Neil Doherty McCann (born 11 August 1974) 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 ...

pundit, former professional

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

and former

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. He has recently worked as a pundit for

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...

Sportscene ''Sportscene'' is the name of a range of Scottish sports television programmes produced by BBC Scotland. History ''Sportscenes predecessors were ''Sports Special from Scotland'' and ''Sportsreel'', which was broadcast every Saturday at around ...

and is currently a member of the coaching team at Rangers F.C. A

left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, his playing career saw him represent

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

(two spells), Heart of Midlothian (two spells), Rangers,

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

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 played 26 times for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. After working as a pundit for

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

he was appointed manager of

in 2017 before being sacked in October 2018. He took on the role of caretaker manager of Inverness Caledonian Thistle in 2021. On 24 February 2025, it was announced that McCann would join the coaching staff at Rangers for the remainder of the ongoing season.

Club career

McCann started his career with

before moving on to Heart of Midlothian in 1996. He helped the Tynecastle side win the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Rangers later that year for £1.9 million, becoming the club's first major Scottish Catholic signing since

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 ...

. He scored two goals in a 3–0 win for Rangers against their arch-rivals

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 ...

on 2 May 1999, which clinched the

1998–99 Scottish Premier League The 1998–99 Scottish Premier League season (also known as the 1998–99 Bank of Scotland Scottish Premier League for sponsorship reasons from 11 March) was the inaugural season of Scottish Premier League football, the top division of Football in ...

title. McCann left Rangers in 2003, as the club were forced to sell him due to financial problems. Speaking in February 2019, McCann said that he had been subject to sectarian abuse from Celtic fans that stemmed from his decision to sign for Rangers. He joined

on 5 August 2003, for £1.5 million. A series of injuries made it difficult for him to maintain his place in the team. McCann scored one goal for Southampton, in a League Cup tie against

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

. His contract with Southampton was terminated by mutual consent in January 2006. On 17 January 2006, McCann rejoined Hearts. He sustained a medial knee ligament injury while playing in his first match after returning to Hearts, which meant that he missed the rest of the 2005–06 season (including the 2006 Scottish Cup Final). McCann played in 28 games during the 2006–07 season, but then suffered a double leg break during a game at

Celtic Park Celtic Park is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium and the home of Scottish Premiership team Celtic F.C., Celtic, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest List of football stadiums in Sco ...

on 25 August 2007. On 14 May 2008 it was announced that McCann had signed for

. He scored on his Falkirk debut, against former club Hearts, and then scored in League Cup ties against Queen of the South and

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

. His last appearance for Falkirk was in the 2009 Scottish Cup Final. McCann was released on 22 August 2009 after managerial changes at Falkirk, with outgoing manager

John Hughes John Hughes may refer to: Arts and Entertainment Literature *John Hughes (poet) (1677–1720), English poet *John Hughes (1790–1857), English author *John Ceiriog Hughes (1832–1887), Welsh poet *John Hughes (writer) (born 1961), Australian au ...

(the manager that signed him) being replaced by Eddie May. On 12 February 2011, McCann came out of retirement to help Dundee stave-off relegation from the First Division. He scored a last minute goal in his first appearance, against Raith Rovers. McCann was inducted into the Dundee FC Hall of Fame in 2016.

International career

McCann made his full international debut for Scotland on 5 September 1998, coming on as a late substitute for

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 goalless draw against

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. His first appearance in the starting line-up was on 31 March 1999 in a 2–1 home defeat to the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. McCann scored three goals for Scotland, including two in

UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying Qualification for the 2004 UEFA European Championship took place between September 2002 and November 2003. Fifty teams were divided into ten groups, with each team playing the others in their group twice, once at home and once away. The top te ...

matches against the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He made 26 appearances for Scotland, with his last coming in a 1–1 draw with the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in November 2005.

Coaching career

Dunfermline

McCann joined

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 a coach in July 2012, initially on a voluntary basis. The club entered

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...

in March 2013 and suffered a second successive relegation. When Dunfermline exited administration in December 2013, manager Jim Jefferies and McCann were both offered new contracts. Jefferies retired early in December 2014, leaving McCann and John Potter in charge of the team. On 30 April 2015, McCann decided to leave Dunfermline.

Dundee manager

McCann's first managerial position came at

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

side

, where he was appointed on an interim basis on 18 April 2017. McCann oversaw five matches for his former team, securing the side's place in the top tier of Scottish football. Dundee announced on 29 May that McCann would leave the club, then had an approach for Jack Ross rejected by St Mirren. On 1 June, McCann was appointed Dundee manager on a permanent basis. He was sacked by the club on 16 October 2018, with Dundee bottom of the 2018–19 Scottish Premiership after collecting just three points from eight games.

Inverness caretaker

After John Robertson was given compassionate leave in February 2021, McCann was appointed caretaker manager of

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

club Inverness Caledonian Thistle. McCann left this position after the 2020–21 season was completed, with Robertson returning in a sporting director role and a new manager to be appointed. Inverness chief executive Scot Gardiner said in May 2021 that the arrangement with McCann had always been intended to be temporary, but that he had tried to persuade McCann to stay in the position longer.

Rangers

On 24 February 2025, it was announced that McCann was appointed to the coaching team at

side Rangers, supporting the new interim manager,

Barry Ferguson Barry Ferguson (born 2 February 1978) is a Scottish football coach, former player and pundit who was most recently caretaker manager of Scottish Premiership club Rangers. Ferguson spent most of his playing career at Rangers, in two spells ei ...

Media work

McCann became a

pundit A pundit is a person who offers opinion in an authoritative manner on a particular subject area (typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport), usually through the mass media. The term pundit describes both women and men, altho ...

for

, providing analysis on their coverage of

football in Scotland Association football is one of the national sports of Scotland and the most popular sport in the country. There is a long tradition of "football" games in Orkney, Lewis and southern Scotland, especially the Scottish Borders, although many of ...

, after he left

in 2009. McCann left Sky in June 2017, when he was appointed

manager on a permanent basis. He now works for Sky Sports,

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

and RangersTV ITV as a pundit.

Personal life

In April 2024, McCann lost a dispute with

HM Revenue & Customs His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (commonly HM Revenue and Customs, or HMRC, and formerly Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) is a Departments of the United Kingdom Government, department of the UK government responsible for the tax collectio ...

regarding

IR35 IR35 is the United Kingdom's anti-avoidance tax legislation, the intermediaries legislation contained in Chapter 8 of Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003. The legislation is designed to tax 'disguised' employment at a rate similar to em ...

rules, which resulted in him incurring a tax liability of approximately £210,000. The dispute arose because McCann had used a limited company to receive payments from Sky Sports for his punditry work, while HMRC contended that he should have been treated as an employee of Sky.

Career statistics

International

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

Manager

:Interim manager from 18 April until 29 May 2017.

Honours

Heart of Midlothian *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1997–98 Rangers *

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

: 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2002–03 *Scottish Cup: 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2002–03 *

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 ...

: 2001–02, 2002–03

References

External links

*
Profile
at londonhearts.com {{DEFAULTSORT:McCann, Neil 1974 births Living people Footballers from Greenock Men's association football midfielders Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's B international footballers Scotland men's international footballers Dundee F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Scottish Football League players Scottish Premier League players English Football League players Premier League players Scotland men's under-21 international footballers Dundee F.C. managers Scottish football managers Scottish Professional Football League managers Dunfermline Athletic F.C. non-playing staff Rangers F.C. non-playing staff Scottish Roman Catholics