John Livingstone "Ian" McMillan (18 March 1931 – 16 February 2024) was a Scottish

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 ...

who played as an

inside forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

for Airdrieonians, Rangers and the Scotland national team.

Club career

McMillan was born in Airdrie. Nicknamed "The Wee Prime Minister" (he shared a variant of his surname with the incumbent of the era),Hall of Fame , Ian McMillan
Rangers FC he started his career with local club Airdrieonians in 1948 where he would go on to become a club legend.Greatest XI
, Airdrieonians FC He scored 102 goals in 249 league appearances over ten years for the club in this spell, in the role of scheming inside-forward (a creative midfield position in today's football parlance). McMillan was at Rangers from 1958 until 1964, making 127 league appearances and 200 in all competitions, including the 1961 European Cup Winners' Cup Final. The ''Gers'' lost out in that tie to

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

, but his spell was otherwise very successful, featuring four Scottish League titles ( 1958–59, 1960–61, 1962–63 and 1963–64), three

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

and

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

), and two from the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports 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 ...

(

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

and

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

). Despite his prominent role at a major club, he also continued to work in his other profession as a mining

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

as he had done as a part-time player. He studied geology as a student at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. McMillan returned to Airdrieonians in 1964 where he would remain for a further two years, though affected by injuries.

International career

McMillan was capped six times by the Scotland national team between 1952 and 1961, scoring twice – both against the

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in April 1952. McMillan was in Scotland's 22-man 1954 World Cup squad, but the SFA decided to take only 13 of the group to the finals, with McMillan staying at home on reserve with the likes of Bobby Combe and Jimmy Binning (inside forward George Hamilton was also on reserve, but travelled after Bobby Johnstone withdrew through injury). He was also the last surviving player of the squad.

Later life and death

McMillan later managed Airdrieonians between 1970 and 1976, taking them to 1975 Scottish Cup Final. He was latterly ''Honorary president'' of the current Airdrieonians, a club that was formed as 'Airdrie United' after the original Airdrieonians went out of business in 2002. Ian McMillan died 16 February 2024, at the age of 92. He was the grandfather of Iain Russell.

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each McMillan goal.''

Honours

* Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductee: 2018

References

External links

*
International stats
at Londonhearts.com {{DEFAULTSORT:McMillan, Ian 1931 births 2024 deaths Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's international footballers Scottish football managers Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) players Rangers F.C. players Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) managers 1954 FIFA World Cup players Scotland men's B international footballers Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League representative players Footballers from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire Men's association football inside forwards Scottish Football League managers Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductees