even after he had won his first

cap, McLeish's father asked then Aberdeen boss Alex Ferguson to persuade him to continue training as an accountant. When Ferguson left in 1986 to go to Manchester United, he tried to get McLeish to sign, but it did not work out; he also had talks with

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

. A

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

was arranged for McLeish in December 1988, with the club's ' Gothenburg' (Cup Winners' Cup) squad taking on an 'International legends' team. He won the Scottish player of the year in 1990, after a season in which Aberdeen won both domestic cups. He became captain of Aberdeen after the retirement of Willie Miller. His 692 competitive appearances for the club ranks as the second-most in its history (100 behind Miller, but almost 100 more than Bobby Clark).

International

McLeish is Scotland's third most capped player, having gained 77 international caps between 1980 and 1993. He was first capped for the Scotland under-21 team while still a reserve player at Aberdeen by his former club manager Ally MacLeod, eventually gaining six caps at that level. His full international debut came on 26 March 1980 against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, manager

Jock Stein John "Jock" Stein (5 October 1922 – 10 September 1985) was a Scottish football player and manager. He was the first manager of a British side to win the European Cup, with Celtic in 1967. Stein also guided Celtic to nine successive Scottish ...

playing him in midfield alongside

Archie Gemmill Archibald Gemmill (born 24 March 1947) is a Scottish former footballer. During his career, he won the European Cup and three English league titles, and captained his national side. Gemmill scored the third Scotland goal in a 3–2 win again ...

and

Graeme Souness Graeme James Souness (; born 6 May 1953) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager, and current TV pundit. A midfielder, Souness was the captain of the successful Liverpool team of the early 1980s, player-manager of Ranger ...

. He played in three

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

with

, in 1982,

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

and

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

. He is a member of the

Scottish Football Hall of Fame The Scottish Football Hall of Fame is located at the Scottish Football Museum. Nominations are made each year by fans and a committee selects the inductees. The first inductions to the Hall of Fame were in November 2004 in a ceremony at Hampden Pa ...

, the

Scotland national football team roll of honour The International Roll of Honour is a list established by the Scottish Football Association recognising players who have gained 50 or more international caps for Scotland. The roll of honour was launched in February 1988, when 11 players had alrea ...

and

Scottish Television Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is th ...

's fan poll ''Scotland's Greatest Team''. On the occasion of his 50th cap, against

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

in 1987, McLeish was appointed team captain for the game. His final cap came on 17 February 1993 in a 3–0 win over

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

at Hampden Park during the

1994 World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

qualifiers.

Management career

Motherwell

After his successful playing career he quickly went into football

management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a Government agency, government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includ ...

with Motherwell in 1994, one year before he retired as a player. His first season at Motherwell saw him take the Lanarkshire club to second in the Premier Division behind

Walter Smith Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish association football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow club Rangers. A defender, Smith's playing car ...

's Rangers. However, he failed to build on this success and the next two seasons were spent in relegation battles. He resigned as manager to take over at Hibernian in 1998.

Hibernian

McLeish took over a struggling Hibernian side, which was relegated from the

Scottish Premier Division The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

despite a slight upturn in fortunes under McLeish. He then guided the

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

team back to the Scottish Premier League at the first attempt by winning the First Division championship. Hibernian consolidated in their first season back in the top division, finishing mid-table and reaching the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, In the 2000–01 season, Hibs started very strongly. Eventually they had to settle for third place and a

Scottish Cup final The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the Scottish Cup, is a knockout cup competition in Scottish football. Organised by the Scottish Football Association, it is the third oldest existing football competition in the w ...

appearance. This performance attracted the attention of bigger clubs, including

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

and Rangers. McLeish attracted players such as

Russell Latapy Russell Nigel Latapy CM (born 2 August 1968) is a Trinidadian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, and is currently the assistant coach of Macarthur. In a senior career which spanned more than twenty years at b ...

and former French international

Franck Sauzée Franck Gaston Henri Sauzée (born 28 October 1965) is a French former professional footballer and manager. He played 39 times for the France national team between 1988 and 1993, scoring nine goals and captaining the team several times. He achiev ...

to Hibs. He also helped develop young striker

Kenny Miller Kenneth Miller (born 23 December 1979) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player. Miller, who played as a striker, is one of only five post-war players to have played for both Rangers and Celtic. Miller began his career at ...

