Kenneth McDowall (born 29 July 1963) is a Scottish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player.

Playing career

During his playing career, McDowall played for

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 ...

and St Mirren; he was top scorer for formative club Partick in 1983–84 when playing as a striker after replacing his friend

Mo Johnston Maurice John Giblin Johnston (born 13 April 1963) is a Scottish former football player and coach. Johnston, who played as a forward, started his senior football career with Partick Thistle in 1981. He moved to Watford in 1983, where he scored ...

who had left the ''Jags'' for England a year earlier, and after transferring to St Mirren soon afterwards (involving a £30,000 cash-plus-player deal involving Alan Logan) he featured in the 1987 Scottish Cup Final as the ''Buddies'' defeated

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

1–0. Later converting to 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 ...

(and deputising in an emergency for injured goalkeeper Campbell Money), he made a total of 291 appearances for St Mirren before retiring due to injury in 1993, and was rewarded with a testimonial in 1996 after twelve years service at the Paisley club, including the last three as coach and assistant manager.

Coaching career

After his playing career, he went into coaching and was appointed youth and reserve coach at

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 Foot ...

in 1997. After ten years at Celtic, McDowall switched to Glasgow rivals Rangers, working alongside manager

Walter Smith Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow club Rangers. A defender, Smith's playing career consiste ...

and assistant manager

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 ...

. At the end of the 2010–11 season and with Smith's departure, McDowall went from being first team coach to assistant manager under McCoist. After McCoist was placed on

gardening leave Garden leave (also known as gardening leave) is the practice whereby an employee leaving a job – having resigned or otherwise had their employment terminated – is instructed to stay away from work during the notice period, while still remaini ...

on 21 December 2014, McDowall was given control of the first team until the end of the 2014–15 season. His first game in charge of Rangers was a 4–0 defeat against Hibernian at Easter Road. On 19 January, McDowall stated his intention to resign. Rangers said that he would work a 12-month notice period before leaving the club. McDowall left Rangers in March 2015, soon after a new board of directors had taken control.

Managerial statistics

References

External links

*
Profile at rangers.co.uk
1963 births Living people Footballers from Glasgow Men's association football midfielders Scottish men's footballers Scottish Football League players Partick Thistle F.C. players St Mirren F.C. players Celtic F.C. non-playing staff Rangers F.C. non-playing staff Drumchapel Amateur F.C. players St Mirren F.C. non-playing staff 20th-century Scottish sportsmen {{scotland-footy-midfielder-1960s-stub