John McVeigh (born 25 January 1957) is a Scottish former

professional footballer Association football is the world's most popular sport and is worth US$600 billion worldwide. By the end of the 20th century it was played by over 250 million players in over 200 countries. Around the world, the sport is played at a profes ...

and manager. A

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, he made nearly 300 appearances in the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4&nbs ...

, playing for clubs including

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in the . They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United Football Club ...

, Clyde,

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 ...

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 ...

, and

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

. He also spent a season in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

with Brisbane City. After retiring as a player, McVeigh became a manager, with spells at

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...

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 as a member of the Scottish Professional Football League. The club has won f ...

Albion Rovers Albion Rovers Football Club is a semi-professional football team from Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. They play in the , the fifth tier of the Scottish football league system. Founded in October 1882, the club joined the Scottish Foot ...

Stenhousemuir Stenhousemuir (; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies within the Falkirk council area of Scotland. The town is north-northwest of Falkirk and directly adjoins to Larbert in the west, where the nearest rail access is located ...

, and

Lanark United Lanark United Football Club are a Scottish football (soccer), football club based in the town of Lanark, South Lanarkshire. Nicknamed ''the Yowes'', they were formed in 1920, and play at Moor Park. They currently compete in the and play in blu ...

. His managerial career included a

Fife Cup The Fife Cup is a Scottish regional football competition for clubs in the historic county of Fife. The competition was founded by the Fifeshire Football Association in 1882. The competition was originally known as the "Fifeshire Cup" from 1882� ...

win with Raith Rovers and a

Lanarkshire Cup The Lanarkshire Cup was an annual competition open to football teams in the Lanarkshire area. The competition is now defunct. The Lanarkshire FA was dissolved in June 1999 when it was merged with the Ayrshire and Renfrewshire FAs to form the Wes ...

win with Albion Rovers. McVeigh also made a brief appearance in the film ''A Shot at Glory'' during his time at Raith Rovers.

Playing career

McVeigh started his career with

in 1975, before moving to Australia to play for Brisbane City. He stayed in Australia for a year, before moving back to Scotland to play for Clyde, where he spent four years, captaining the side on several occasions. He had spells at

and

, before retiring from the game and becoming a coach at Falkirk.

Managerial career

McVeigh's first managerial job came with

in 1997, although it ended in relegation to the

Scottish 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 (SF ...

. McVeigh moved to

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 ...

as assistant manager before becoming manager of

in June 1999, although he was sacked within six months amidst accusations of bullying younger players. Later receiving £5,000 after a court rule in his favour, McVeigh joined

, spending two years at

Cliftonhill Cliftonhill Stadium, commonly known as Cliftonhill and currently 'The Reigart Stadium' for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the home ground of former Scottish Professional Football Le ...

before joining

in 2002. Signing a number of players from Albion, McVeigh resigned from Stenhousemuir. In June 2009, McVeigh returned to management with

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., ...

club

. Two months later, McVeigh was involved in an incident in which it was alleged that he hit a referee with a notebook, resulting in a four-year ban. McVeigh resigned from his post shortly after the incident.

Personal life

During his short time at Raith Rovers, McVeigh was one of several footballers to appear in the film '' A Shot at Glory'', featuring

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

actors

Michael Keaton Michael John Douglas (born September 5, 1951), known professionally as Michael Keaton, is an American actor. He has received numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for an Aca ...

and

Robert Duvall Robert Selden Duvall (; born January 5, 1931) is an American actor. With a career spanning seven decades, he is regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. He has received an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a British Academy Film Awards ...

. The film also featured

Ally McCoist Alistair Murdoch McCoist (; born 24 September 1962) is a Scottish former association football, footballer who has since worked as a Manager (association football), manager and TV pundit. McCoist began his playing career with Scottish club St Jo ...

in a lead role, alongside several members of the Rovers squad.

Honours

Manager

;Raith Rovers *

: 1999–00 ;Albion Rovers *

: 2001–02

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McVeigh, John Living people 1957 births Footballers from Coatbridge Scottish men's footballers Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) players Clyde F.C. players Hamilton Academical F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Partick Thistle F.C. managers Raith Rovers F.C. managers Albion Rovers F.C. managers Stenhousemuir F.C. managers Brisbane City FC players Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League managers Scottish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia Men's association football midfielders Scottish football managers Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Australia