, who would later go on to play for Scotland. During this period McLeish worked towards and was awarded a

UEFA Pro Licence UEFA, the governing body for football in Europe, mandates several coaching licences for professional managers, each valid for coaching at a certain level. These include the UEFA Pro Licence, the UEFA A Licence, and the UEFA B Licence. They are is ...

Rangers

His work at Hibs was noticed, and he was linked with several moves to England, before he was appointed as Rangers manager in December 2001 after outgoing Rangers manager

Dick Advocaat Dirk Nicolaas Advocaat (; born 27 September 1947) is a Dutch former football player and coach who is currently the head coach of Eerste Divisie side ADO Den Haag. Advocaat was successful as a football player and as a coach, including three stint ...

recommended McLeish to chairman David Murray. McLeish was an instant success at Rangers, winning both the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, and

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

in his first season, but the big prize of the league title was essentially lost before his arrival. His second season saw him go one better when he won the

domestic treble A treble in association football is achieved when a club team wins three trophies in a single season. A ''continental treble'' involves winning the club's national league competition, main national cup competition, and main continental trophy. A ...

, with the help of players such as

Ronald de Boer Ronaldus de Boer (; born 15 May 1970) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He played for the Netherlands national team as well as a host of professional clubs in Europe. He is the twin brother of Frank de Boe ...

and

Barry Ferguson Barry Ferguson (born 2 February 1978) is a Scottish football coach, former player and pundit who was most recently the manager of Alloa Athletic. Ferguson spent most of his playing career at Rangers, in two spells either side of a £7.5 mill ...

. Rangers' worsening financial state saw many of his top players leave in the summer of 2003. Celtic won the league comfortably in season 2003–04, and Rangers failed to win any trophies. McLeish was consequently put under pressure from fans after his poor signings and a record run of seven consecutive Old Firm derby losses to Celtic. The high-profile Bosman signings of

Jean-Alain Boumsong Jean-Alain Boumsong Somkong (born 14 December 1979) is a French former professional footballer who played as a defender. He began his senior career with French club Le Havre in 1997 before joining AJ Auxerre in 2000. His performances at Auxerre ...

and

Dado Pršo Miladin "Dado" Pršo (born 5 November 1974) is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Pršo played for seven different teams and made over 300 league appearances as a professional. He was included in the Monaco team ...

in the close season of 2004–05 gave Rangers renewed hope of regaining the title from Celtic's grasp. McLeish's team won the 2005 league title on a dramatic last day, an outcome that had looked highly unlikely after Rangers fell five points behind leaders Celtic with just four games remaining. After this unexpected success, McLeish and his Rangers team headed into the 2005–06 SPL campaign as favourites to retain the championship. McLeish made a number of signings, including Julien Rodriguez and Ian Murray, despite having little money to spend. After a reasonable start to the season, including a win over Celtic, Rangers suffered a series of poor results between September and November. This period included a club record of 10 games without a win. However the tenth match of this run, a 1–1 draw with

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

in the Champions League, took Rangers into the knockout stages of the tournament for the first time. Despite the poor domestic form, McLeish guided Rangers to the last 16 of the Champions League, where they were defeated on the away goals rule by

Villarreal Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...

. They became the first Scottish team to progress this far in the European Cup since 1993, and the first Scottish team to progress through a European group stage. In December, chairman David Murray publicly announced his support for McLeish. Rangers then went on a good run of results in December and January. This run of good results came to a sudden halt when they were defeated 3–0 by Hibernian in the Scottish Cup, prompting protests outside Ibrox against both McLeish and David Murray. On 9 February 2006, it was announced by chairman David Murray that McLeish would be standing down as manager at the end of that season. It was later announced that he would be succeeded by former Olympique Lyonnais manager

Paul Le Guen Paul Joseph Marie Le Guen (, ; born 1 March 1964) is a French professional football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Ligue 2 club Le Havre. During his playing career, Le Guen played as a midfielder, and enjoyed a su ...

. Rangers beat Hearts 2–0 at

Ibrox Stadium Ibrox Stadium is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium on the south side of the River Clyde in the Ibrox, Glasgow, Ibrox area of Glasgow, Scotland. The home of Rangers F.C., Rangers Football Club, Ibrox is the third largest List of foot ...

in his final match as manager.

