Billy McLaren
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 7 June 1948 | ||
| Place of birth | Glasgow, Scotland | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1969 | Kirkintilloch Rob Roy | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1969–1971 | Dunfermline Athletic | 29 | (2) |
| 1971–1972 | East Fife | 14 | (1) |
| 1972–1973 | Raith Rovers | 23 | (4) |
| 1973–1978 | Queen of the South | 169 | (13) |
| 1978–1980 | Greenock Morton | 56 | (1) |
| 1980–1982 | Hibernian | 38 | (0) |
| 1982–1983 | Clyde | 16 | (1) |
| 1983–1984 | Queen of the South | 29 | (1) |
| 1984–1985 | Partick Thistle | 5 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1989–1990 | Queen of the South | ||
| 1990–1992 | Hamilton Academical | ||
| 1992–1993 | Albion Rovers | ||
| 1993–1996 | Queen of the South | ||
| 1998–1999 | Albion Rovers | ||
| 1999–2003 | Stranraer | ||
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. | |||
Billy McLaren (born 7 June 1948 in Glasgow) is a Scottish former association football player and manager.
Player
McLaren was well-travelled as a player, serving eight different Scottish league clubs. His longest service was to Dumfries club, Queen of the South. In a subsequent interview, team mate Jocky Dempster named McLaren in what he felt was the eleven best players at the club in the 1970s.[1] Iain McChesney was another to name McLaren in the best players at Palmerston Park at the time.[1]
He helped Hibernian gain promotion back to the Scottish Premier Division in 1981 after signing for the club in December 1980.[2] McLaren trained with Hibs part-time while retaining a job as a civil servant.[2]
His last club was Partick Thistle, where manager Benny Rooney had intended McLaren to coach, but he was pressed into service due to injuries to other players.[3]
Management
McLaren managed both Queen of the South and Albion Rovers in two different spells, resigning from the Albion job to retake the Queen of the South job in 1993.[4] McChesney was among his back room staff in both managerial spells at Queens. It was in McLaren's first spell at Queens that he signed the teenage Andy Thomson.[5]
He was Stranraer manager during the 2002–03 season, when the club began a remarkable run of being either promoted or relegated every season.[6] This brought an unsuccessful end to a spell during which he had won manager of the month awards in December 1999[7] and October 2002.[8] The club had pushed for promotion in the 2000–01 season[9] and reached the quarter-final stage of the Scottish Cup for the first time in their history, in the 2002–03 season.[10]
McLaren is currently employed as a youth scout for Rangers.[11]
References
- 1 2 "John Dempster and Iain McChesney interviews". Queen of the South F.C. official website.
- 1 2 Jeffrey, pp110.
- ↑ MacDonald, Lewis. "Billy McLaren (1984/85)". www.ptfc.net. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
- ↑ "Sporting Digest: Football". The Independent. 2 April 1993. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
- ↑ "Andy Thomson". Queen of the South F.C. official website.
- ↑ Wilson, Fraser (7 April 2009). "Exclusive: Stranraer claim new record with eighth league change in a row". Daily Record. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
- ↑ "Sporting Digest: Football". The Independent. 31 December 1999. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
- ↑ "Blackadder Brace Helps Raith Go Forth". Sporting Life. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
- ↑ "Full-time: Stranraer 0 - 1 Arbroath". ESPN Soccernet. 25 March 2001. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
- ↑ "Cup Win Will Boost Town - McLaren". Sporting Life. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
- ↑ "Kirky Welcomes New Faces". Rangers F.C. official website. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
- Jeffrey, Jim (2005). The Men Who Made Hibernian F.C. since 1946. Tempus Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7524-3091-2.
External links
- Billy McLaren, Neil Brown's player database
- Billy McLaren management career statistics at Soccerbase