David Norwood McKellar (born 22 May 1956) is a Scottish retired professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

, best remembered for his time as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

with

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

, for whom he made 160 appearances for the club over two spells. In a long career, he played in all four divisions of the English league pyramid and the top three divisions in Scotland. McKellar later managed in Scottish

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

and amateur football.

Club career

Early years

McKellar began his career in his native

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

with junior clubs Saltcoats Victoria and

Kilwinning Rangers Kilwinning Rangers Football Club are a Scottish football club based in the town of Kilwinning, Ayrshire. Formed in 1899, the club competes in the West of Scotland Football League, and are eligible to participate in the Scottish Cup. Nicknamed ...

, securing a move to English

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

club

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

in September 1972, managed by

Bobby Robson Sir Robert William Robson (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009) was an English football player and coach. His career included periods playing for and later managing the England national team and being a UEFA Cup-winning manager at Ipswich Town. ...

. Among his youth teammates were future professionals

George Burley George Elder Burley (born 3 June 1956) is a Scottish former football player and manager. He had a professional career spanning 21 years as a player, making 628 league appearances and earning 11 Scotland caps. His most successful spell came whi ...

, Robin Turner and Eric Gates and they won the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

in 1973. McKellar made 30 appearances for the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

over the next four years and failed to make a first team appearance. McKellar was also sent out on

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

to lower division clubs

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

and

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

and failed to make an appearance for either. He departed

Portman Road Portman Road is a association football, football stadium in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, which has been the home ground of Ipswich Town F.C., Ipswich Town since 1884. The stadium has also hosted many England youth international matches, and one E ...

in May 1976, after suffering from homesickness.

Return to Scotland

McKellar returned to Scotland to sign for Scottish League Premier Division club

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

on 22 May 1976, his 20th birthday. He failed to make a first team appearance and joined

Scottish League Second Division The Scottish Football League Second Division was the third tier of the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The Second Division was created in 1975, as part of a wider reconstruction of the Scottish Football League (SFL ...

club

Forfar Athletic Forfar Athletic Football Club are a Scottish semi-professional football club from the town of Forfar, Angus. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League and currently play in . They play their home games at Station Park, in t ...

in September 1977. He made only one appearance for the club before dropping back into junior football to sign for Ardrossan Winton Rovers in 1977. While with Ardrossan Winton Rovers, Nairn County of the Scottish Highland Football League made enquiries for McKeller but no business was concluded due to the distance involved between McKellers home in Irvine and Nairn in the Highlands.

Derby County

A second chance at

level materialised for McKellar in 1978, in the form of a £2,500 move to First Division club

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

on 8 April 1978. He had to wait until 16 December 1978 to make his debut, which came in a 2–0 defeat to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Highbury Highbury is an area of North London, England, in the London Borough of Islington. Highbury Manor Highbury was once owned by Ranulf, brother of Ilger, and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor hou ...

. He went on to enjoy a run in the team, making 17 appearances in what remained of the 1978–79 season. He played around half the Rams' games during the 1979–80 season, making 26 appearances and keeping 10

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

s, but the campaign ended with relegation to

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. After failing to make an appearance during the first month of the 1980–81 season, McKellar left Derby in September 1980. He made 43 appearances during two years at the

Baseball Ground The Baseball Ground was a stadium in Derby, England, that was first used for baseball, as the home of Derby Baseball Club from 1890 until 1898, and then for football, as the home of Derby County from 1895 until 1997. The club's reserve and yo ...

Brentford

McKellar dropped down to Third Division to sign for

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

for a £25,000 fee in September 1980. He quickly staunched the flow of goals into the Bees' net and made 42 appearances during the 1980–81 season, which included a run of six successive clean sheets in December 1980 through to January 1981. McKellar made a career-high 50 appearances during the 1981–82 season, but fell out with manager Fred Callaghan during the 1982 off-season and had his contract cancelled, though the club held his registration for the duration of the 1982–83 season. McKellar made 96 appearances during just under two years as an active player at

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a association football, football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground was in a predominantly resi ...

Happy Valley

Unable to play within England due to his playing registration still being held by Brentford, McKellar played for

Hong Kong First Division League The Hong Kong First Division League () is the second-highest division in the Hong Kong football league system. Established in 1908, it is the List of oldest football competitions, third oldest in Asia, after Calcutta and Bombay. Moreover, it is ...

club Happy Valley during the 1982–83 season.

Carlisle United

McKellar returned to England to sign for Second Division club

in August 1983 for £4,000 in a part-exchange deal which saw

Trevor Swinburne Trevor Swinburne (born 20 June 1953) is an English retired professional Association football, football Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper who made nearly 250 appearances in the English Football League, Football League for Carlisle Uni ...

move to Brentford. He made 82 league appearances over the course of two seasons, before leaving in 1985. McKellar's 19 clean sheets during the 1983–84 season remains a club record.

Hibernian

McKellar moved to

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

to join Scottish League Premier Division club

Hibernian Hibernian may refer to: * Of Hibernia, Latin name for Ireland; hence ** Irish (disambiguation) Hibernian, Hibernians or The Hibernian may refer to: Sports clubs * Hibernian F.C., a Scottish football club, founded 1875 * Hibernian W.F.C., a Sc ...

on a two-year contract for an £8,000 fee in 1985. Signed as backup for

Alan Rough Alan Roderick Rough (; born 25 November 1951) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He won 53 caps for Scotland and played in two FIFA World Cups. He also had a long club career, principally with Partick This ...

, the move reunited McKellar with Hibs assistant manager

Tommy Craig Thomas Brooks Craig (born 21 November 1950) is a Scottish former football player and coach. Craig had an 18-year playing career as a midfielder, playing over 100 league games for English clubs Sheffield Wednesday and Newcastle United. Towards t ...