Scotland national team

McLeish said after leaving Rangers that he would not manage another Scottish club, because he felt that he had achieved everything in the Scottish game. He was linked in the media with a number of managerial positions in England while he worked as a television pundit for the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

and

Setanta Sports Setanta Sports is a sports television company based in Dublin, Ireland broadcasting throughout select Eurasian. The company was formed in 1990 to facilitate the broadcasting of Irish sporting events to international audiences. The company previo ...

. McLeish took charge of the Scotland national team on 29 January 2007. His assistants in the job were

Roy Aitken Robert Sime "Roy" Aitken (born 24 November 1958) is a Scottish former football player and manager. He made over 480 league appearances for Celtic, and later played for Newcastle United, St Mirren and Aberdeen. Aitken also made 57 international ...

and Andy Watson. McLeish's first game in charge of the national team was a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying match, a 2–1 victory against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

on 24 March 2007 at Hampden Park. His second game was an away fixture against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

on 28 March 2007 which ended in a 2–0 defeat. McLeish's Scotland side then went on to defeat the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

away in June, Lithuania at home in September before recording a historic victory in Paris four days later by defeating

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

1–0 in the Parc des Princes.

James McFadden James Henry McFadden (born 14 April 1983) is a Scottish football coach and former professional player who played as a forward. McFadden started his playing career with Motherwell, where he came to prominence in the 2002–03 season by scoring ...

's 64th-minute strike from 30 yards was enough to earn Scotland the win and returned them to the top of

Group B Group B was a set of regulations for grand touring (GT) vehicles used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World Sportscar ...

with three games to play. This result has been hailed as one of the Scotland national team's greatest victories. Scotland's next success was at home to

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, winning 3–1 at Hampden on 13 October. McLeish suffered his second defeat as manager, away in Georgia on 17 October. This result left Scotland facing a decider against the World Champions, Italy. Scotland lost the game 2–1, McLeish's last, and Italy qualified for the finals.

Birmingham City

club

's approach to the SFA for permission to speak to McLeish about their managerial vacancy was refused, but on his return on 27 November 2007 from attending the draw for 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification in South Africa, he resigned his post as manager of Scotland and was announced as Birmingham's new manager the following day. His assistants with Scotland, Roy Aitken and Andy Watson, were to accompany him. McLeish said he wanted to return to working with players on a daily basis and had "always harboured a desire" to manage in the Premier League. AlexMcLeish 2009 pre-season cropped

He enjoyed a positive managerial debut with Birmingham, winning 3–2 away to

. In the January 2008

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer wi ...

, McLeish strengthened Birmingham's squad, buying David Murphy and

and signing Argentina under-20 international

Mauro Zárate Mauro Matías Zárate (; born 13 March 1987) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward Argentine Primera División club Club Atlético Platense Zárate started his career with Vélez Sarsfield in his native country, play ...

on loan, while generating funds by allowing fringe players to leave. He was unable to save Birmingham from relegation, despite the team recording an impressive 4–1 victory over

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

on the last day of the season. McLeish changed the club's backroom staff and training procedures, appointed David Watson as goalkeeping coach, and overhauled the scouting setup, bringing in Paul Montgomery – the scout who recommended a relatively unknown Didier Drogba to

– to oversee player recruitment. On the final day of the 2008–09 season, McLeish secured Birmingham's return to the top flight of English football at the first attempt with a 2–1 away victory over

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

. By mid-January 2010, he had guided them to a 12-game unbeaten run, a club record in the top division, set a Premier League record by selecting the same starting eleven for nine consecutive games, and been named

Premier League Manager of the Month The Premier League Manager of the Month is an association football award that recognises the best adjudged Premier League manager each month of the season. The winner is chosen by a combination of an online public vote, which contributes to ...

for December 2009, the first Birmingham manager to receive the award. By the end of the season McLeish had led Birmingham to ninth place, their highest finish for more than 50 years. Following Birmingham's success during the 2009–10 season, McLeish agreed a new three-year deal with the club in September 2010. In February 2011, McLeish led Birmingham to victory in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

, defeating favourites Arsenal 2–1 in

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

in what he described as "relatively speaking, ... isgreatest achievement". However, a poor run of form followed the League Cup win, and Birmingham were relegated to the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

on the last day of the 2010–11 season. The directors confirmed that McLeish would keep his job, and would be expected to return the club to the Premier League at the first opportunity. McLeish however opted to quit Birmingham City on 12 June 2011 by email.

