Alex McLeish

Alexander McLeish (born 21 January 1959) is a Scottish football manager and former player. As a defender, he was a key figure for Aberdeen during the club’s successful period in the 1980s, playing almost 500 league matches and earning 77 caps for Scotland. He began his managerial career at Motherwell and Hibernian, then led Rangers to two league titles and five cup victories over five years. McLeish managed the Scotland national team for ten months, coming close to qualifying for UEFA Euro 2008 before resigning in November 2007 to take charge of Premier League side Birmingham City.

Although Birmingham were relegated that season, he guided them back to the top flight in 2009. The club won the 2011 Football League Cup, but were relegated again at the end of the 2010–11 campaign. After that relegation, McLeish resigned from Birmingham to manage their local rivals Aston Villa, becoming the first manager to move directly between the two clubs and only the second to manage both. Villa narrowly avoided relegation in the 2011–12 Premier League season, but McLeish was sacked at the end of that term.

He became manager of Championship side Nottingham Forest in December 2012, leaving by mutual consent after 40 days. He later managed Belgian club Genk in 2014–15 and Egyptian side Zamalek in 2016, before returning for a second stint as Scotland manager. In 2008, McLeish received an honorary doctorate from the University of Aberdeen for his service to Scottish sport. McLeish was born in Duke Street Hospital, Glasgow, to Alex, a shipyard worker, and Jean.

He has a younger sister, Angela, and a younger brother, Ian. The family lived in Parkhead and Kinning Park before moving to Barrhead, Renfrewshire, just after McLeish started school. He attended Springhill Primary, Barrhead High School (where he was a year below future Aberdeen and Scotland teammate Peter Weir), and John Neilson High School in Paisley. As a youth, he played for Barrhead Youth Club alongside Weir, and for Glasgow United, and briefly trained with Hamilton Accies.

After a local cup final with Glasgow United in 1976, watched by Aberdeen representatives including manager Ally MacLeod, McLeish signed for the club the next day.

McLeish spent most of his first two seasons at Aberdeen in the reserves, with a loan spell at junior side Lewis United. He won the Scottish 2nd XI Cup with the Dons in 1978. His competitive debut came under Billy McNeill on 2 January 1978 against Dundee United. His first major final appearance was as a substitute in a 2–1 League Cup defeat to Rangers in 1978–79 under Alex Ferguson.

During the 1970s, he often played in midfield, with Willie Garner and Doug Rougvie preferred in defence. He later made the centre-back position his own, and over the next seven seasons won eight domestic and two European trophies. Highlights included scoring in a 4–1 win over Rangers in the 1982 Scottish Cup Final on his 200th appearance, and a crucial goal against Bayern Munich during the run to the 1983 European Cup Winners’ Cup victory over Real Madrid.

McLeish formed a strong defensive trio with Willie Miller and Jim Leighton for club and country. After his first Scotland cap, his father asked Ferguson to persuade him to continue training as an accountant. When Ferguson left for Manchester United in 1986, he tried to sign McLeish, but the move fell through; McLeish also held talks with Tottenham Hotspur. A testimonial match was held in December 1988, featuring the club’s ‘Gothenburg’ squad against an ‘International legends’ team.

He was named Scottish Player of the Year in 1990, a season in which Aberdeen won both domestic cups. He became club captain after Willie Miller retired. His 692 competitive appearances for Aberdeen is the second-highest in club history, 100 behind Miller and almost 100 more than Bobby Clark. McLeish is Scotland’s seventh most-capped player, with 77 caps between 1980 and 1993.

He earned his first under-21 cap from former Aberdeen manager Ally MacLeod while still a reserve, eventually gaining six at that level. His full debut came on 26 March 1980 against Portugal, with manager Jock Stein playing him in midfield alongside Archie Gemmill and Graeme Souness. He played in three World Cups for Scotland: 1982, 1986, and 1990. He is in the Scottish Football Hall of Fame, the Scotland national team roll of honour, and was voted into Scottish Television’s fan poll Scotland’s Greatest Team.

On his 50th cap, against Luxembourg in 1987, he captained the side. His final cap came on 17 February 1993 in a 3–0 win over Malta at Hampden Park during the 1994 World Cup qualifiers.

McLeish moved into management with Motherwell in 1994, a year before retiring as a player. In his first season, he led the Lanarkshire club to second in the Premier Division behind Walter Smith’s Rangers. He could not sustain that success, and the next two seasons involved relegation battles. He resigned in 1998 to take over at Hibernian.