, a former teammate at Carlisle United. After playing a few reserve team matches, McKellar walked out on Hibernian and accused the club of not paying his travel or accommodation expenses. Hibernian countered by claiming McKellar failed to show commitment to the club and to relocate to Edinburgh from his

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

home.

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

and

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

made enquiries about signing McKellar, but moves failed to materialise. He had loan spells with English First Division clubs

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

and

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

during the second half of the 1985–86 season, impressing enough to be offered a permanent contract by the latter club, which fell through after the sacking of manager

Willie McFaul William Stewart McFaul (born 1 October 1943), known as Willie or Iam McFaul, is a Northern Irish former football player and now coach. He spent most of his career with Newcastle United. Playing career McFaul was born in Coleraine. He joined ...

Hamilton Academical

McKellar signed for newly promoted Scottish League Premier Division club

Hamilton Academical 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 . They were established in 1874 from the school football team at Hamilto ...

prior to the beginning of the 1986–87 season. He made 41 appearances as the Accies suffered relegation straight back to the

Scottish League First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. It was replaced by the Scottish Championship. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the o ...

. Unable to keep Rikki Ferguson out of the team on a regular basis, McKellar made 16 appearances in the First Division prior to departing

Douglas Park Douglas Park was a football stadium in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, the home ground of Hamilton Academical from 1888 to 1994. The stadium holds the record for Hamilton Academical's largest ever attendance, 28,690 people against Hearts in 193 ...

in early 1988. He made 59 appearances for Hamilton.

Dunfermline Athletic

McKellar moved back up to the Scottish League Premier Division to sign for

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently compete in the after winning the 2022–23 Scottish League One title. Dunfermline play at ...

in early 1988. He made six league appearances in what remained of the 1987–88 season, one of them coming in a famous 2–0 Scottish League Cup fourth round victory over giants Rangers. After failing to make an appearance in the early part of the 1988–89 season and spending time on loan at Fourth Division club

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

, McKellar departed

East End Park East End Park, currently named KDM Group East End Park for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium situated in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland with a seating capacity of . The stadium plays host to the home matches of side, Dunfermline Athle ...

in October 1988.

Return to Carlisle United

McKellar rejoined Carlisle United in October 1988, then languishing in the Fourth Division. He made 34 league appearances during the 1988–89 season for the struggling Cumbrians and won the club's Player of the Year award. After a further 35 league appearances during the 1989–90 season, McKellar departed Brunton Park in March 1990. Across his two spells with Carlisle, McKellar made 163 appearances. In 2009, McKellar was named number 55 on the

News and Star The ''News and Star'' (formerly the ''Evening News and Star'' and ''Cumberland Evening News'') is a local tabloid newspaper in Cumbria. As of 18 October 2018, it belongs to Newsquest who produce several regional newspapers throughout the UK. ...

's Top 100 Carlisle United Players list. Looking back in 2011, McKellar said "I really loved the club, as there was a lovely atmosphere, because we had such a small squad, so we all had to pull together".

Kilmarnock

McKellar returned to Scotland to sign for Second Division club

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

in March 1990 for a £20,000 fee. He made five appearances in what remained of the 1989–90 season, helping Killie over the line to automatic promotion to Division One. He made just one league appearance during the 1990–91 season and departed at the end of the campaign.

Rangers

McKellar moved back up to the Scottish League Premier Division to sign for

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

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

in 1991, as backup for

Andy Goram Andrew Lewis Goram (13 April 1964 – 2 July 2022) was a Scottish footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in Bury, Lancashire, England, he started his career with Oldham Athletic and Hibernian, but he is best remembered for playing for ...

. He failed to make an appearance during the 1991–92 season, but received a small taste of

European football UEFA competitions (), referred improperly by the mass media as European football, are the set of tournaments organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), generally in professional and amateur association football and futsal. T ...

for the only time in his career, when he was an unused substitute during both legs of Rangers'

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

first round matches against

Sparta Prague Athletic Club Sparta Praha (), commonly known as Sparta Prague and Sparta Praha, is a professional football club based in Prague. It is the most successful club in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful in central Europe, winning t ...

. McKellar retired from football at the end of the season.

International career

McKellar represented the Scotland U18 team at an U18 European Championship in the 1970s.

Management and coaching career

After retiring from football, McKellar became a manager, managing Scottish junior and amateur clubs

Kilbirnie Ladeside Kilbirnie Ladeside Football Club are a Scottish football (soccer), football club, from Kilbirnie, North Ayrshire. Based at Valefield Park, they currently play in the West of Scotland Football League. Their main rivals are Beith Juniors F.C., Be ...

, Largs Thistle, Saltcoats Victoria, Androssan Winton Rovers, Ardeer Thistle, Petershill and Irvine Meadow XI. McKellar turned down an offer from his former Rangers manager Walter Smith to become goalkeeping coach at

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club Everton, during Smith's tenure as manager of the club.

Personal life

As of 2011, McKellar was a grandfather and working in

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

Career statistics

Honours

Player of the Season: 1988–89

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKellar, David 1956 births Scottish men's footballers Brentford F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football goalkeepers Saltcoats Victoria F.C. players Kilwinning Rangers F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Dundee United F.C. players Footballers from Irvine, North Ayrshire Scottish Football League players Forfar Athletic F.C. players Ardrossan Winton Rovers F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Happy Valley AA players Hong Kong First Division League players Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Hong Kong Scottish expatriate men's footballers Carlisle United F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Hamilton Academical F.C. players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Scotland men's youth international footballers Living people