Aston Villa

On 17 June 2011, Aston Villa appointed McLeish as manager, just five days after leaving their local rivals Birmingham City. There was much controversy surrounding his appointment as Birmingham City claimed McLeish was still under contract and filed a complaint against Aston Villa to the Premier League while Villa claimed McLeish was a free agent. Aston Villa fans protested outside

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway station ...

and anti-McLeish graffiti had to be removed from outside Villa's training ground. McLeish made out of favour Manchester City goalkeeper

Shay Given Séamus John James Given (born 20 April 1976) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. With 134 caps, he is the second-highest capped Republic of Ireland player. Given started his career at Celtic, however he neve ...

his first signing, and then recruited winger

Charles N'Zogbia Charles Humphrey N'Zogbia (born 28 May 1986) is a French former professional Association football, footballer who played as a right or left Midfielder#Winger, winger, but also as an Midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfielder. He was ca ...

. McLeish's first competitive game as Villa manager ended in a 0–0 draw with Fulham at

Craven Cottage Craven Cottage is a football ground in Fulham, West London, England, which has been the home of Fulham F.C. since 1896.According to the club'official website The ground's capacity is 22,384; the record attendance is 49,335, for a game against ...

. He gained his first Premier League win as manager of Villa in a 3–1 win over

. Following victory over Blackburn, Villa drew their next four Premier League games until winning against Wigan 2–0. Aston Villa finally ended their unbeaten start with a 4–1 defeat away at Manchester City. McLeish's side secured a surprise win over

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

just before signing LA Galaxy striker Robbie Keane on loan. Keane helped to secure Villa a crucial win against rivals Wolves in a 3–2 victory. McLeish led the 2011–12 Villa team to 16th place in the Premier League, avoiding relegation by two points, and set an unwanted club record of only four home wins. McLeish's contract was terminated on 14 May, the day after the season ended. The reasons cited for his termination were the poor results and style of play used throughout his term as manager.

Nottingham Forest

McLeish was appointed manager of Football League Championship club

on 27 December 2012. His first game in charge was on 29 December 2012, a 2–2 draw against

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

at the

City Ground The City Ground is a football stadium in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been home to Nottingham Forest Football Club since 1898 and has a capacity of 30,445. The stadium was a venue when En ...

, with

Billy Sharp Billy Louis Sharp (born 5 February 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker and captains club Sheffield United. He has also played for Rushden & Diamonds, Scunthorpe United, Southampton, Nottingham Forest, Readin ...

scoring an injury-time equaliser for Nottingham Forest. McLeish earned his first win as Nottingham Forest manager on 12 January 2013, a 2–1 victory against

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

at home. McLeish took charge of his only East Midlands derby against

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

on 19 January 2013, drawing 1–1 at

Pride Park Pride Park is a business park on the outskirts of the city centre of Derby, England. Developed in the 1990s, It covers 80 hectares of former industrial land between the River Derwent and railway lines. Pride Park Stadium and Derby Arena are bot ...

. On 2 February 2013, after a 2–1 defeat to former club Birmingham City on his first return to St Andrew's, he refused to commit his future to Nottingham Forest and claimed he was unhappy. This came after the Nottingham Forest board pulled out of a deal to sign George Boyd on the final day of the January transfer window. On 5 February 2013, he left the club by mutual consent.

Genk

McLeish stated in November 2013 that he would like to re-enter football management in some capacity, in England, Scotland or abroad. In August 2014, he was appointed manager of Belgian club

. McLeish made his managerial debut on 30 August, in which Genk drew Oostende 1–1 away. It was reported in March 2015 that McLeish would leave Genk at the end of the

2014–15 Belgian Pro League The 2014–15 season of the Belgian Pro League (known as the ''Jupiler Pro League'' for sponsorship reasons) is the 112th season of top-tier football in Belgium. It started on 27 July 2014 and finished in May 2015. K.A.A. Gent won the league, ...

season, as the club had failed to qualify for the Championship play-offs, although they did reach Europa League play-offs.

