Ian McColl

John Miller "Ian" McColl (7 June 1927 – 25 October 2008)[5] was a Scottish football player and manager. McColl played as a defender for Queen's Park and Rangers, while he also represented both the Scotland national team and the Scottish League. After retiring as a player, he managed the Scotland national team and English club Sunderland.

For other uses, see Ian McColl (disambiguation).

Ian McColl
Personal information
Full name John Miller McColl[1]
Date of birth (1927-06-07)7 June 1927[2]
Place of birth Alexandria, Scotland
Date of death 25 October 2008(2008-10-25) (aged 81)
Place of death Glasgow, Scotland[3]
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
Vale of Leven
1943–1945 Queen's Park
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1945–1960 Rangers 362 (12)
International career
1950–1958 Scotland 14 (0)
1952–1958 Scottish League XI 7 (3)
1958[4] SFL trial v SFA 1 (0)
Managerial career
1960–1965 Scotland
1965–1968 Sunderland
1967 → Vancouver Royal Canadians (USA)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Early life

Born in Alexandria, West Dunbartonshire,[2] the grandson of Scotland international William McColl, McColl developed his footballing skills with Vale of Leven (Juniors), and joined Queen's Park in 1943[6] when he moved to Glasgow to study engineering at the University of Glasgow.[7] He continued his studies after turning professional and later worked as a qualified engineer.[3]

Playing career

Rangers manager Bill Struth signed McColl in 1945.[8] During his 15-year spell at Ibrox, he won six League championships, five Scottish Cups and two League Cups.[8] He captained the club during the 1950s and was part of what was known as the Iron Curtain defence, alongside the likes of Sammy Cox, Willie Woodburn and George Young.[8]

His final appearance for Rangers was in the 1960 Scottish Cup Final, a 2–0 win against Kilmarnock. He made a total of 575 appearances for the Glasgow club in all competitions.[9] He also won 14 caps for Scotland and represented the Scottish League XI.[10]

Managerial career

After his playing career, he quickly went into management. He was appointed manager of Scotland in 1960 and enjoyed a winning start, beating Northern Ireland 5–2 at Hampden Park. Under McColl's managership, Scotland won British Home Championships in 1962 and 1963.[8] The team beat England 2–0 at Hampden and 2–1 at Wembley in the process. Other notable results under his tenure include a 6–2 win against Spain in Madrid, a 6–1 win over Northern Ireland in Belfast and a 6–1 win over Norway in Glasgow. He was in charge of Scotland for a total of 27 matches, winning 16 of them.[8] This gave him a winning percentage of 59.3%, the second best of any Scotland manager.[11]

McColl was appointed manager of Sunderland in 1965. Despite signing Jim Baxter,[8] McColl was unable to make Sunderland into a successful side.[11] He was sacked by Sunderland in 1968 and spent the rest of his working life as a civil engineer.[11]

Honours

Player
Rangers

Manager
Scotland

Career statistics

International appearances
Scotland national team[12]
YearAppsGoals
195040
195110
195630
195750
195810
Total140

Managerial record

As of 28 March 2015

Team Nat From To Record
GWDLWin %
Scotland Scotland 1960 1965 28 17 3 8 060.71
Sunderland England 1965 1968 124 39 27 58 031.45

References
  1. Brown, Alan; Tossani, Gabriele (11 April 2019). "Scotland – International Matches 1951-1955". RSSSF. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  2. "On This Day: Jun 7". Rangers Football Club. Rangers.co.uk. 7 June 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  3. Phil Gordon (1 November 2008). "Ian McColl: Rangers stalwart and successful Scotland manager". The Independent. London.
  4. Scottish trial match at Easter Road, Glasgow Herald, 4 February 1958
  5. Herron, Lindsay. "Gers lose a legend". Rangers Club Site. Retrieved 26 October 2008.
  6. McColl, John (Ian) Miller, QPFC.com
  7. Brian Glanville (30 October 2008). "Ian McColl: Member of Rangers' 'iron curtain' defence". The Guardian. London.
  8. "Former Scotland boss McColl dies". BBC Sport. 26 October 2008.
  9. Rangers player McColl, Ian, FitbaStats
  10. "SFL player John Miller (Ian) McColl". London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
  11. Ian McColl – Footballer and manager, The Scotsman, 27 October 2008.
  12. Ian McColl at the Scottish Football Association
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