Ally Maxwell

Scottish goalkeeper who won trophies with Rangers and famously played through injury in the 1991 Scottish Cup final.

Alistair Espie Maxwell, born 16 February 1965 in Hamilton, is a Scottish football coach and former goalkeeper. He now works as a youth coach for SC Del Sol Soccer Club in the United States, having previously played for Motherwell, Rangers, and Dundee United, and coached Greenock Morton and the US side Sereno Golden Eagles.

Maxwell began his career at Motherwell, spending the 1987–88 season on loan at Clydebank before becoming the club’s first-choice goalkeeper the following season. He is best known for his performance in the 1991 Scottish Cup final, where he played most of the second half and extra time with broken ribs, a ruptured spleen, and intermittent double vision after a collision with Dundee United’s John Clark. Despite his injuries, he tipped a fierce shot from Maurice Malpas over the bar in the final minutes, securing a 4–3 win for Motherwell. A contract dispute with manager Tommy McLean kept him out of the next season, as the club brought in Billy Thomson and Sieb Dijkstra.

After a loan spell at Bolton Wanderers, Maxwell joined Rangers for £300,000. He served as backup to Andy Goram but played regularly during Goram’s injury, earning a Scottish League Cup winner’s medal in 1993 and a Scottish Cup runner-up medal in 1994, when Dundee United avenged their earlier loss. He also played enough league games to receive medals for each of his three seasons at Ibrox, part of Rangers’ nine-in-a-row run.

In 1995, Maxwell moved to Dundee United for £250,000. He played most of his games in his first season, lost his place to Sieb Dijkstra after injury, and did not play at all in his third season. He then joined Greenock Morton, playing regularly for two seasons before becoming a coach and later manager there. He was inducted into the Motherwell Hall of Fame on 1 November 2019.

Maxwell was named in several Scotland squads but never earned a full cap, though he played the first half of a Scotland B match against Wales in 1994. After managing Morton for half a season in 2001, he briefly worked as a goalkeeping coach at Hamilton Academical. A UEFA A-licensed coach, he moved to the United States and has been the goalkeeping coach at SC Del Sol in Arizona since 2008.

His honours include the Scottish Cup with Motherwell (1990–91), three Scottish League titles with Rangers (1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95), and the Scottish League Cup with Rangers (1993–94).