Zamalek

McLeish was appointed manager of Egyptian Premier League club

on 28 February 2016. After a series of poor performances from the team, he was sacked on 2 May with ten matches of the season remaining.

Scotland national team (second spell)

McLeish was reappointed

manager on 16 February 2018, on a two-year contract. Scotland won their

2018–19 UEFA Nations League The 2018–19 UEFA Nations League was the inaugural season of the UEFA Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. The league phase of the competiti ...

group under McLeish, but he was sacked on 18 April 2019 following a 3–0 defeat by

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

Outside of football

McLeish had a cameo appearance in the Laurel and Hardy biopic ''

Stan & Ollie ''Stan & Ollie'' is a 2018 biographical comedy-drama film directed by Jon S. Baird. The script, written by Jeff Pope, was inspired by ''Laurel and Hardy: The British Tours'' by A.J. Marriot which chronicled the later years of the comedy double ...

'', after a chance meeting with director and Aberdeen FC fan

Jon S. Baird Jon S. Baird (born 9 November 1972) is a BAFTA winning Scottish film director. Born and raised in Aberdeenshire, he began his career at BBC Television. Education Baird studied at the University of Aberdeen in the 1990s, where he graduated ...

on a flight. In the film, McLeish can be briefly seen reading a newspaper in the lobby of the

Savoy Hotel The Savoy Hotel is a luxury hotel located in the Strand in the City of Westminster in central London, England. Built by the impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan opera productions, it opened on 6 August ...

behind Steve Coogan. During the 2014 Scottish independence referendum McLeish was a supporter of the Better Together campaign against Scottish independence.

Career statistics

Club

International

Managerial record

Honours

Player

Aberdeen *

: 1979–80, 1983–84, 1984–85 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1989–90; runner-up:

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

: 1985–86, 1989–90; runner-up: 5 times *

: 1982–83 * European Super Cup:

Individual *

: 1987 *

SFWA Footballer of the Year The Scottish Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year (often called the SFWA Footballer of the Year, or simply the Scottish Footballer of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the se ...

: 1990

Manager

Motherwell * Scottish Premier League runner-up: 1994–95 Hibernian *

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as ...

: 1998–99 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2000–01 Rangers *Scottish Premier League: 2002–03, 2004–05; runner-up: 2001–02, 2003–04 *Scottish Cup: 2001–02, 2002–03 *Scottish League Cup: 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05 Birmingham City * Football League Championship runner-up: 2008–09 * Football League Cup:

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

Individual *

: inducted 2005 *Scottish Premier League Manager of the Month: October 2000, February 2002, September 2002, February 2003, August 2003, September 2003, November 2004, February 2005, January 2006 *

December 2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

References

External links

* *
Profile and stats at ''AFC Heritage Trust''International profile at ''Sporting-Heroes.net''SFA manager profileMotherwell manager profileRangers manager profileScottish Football Hall of Fame profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:McLeish, Alex 1959 births 1982 FIFA World Cup players 1986 FIFA World Cup players 1990 FIFA World Cup players Aberdeen F.C. players Association football central defenders Aston Villa F.C. managers Belgian First Division A managers Birmingham City F.C. managers Egyptian Premier League managers English Football League managers Expatriate football managers in Belgium Expatriate football managers in Egypt Hibernian F.C. managers K.R.C. Genk managers Lewis United F.C. players Living people Motherwell F.C. managers Motherwell F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. managers People from Barrhead Premier League managers Rangers F.C. managers Scotland B international footballers Scotland international footballers Scotland national football team managers Scotland under-21 international footballers Scottish expatriate football managers Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Egypt Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductees Scottish Football League managers Scottish Football League players Scottish football managers Scottish footballers Scottish Premier League managers Footballers from Glasgow Zamalek SC managers Sportspeople from East Renfrewshire

Early years

Playing career

Club

International

Management career

Motherwell

Hibernian

Rangers

Scotland national team

Birmingham City

Aston Villa

Nottingham Forest

Genk

Zamalek

Scotland national team (second spell)

Outside of football

Career statistics

Club

International

Managerial record

Honours

Player

Manager

See also

References

External links