Francis McLintock (born 28 December 1939) is a Scottish former
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 ...
, football manager and businessman.
He also worked as a sports agent and football pundit in his later life.
He began his career in
Scottish Junior football with
Shawfield, before earning a professional contract with English
First Division club
Leicester City in December 1956. He played in two
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
final defeats before he was sold 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 ...
for £80,000 in October 1964. He had a poor start to his career at Arsenal, though he did feature in two
League Cup final defeats, but he found success at the club after being switched from
right-half to
centre-half in 1969. Appointed as captain he led the club to their first European trophy, the
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, most commonly referred to as the Fairs Cup and sometimes as the European Fairs Cup or Fairs Cities' Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The Fairs Cup was the idea of FIFA vice-presid ...
in
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...
. The following season, 1970–71, he captained Arsenal to
the Double, as they won the league and the FA Cup. He was sold to
Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...
in June 1973 for a fee of £25,000, and helped the club to finish as First Division runners-up in 1975–76, before he announced his retirement in May 1977. He scored a total of 66 goals in 766 league and cup games in a 20-year professional career, and won nine caps for
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 ...
in an eight-year international career.
McLintock was appointed manager of Leicester City in June 1977, but resigned in April 1978 with the club heading out of the First Division. After a spell coaching at QPR, he returned to management with
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 ...
in February 1984. He took the ''Bees'' to the
1985 Football League Trophy Final, before he resigned in January 1987. He later worked as assistant manager at
Millwall, before becoming a sports agent and football pundit.
McLintock was appointed a
Member of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(MBE) in the
1972 New Year Honours.
Early life
McLintock was born in Sandyfaulds Street,
Glasgow
Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
, and brought up in the
Oatlands area of the
Gorbals
The Gorbals is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, and former burgh, on the south bank of the River Clyde. By the late 19th century, it had become densely populated; rural migrants and immigrants were attracted by the new industries and e ...
. He was the son of Catherine, a cleaner, and Archie McLintock, a casual labourer, and grew up in poverty with elder sister Jean. He was brought up
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
and attended the local Catholic school, St Bonaventure's. He hated the
sectarianism in Glasgow.
Club career
McLintock started his semi-professional career at the age of 15 in the
Scottish Juniors with his local club,
Shawfield. He worked during the week as an apprentice
painter and decorator. He soon began attracting interest from Scottish and English clubs, but decided to join an English club as he did not want to join a Scottish club only to be sent back on loan in the Junior leagues to gain experience.
Leicester City
He had a successful trial with
Leicester City in December 1956, and was offered a part-time contract on his 17th birthday, with Shawfield receiving a £400 fee. At his mother's insistence, he continued his painting and decorating apprenticeship in Leicester, and would continue in the trade alongside playing football for the next five years. He found it easy to settle at the club as manager
Dave Halliday and a total of 27 players and trainers at
Filbert Street were Scottish. He was initially quite short but experienced a growth spurt, and gained extra leg muscles as he cycled to and from work and training. In fact McLintock's initial physique meant Halliday was keen to terminate his contract, but he was persuaded not to by coach
Matt Gillies, who had witnessed the extra training McLintock put in every day. In his spare time he also trained with his left foot to become a two-footed player.
Gillies replaced Halliday as manager, and handed McLintock his debut eight games into the
1959–60 season, a 3–3 draw with
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...
at
Bloomfield Road
Bloomfield Road is a association football, football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C., Blackpool Football Club since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two be ...
. He kept his first team place and picked up two-man of the match awards but after a mistimed tackle on
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 ...
's
Jackie Henderson he was initially diagnosed with extensive cartilage damage in his right knee and was scheduled in for a risky surgical procedure, but after demanding a second opinion he was diagnosed with a sprain and was sidelined for sixteen weeks. He returned to action in February after replacing new signing
Ian White in the starting eleven, and scored his first goal for the ''Foxes'' in a 3–1 victory over
Manchester United
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
.
He was still struggling with his knee so missed the start of the
1960–61 season, but was returned to the starting line-up in September as City began to put a good set of results together, beating Manchester United 6–0, Arsenal home and away, and putting five goals past both
West Ham United
West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...
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 ...
. They went on to reach the
1961 FA Cup final against
Tottenham Hotspur at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...
; the day before the final McLintock painted a cellar as part of his painting and decorating job. An injury sustained by
Len Chalmers early in the game meant that McLintock was shifted from right-half to fill in at right-back, and ten-men Leicester fell to a 2–0 defeat. In the summer he qualified as a painter and decorator, and immediately quit his job to focus on full-time football.
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
manager
Bill Shankly
William Shankly (2 September 1913 – 29 September 1981) was a Scottish association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager who is best known for his time as manager of Liverpool F.C., Liverpool. Shankly brought su ...
made a transfer bid for him, but was rebuffed by the Leicester board, as was
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system.
Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...
manager
Don Revie.
The
1961–62 campaign represented a step back for Leicester as they dropped eight places down to 14th place. Injury meant McLintock featured in only one
European Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...
game, a 1–1 home draw with eventual winners
Atlético Madrid
Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...
, and prevented him from playing in the reverse fixture at the
Estadio Metropolitano de Madrid, which Madrid won. In the summer, McLintock and goalkeeper
Gordon Banks refused to sign new contracts at the club as they demanded a £10 a week raise to £30 a week – the pair were vilified in the local press to such an extent that McLintock went into the offices of the ''
Leicester Mercury'' to forcibly put his case across to the sports editor – and eventually after three months they settled for £28 a week.
During the
1962–63 season he forged an effective half-back partnership with
Colin Appleton and
Ian King and was part of the revered "Ice Kings" team which won a series of games over the course of the
brutal winter and came within nine points of winning
the Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...
. City were top of the
First Division with five games to go but picked up only one point from these final five games. They also had an excellent run in the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
to reach the
1963 FA Cup final, and were installed as favourites ahead of Manchester United. However McLintock and his teammates were poor on the day, and United won the match 3–1. Having been on course for the
Double
Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to:
Mathematics and computing
* Multiplication by 2
* Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length
* A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1
* A ...
in April, Leicester ended May with a fourth-place finish and as runners-up in the cup.
Early in the
1964–65 season, McLintock was still unhappy with his contract at Leicester City and with what he perceived to be the club's lack of ambition. Despite the board relenting and offering him £80 a week to sign a new contract, he had already made up his mind to leave the club in favour of the chance to win "cups and caps" elsewhere and put in a formal transfer request.
Arsenal
In October 1964, McLintock was signed by Arsenal for a
club record £80,000. He endured a poor début at
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 ...
, mishitting a back-pass to allow
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football.
Founde ...
's
John Barnwell – who ironically had been sold by Arsenal to finance McLintock's transfer – to score an easy goal. He found that manager
Billy Wright had no identifiable system of play and McLintock soon regretted joining the club as his first four games all ended in defeat. He was in poor form in the 1964–65,
1965–66 and
1966–67 seasons but remained a regular first team player as the ''Gunners'' struggled in mid-table. He insisted that the club change strip from red and white to all red so as to rid the team of the stigma of failing to live up to the highly successful red and white Arsenal teams of previous years; the experiment lasted for just the 1966–67 season before Arsenal reverted to red and white. Dissatisfied with the club's management, he put in a transfer request, which was denied by the board.
The new management duo of
Bertie Mee and
Dave Sexton
David James Sexton (6 April 1930 – 25 November 2012) was an English football manager and player. He was notable for managing Chelsea to their first European trophy.
Playing career
Son of former professional boxer Archie Sexton, he st ...
began to slowly turn the team around, and Arsenal improved to ninth place by the
1967–68 campaign. After Sexton's departure,
Don Howe
Donald Howe (12 October 1935 – 23 December 2015) was an English football player, coach, manager and pundit. As a right back Howe featured for clubs West Bromwich Albion and Arsenal together with the England national football team in his pla ...
was promoted to first team coach and continued to improve the team's training methods. They reached the
League Cup final at Wembley Stadium in
1968
Events January–February
* January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously.
* January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...
, but were beaten 1–0 by Leeds United, with Arsenal having an equalising goal ruled out after McLintock was judged to have fouled goalkeeper
Gary Sprake. In the summer, he was named as
Arsenal's Player of the Year and his initial four-year contract came to an end.
He was appointed as team captain for the
1968–69 season, taking over from
Terry Neill, and signed a new four-year contract. For the second successive season, Arsenal reached the
League Cup final, and as opponents
Swindon Town
Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system.
Founded as Swindon A ...
were from the
Third Division, McLintock expected that he would finally secure a trophy on his fourth visit to Wembley. However, Swindon won 3–1 after extra-time and McLintock blamed an
influenza
Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These sympto ...
outbreak that affected him and five other teammates on the day and also blamed the
Horse of the Year Show for ruining the pitch. The disappointment did not detract from their league form however, and they secured a place in the
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, most commonly referred to as the Fairs Cup and sometimes as the European Fairs Cup or Fairs Cities' Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The Fairs Cup was the idea of FIFA vice-presid ...
with a fourth-place finish.
He started the
1969–70 season at centre-half after initially filling in at the position for an injured
Peter Simpson towards the end of the previous campaign; this in turn allowed
George Graham to move back and play in midfield. McLintock and Simpson formed a highly effective centre-back partnership, and soon mastered the offside trap. In Europe, he missed the first two rounds due to injury, before returning to the starting eleven for victories over
Rouen
Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...
(France),
FCM Bacău (
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
) and
Ajax
Ajax may refer to:
Greek mythology and tragedy
* Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea
* Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris
* Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...
(Netherlands) to reach
the final against Belgian club
Anderlecht
Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...
. Arsenal lost 3–1 in the first leg at
Constant Vanden Stock Stadium as Anderlecht outplayed them. They turned the tie around at Highbury though and won the game 3–0 and the tie 4–3 to secure the club's first major trophy in 17 years.
He captained Arsenal to the Double in the
1970–71 season, in what was only the fourth time the feat had been accomplished in the history of the Football League. Aside from a 5–0 defeat to
Stoke City, Arsenal built their success on a solid defence, and claimed ten 1–0 victories during the campaign. They secured the title with a 1–0 victory over
North London derby
The North London derby is the meeting of the association football clubs Arsenal F.C., Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur, both of which are based in North London, England. Fans of both clubs consider the other to be their main ...
rivals Tottenham Hotspur at
White Hart Lane
White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...
,
Ray Kennedy
Raymond Kennedy (28 July 1951 – 30 November 2021) was an English Association football, footballer who won every domestic honour in the game with Arsenal F.C., Arsenal and Liverpool F.C., Liverpool in the 1970s and early 1980s. Kennedy playe ...
scoring the winning goal. In the
FA Cup final
The FA Cup Final is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...
, they beat Liverpool 2–1 after extra-time, with
Charlie George scoring the winning goal. To complete the campaign, McLintock was named as
FWA Footballer of the Year.
McLintock later said that Arsenal were never the same force after Don Howe left to manage
West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...
in the summer of 1971, and that complacency crept into the squad. He felt that new coach
Steve Burtenshaw was not tough enough on the squad and failed to keep the players focused. The pressing game was abandoned to suit new record signing
Alan Ball, who was talented but did not fit the style of play that had brought the team success. McLintock held a clear the air meeting with the players in January, and asked the coaching staff not to attend, and though the team accepted that their standards had fallen the meeting still did not have the desired effect of improving performances. They exited the
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 ...
at the hands of Ajax, McLintock giving away a disputed penalty at the
Olympic Stadium
''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports ...
. They ended the
1971–72 league campaign in fifth place, six points behind champions
Derby County. Arsenal did reach the
FA Cup final
The FA Cup Final is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...
, but were beaten 1–0 by Leeds United.
He was dropped midway through the
1972–73 campaign, and reacted badly to the news by exploding with anger towards Mee. He returned to the first team in February following an injury to
Jeff Blockley, but was told by Mee his return was only temporary. He made a formal transfer request in March 1973, and in doing so gave up the chance to be granted a testimonial game for ten years' service to the club.
Queens Park Rangers
McLintock was signed by
Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...
in June 1973 for a fee of £25,000; he chose to join QPR ahead of West Bromwich Albion as he wanted to remain in the First Division. He spent the
1973–74 season in a centre-back partnership with
Terry Mancini, in front of goalkeeper
Phil Parkes and flanked by full-backs
Dave Clement and
Ian Gillard, and helped Rangers to an eighth-place finish in manager
Gordon Jago's last season in charge.
Dave Sexton
David James Sexton (6 April 1930 – 25 November 2012) was an English football manager and player. He was notable for managing Chelsea to their first European trophy.
Playing career
Son of former professional boxer Archie Sexton, he st ...
took charge from the
1974–75 campaign, and signed
David Webb to replace Mancini who had moved on to Arsenal. McLintock enjoyed his time at
Loftus Road
Loftus Road, currently known as MATRADE Loftus Road Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Shepherd's Bush, West London, Greater London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers F.C., Queens Park Rangers Football Club, w ...
and said that during the
1975–76 season, Rangers "were by miles the best football team in the country". By March 1976, Rangers were in a two-way battle for the league title with Liverpool, and with three games to go they could win the league with three victories. However, they were beaten by
Norwich City and Liverpool won their remaining fixtures to become champions. He made 53 appearances in the
1976–77 campaign, before announcing his retirement in May 1977.
International career
McLintock made his debut for
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 ...
in a 4–3 defeat to
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
on 4 June 1963, replacing
Dave Mackay on 78 minutes. In his third appearance for Scotland, against
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
on 13 June, he scored one of the goals in a 6–2 win. However, he rarely featured after this game as Mackay,
Paddy Crerand,
John Greig,
Bobby Murdoch,
Pat Stanton and
Billy Bremner
William John Bremner (9 December 1942 – 7 December 1997) was a Scottish professional Association football, footballer who played for Leeds United F.C., Leeds United, Hull City A.F.C., Hull City, and the Scotland national football team, Scot ...
were all preferred ahead of him at right-half.
