John McKeand "Ian" McNeill (24 February 1932 – 6 October 2017) was a Scottish 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 ...

and manager. Playing at

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 ...

, McNeill started his career at

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

, making his first team debut in January 1951. McNeill moved to England in 1956, and went on to play for

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

and

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

. He returned to Scotland to join Ross County, then a Highland League club, initially as a player before taking over as manager the following season. He led the club to their first ever Highland League Championship in 1967. He then became manager of

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 ...

, then a

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

club, in 1968. McNeill then managed

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

in the Southern League, before returning for a second spell at Ross County in 1971. In 1976 he rejoined Wigan Athletic, and led the club into the Football League in 1978. In 1981 he became assistant manager to

John Neal John Neal (August 25, 1793 – June 20, 1876) was an American writer, critic, editor, lecturer, and activist. Considered both eccentric and influential, he delivered speeches and published essays, novels, poems, and short stories between the 1 ...

at Chelsea. When Neal was sidelined with ill-health during the 1984–85 season, McNeill also took temporary charge of first team affairs. He returned to management in 1987, this time with

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

and remained until 1990. After this he became assistant manager to

Bruce Rioch Bruce David Rioch (; born 6 September 1947) is a British football manager and former player for the Scotland national team. His last managerial post was at AaB in the Danish Superliga in 2008. As a player, he made more than 550 appearances in ...

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

, and later worked as a scout for

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 ...

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 ...

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

, Wigan Athletic and Chelsea. He retired from the sport in 2006 and returned to Scotland.

Playing career

McNeill was born on 24 February 1932, and grew up in the

Baillieston Baillieston () is a working class suburb of Glasgow, Scotland. It is about east of the city centre. It also gives its name to Ward 20 of Glasgow City Council and forms part of the Glasgow East constituency of the UK Parliament. Geographical ...

area of

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 ...

. He was scouted by

whilst playing for

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., ...

side Bridgeton Waverley and the Scotland under-18 youth team, and joined the club as a part-time player in 1949 while continuing his apprenticeship as a draughtsman. He made his first team debut in January 1951 against St Mirren, scoring his first goal for the club within ten minutes in a 1–1 draw. His playing career at Aberdeen was interrupted by

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

, which he spent in

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

for 18 months before returning to the club in 1955. He struggled to break into the first team, and in 1956 he moved to England to join

. He scored 18 goals in his first full season at Leicester, helping the club win promotion to the

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 ...

. In 1957–58, McNeill scored the only goal in a 1–0 win in the final game of the season against

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional 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. The team compete in the ...

, ensuring the club avoided relegation. He made 72 appearances for the club before joining

in March 1959. He went on to play for

before finishing his playing career in Scotland with Highland League side Ross County.

Coaching career

McNeill was appointed as manager at Ross County while still playing for the club, and managed the team when they won the Highland League for the first time in 1967. He then had a couple of spells with English non-league clubs, first with

side

, followed by

in the Southern League. He returned to Ross County before re-joining Wigan Athletic in 1976. In 1978, he took Wigan to 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 ...

for the first time after the club were elected to replace

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

. The club went on to finish in the top six for the first two seasons in the Fourth Division. In 1981, he joined Chelsea as assistant manager to former Southend United teammate

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McNeill, Ian 1932 births 2017 deaths Footballers from Glasgow People from Baillieston Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's youth international footballers Scottish Junior Football Association players Bridgeton Waverley F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Scottish football managers Shrewsbury Town F.C. managers Southend United F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. managers Salisbury City F.C. managers Chelsea F.C. non-playing staff Millwall F.C. non-playing staff Bolton Wanderers F.C. non-playing staff Ross County F.C. players Ross County F.C. managers Leeds United F.C. non-playing staff Norwich City F.C. non-playing staff Men's association football inside forwards Highland Football League managers 20th-century Scottish sportsmen