Jason Dair (born 15 June 1974) is a Scottish football coach and former professional player who played 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 ...

or full-back. Dair had a spell as

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caret ...

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 18 ...

, after former manager

Colin Nish Colin John Nish (born 7 March 1981) is a Scottish former football player, coach and manager. Nish played for Dunfermline Athletic, Alloa Athletic, Clyde, Kilmarnock, Hibernian, Hartlepool United, Dundee, Dumbarton and Cowdenbeath. Whils ...

was sacked in May 2016. Dair also managed East of Scotland team Dundonald Bluebell before taking up a coaching role at

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish Association football, football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Champ ...

. After a short time away Jason came back into management at East of Scotland side

Hill of Beath Hill of Beath (; sco, Hill o Beath) is a hill and a village in Fife, Scotland, just outside Dunfermline and joined to Cowdenbeath. On 16 June 1670 the Hill of Beath was the location of a celebrated meeting of the Covenanters at which preacher ...

where he was the manager before joining his brother

Lee Dair Lee Dair (born 28 May 1977), is a Scottish former professional footballer. He has played in the Scottish Football League First Division for Raith Rovers and now coaches in the East of Scotland football leagues. Dair is currently the assistant ...

Inverkeithing Inverkeithing ( ; gd, Inbhir Chèitinn) is a port city, port town and parish, in Fife, Scotland, on the Firth of Forth. A town of ancient origin, Inverkeithing was given royal burgh status during the reign of Malcolm IV of Scotland, Malcolm IV ...

as part of the management team in May 2023.

Playing career

Dair, who was born in Dunfermline, began his career in 1991 with local

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross ...

team

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leag ...

. A First Division winner in

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 th ...

, Dair suffered relegation in Raith's first season in the

Premier Division Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of gov ...

. Months into Raith's season back in the First Division, Dair was part of the side that beat

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

to win 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 ...

, ensuring

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, cla ...

football for the following season. Buoyed by the cup success, Raith won the title on the last day of the season and were promoted again at the first attempt. Dair scored Raith's first ever European goal, netting from close range against Faroese team GÍ Gøta and Raith won through the first two rounds to face Bayern Munich, losing 4–1 on aggregate. Unfortunately, Raith suffered domestic relegation again and when manager

Jimmy Nicholl James Michael Nicholl (born 28 December 1956) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played for several clubs, including Manchester United and Rangers. He was mainly a right-back but could also play in other defensive roles. N ...

left in February 1996 to join

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 Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, ea ...

, Dair – along with

Stevie Crawford Stephen Crawford (born 9 January 1974) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player. Crawford started his career with Raith Rovers, with whom he won the 1994 Scottish League Cup final and played in the UEFA Cup. This earned him ...

and David Sinclair – went with him. Dair's time in London was brief and he returned to

Stark's Park Stark's Park is a football stadium in Kirkcaldy, Scotland. It is the home ground of Raith Rovers, who have played there since 1891. The ground has an all-seated capacity of 9000 History Raith started using the ground in 1891 and it seats . ...

within eighteen months. With no trophies during his second spell in

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; sco, Kirkcaldy; gd, Cair Chaladain) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, ...

, Dair moved on in February 1999 to Rovers' rivals Dunfermline, where he would go on to spend four years. Following notice that he was transfer listed along with several other players, Dair was released from

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 Scottish Championship si ...

in September 2003, although he quickly moved to

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lana ...

. Dair joined

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

on a one-year contract at the start of the 2004–05 season, extending his stay by a second year in June 2005. Upon his contract expiry, he was released by Livi and made a brief return to

in September 2006 when he played 72 minutes for Raith as a trialist against

Alloa Alloa (Received Pronunciation ; educated Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; gd, Alamhagh, possibly meaning "rock plain") is a town in Clackmannanshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is on the north bank of the Forth at the spot where ...

. The following week, he moved to East Fife, where he went on to play nine times during the season.

Coaching career

Dair took up a coaching role at East Fife and replaced Scott Crabbe as assistant manager prior to the 2010/11 season. He was appointed manager of Junior club

Oakley United Oakley United Football Club are a Scottish football club based in Oakley, Fife. Formed in 1964, they play their home games at Blairwood Park. The club's colours are maroon and light blue. The team plays in the East of Scotland Football Leagu ...

in May 2012 however he resigned from this position in May 2014. In December 2015, Dair was appointed assistant manager to

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as cinch League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League One was ...

side

, the two having previously played together whilst at

. With Nish being sacked following Cowdenbeath's relegation to

Scottish League Two The Scottish League Two, known as cinch League Two for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League Two was ...

, Dair was appointed

pending the appointment of a new manager. After

Liam Fox Liam Fox (born 22 September 1961) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for International Trade from 2016 to 2019 and Secretary of State for Defence from 2010 to 2011. A member of the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Pa ...

was appointed head coach, Dair left the Blue Brazil at the start of the 2016–17 season. In June 2019, Dair left his position as manager of Dundonald Bluebell to return to former club

with former teammate

as manager. Dair took up the role of first team coach having previously been Crawford's assistant at East Fife. Following the resignation of Crawford in May 2021, Dair also left the club shortly after.

Personal life

He is the nephew of legendary

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

wing half

Jim Baxter James Curran Baxter (29 September 1939 – 14 April 2001) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a left half. He is generally regarded as one of the country's greatest ever players. He was born, educated and started his career in ...

Honours

Raith Rovers *

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 exist ...

: 1994–95 *

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 ...

, 1994–95 East Fife * Fife Cup: 2007–08

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dair, Jason Scottish men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Raith Rovers F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Livingston F.C. players East Fife F.C. players Cowdenbeath F.C. managers Scottish Football League players English Football League players 1974 births Living people Footballers from Dunfermline Scottish Premier League players Scottish football managers