Managerial career
Leicester City
McLintock joined his first club
Leicester City as manager in June 1977, succeeding
Jimmy Bloomfield who took the ''Foxes'' to an 11th-place finish in 1976–77. He sold striker
Frank Worthington to
Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...
for £20,000 as the player needed a signing on fee and higher wages to avoid bankruptcy. He signed
Alan Waddle in his place, who scored only one league goal for the club. He signed
Eddie Kelly,
David Webb,
George Armstrong,
Geoff Salmons and
Lammie Robertson, all of whom were coming to the end of their careers. He spent £250,000 on
Roger Davies, who also flopped at Filbert Street. City went through a spell where they had one win in 26 matches.
He resigned in April 1978, with relegation into the
Second Division all but confirmed.
He worked as a pundit for the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
, before making his return to coaching when
Terry Venables appointed him as a youth team coach at
Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...
in December 1982.
Brentford
He was appointed as manager of
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 ...
in February 1984, with the ''Bees'' second-from-bottom in the Third Division.
His more successful signings included defender
Terry Evans, midfielder
Andy Sinton and forward
Robbie Cooke.
He took Brentford to
the final of the
Football League Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...
in 1985, where they were beaten 3–1 by
Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, they have p ...
.
He resigned in January 1987, and was replaced by
Steve Perryman.
He worked as assistant manager to
John Docherty at
Millwall from July 1987 to February 1990, helping the ''Lions'' to win promotion as champions of the Second Division in
1987–88.
Later and personal life
McLintock found success as an
after dinner speaker, and as a pundit for
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...
and at
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...
where he spent 12 years working with
Rodney Marsh,
George Best
George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional association football, footballer who played as a winger (association football), winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United F.C., Manchester Un ...
and
Clive Allen. He also worked as a
sports agent
A sports agent is a legal representative (hence agent (law), agent) for professional sports figures such as athletes and coaches. They procure and negotiate employment and Testimonial, endorsement contracts for the principal (commercial law), at ...
in the 1990s. In 2000, he helped form and began running H&M Security Services Ltd, with two partners, a company providing private security for a wealth of blue chip clients, only resigning as a Director in 2019 on the death of his wife.
He maintained his love of
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 ...
with a corporate box at
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 ...
, upgrading, when they moved across the railway tracks to the
Emirates Stadium
The Emirates Stadium (known as Arsenal Stadium for UEFA competitions) is a association football, football stadium in Holloway, London, England. It has been the home stadium of Arsenal F.C., Arsenal Football Club since its completion in 2006. ...
, the former captain is recognised as a true club supporter. He was an astute businessman, buying a pub, and became an investor in prime residential property originally in his playing days his interest continued and he focused on the buy-to-let sector.
From 1963 to 2019, McLintock was married to Barbara Warner,
a native of Leicester.
The couple had four sons.
He has written two autobiographies, the first, ''That's The Way The Ball Bounces'' in 1969 and subsequently, ''True Grit'' in 2006.
Career statistics
Club
International
Honours
Leicester City
*
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
runner-up:
1960–61,
1962–63
Arsenal
*
Football League First Division
The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...
:
1970–71
*FA Cup:
1970–71;
runner-up:
1971–72
*
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup
The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, most commonly referred to as the Fairs Cup and sometimes as the European Fairs Cup or Fairs Cities' Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The Fairs Cup was the idea of FIFA vice-presid ...
:
1969–70
Individual
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Arsenal Player of the Season:
1968
Events January–February
* January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously.
* January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...
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FWA Footballer of the Year:
1971 *
The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...
*''Rothmans Golden Boots Awards'': 1971
*
English Football Hall of Fame
The English Football Hall of Fame is housed at the National Football Museum in Manchester, England. The Hall aims to celebrate and highlight the achievements of the all-time top English footballing talents, as well as non-English players and man ...
inductee: 2009
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Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductee: 2011
See also
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List of Scotland national football team captains
This article lists all the captain (association football), captains of the men's Scotland national football team. As of 9 June 2025, Scotland have played 842 officially recognised international matches and have had 156 different team captains. An ...
References
;Specific
;General
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:McLintock, Frank
1939 births
Living people
Footballers from Glasgow
People from Gorbals
Scottish men's footballers
Scotland men's under-23 international footballers
Scotland men's international footballers
Men's association football midfielders
Men's association football central defenders
Scottish Junior Football Association players
Shawfield F.C. players
Leicester City F.C. players
Arsenal F.C. players
Queens Park Rangers F.C. players
English Football League players
Scottish football managers
Leicester City F.C. managers
Brentford F.C. managers
English Football League managers
Queens Park Rangers F.C. non-playing staff
Millwall F.C. non-playing staff
English Football Hall of Fame inductees
Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductees
Members of the Order of the British Empire
House painters
British sports agents
20th-century Scottish autobiographers
21st-century Scottish autobiographers