 McNeill as Celtic manager in 1982 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William McNeill[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1940-03-02)2 March 1940 | ||
| Place of birth | Mossend, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 22 April 2019(2019-04-22) (aged 79) | ||
| Place of death | Newton Mearns, Scotland | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1957 | Blantyre Victoria | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| –1957 | Blantyre Victoria | ||
| 1957–1975 | Celtic | 486 | (22) |
| International career | |||
| 1960–1962[2] | Scotland U23 | 5 | (0) |
| 1961[3] | SFA trial v SFL | 1 | (0) |
| 1961–1967 | Scottish League XI | 9 | (0) |
| 1961–1972 | Scotland | 29 | (3) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1977 | Clyde | ||
| 1977–1978 | Aberdeen | ||
| 1978–1983 | Celtic | ||
| 1983–1986 | Manchester City | ||
| 1986–1987 | Aston Villa | ||
| 1987–1991 | Celtic | ||
| 1998 | Hibernian (caretaker) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
William McNeillMBE (2 March 1940 – 22 April 2019) was a Scottishfootball player andmanager. He had a long association withCeltic, spanning more than sixty years as a player, manager and club ambassador. McNeill captained Celtic's 'Lisbon Lions' to theirEuropean Cup victory in1967 and later spent two spells as the club's manager. As a player and manager, he won 31 major trophies with Celtic.
Adefender, McNeill played for Celtic for his entire senior career, and holds the club record for most appearances, a total of 822 games over 18 seasons. He was captain during their most successful era in the 1960s and 70s. The club won nine consecutiveScottish league championships and thirteen other major domestic trophies in this time, and in 1967 became the first British club to win the European Cup. He also played 29 times forScotland.
McNeill managed Celtic for nine seasons, from 1978 to 1983 and 1987 to 1991, winning four Scottish league championships. This included a league and cup double in 1987–88, the club's centenary season. He also managedClyde,Aberdeen,Manchester City andAston Villa. In 2015, Celtic installed a statue outsideCeltic Park of McNeill holding aloft the European Cup, an iconic image in their history.
McNeill was born on 2 March 1940 inBellshill,Lanarkshire. His father was a soldier in theBlack Watch and later theArmy Physical Training Corps. Aged nine, McNeill moved toHereford in England where his father was posted, and stayed for two and a half years. Although he already liked football, he enjoyed playingrugby union in his time there.[4]
He moved toMotherwell and excelled playing football ascentre-half atOur Lady's High School. His schoolboy performances led to him signing for thejunior teamBlantyre Victoria.[5]
McNeill was signed by Celtic for £250 in 1957 after then reserve team coachJock Stein saw him playing for Scotland schoolboys against England.[6] He was given the nicknameCesar after the actorCesar Romero.[7]
In his early career, Celtic endured some of their most difficult times, and did not win a trophy for eight years. After Stein became manager in 1965, however, the club's fortunes improved. In the1965 Scottish Cup final, Celtic defeatedDunfermline 3–2, with McNeill scoring the winning goal. In that season he was namedScottish Footballer of the Year, the first year it was awarded.[8]
With McNeill as captain, Celtic enjoyed their most successful period, dominating Scottish football and regularly competing in the latter stages of European competitions. They wonnine Scottish League championships in a row, as well as sevenScottish Cups and sixScottish League Cups.[9]
Celtic's greatest season was in1966–67, when they won every competition they entered; as well as adomestic treble and theGlasgow Cup, McNeill led the team to victory in the1967 European Cup Final. The team, which became known as the 'Lisbon Lions,' defeatedInter Milan 2–1 and McNeill (whoselast minute goal, a characteristic header from a set piece, had ensured progression againstVojvodina Novi Sad in the quarter-final) was the first British footballer to lift the trophy.[10] He also became the first player to captain his side to the European Treble, and remains the only captain to win the fabled Quadruple.[11][12]
Following another domestic treble in1968–69, in which another McNeill headed goal set his team on the way to a 4–0 win overRangers in theScottish Cup Final,[13] Celtic again reached theEuropean Cup final in 1970, this time losing toFeyenoord.[14]
McNeill retired as a player in 1975, having made a club record 822[note 1] appearances for Celtic and never being substituted.[15][16] He won 29caps forScotland, scoring 3 goals, and also played 9 times for theScottish League XI.[17]
After retiring as a player, McNeill began coachingCeltic Boys Club's under 16 team. He began his management career atClyde in April 1977, before moving toAberdeen two months later. McNeill recorded four wins, three draws from eight league matches and recorded a total of 11 out of a possible 16 points at Clyde. His last match in charge was aGlasgow Cup semi-final againstCeltic, in which Celtic struck two late goals to win 4–2.[18]
McNeill was appointed Aberdeen manager in June 1977, having been recommended by Jock Stein.[19] He succeededAlly MacLeod.[20] In his one season in charge, 1977–78, McNeill led Aberdeen to runners-up finishes in the league and Scottish Cup, and enjoyed a positive working relationship with the club's chairman, Dick Donald.[19] Their performance in the league was their best since 1972, and three places above Celtic. During his season with Aberdeen, McNeill signedGordon Strachan,Steve Archibald andNeil Simpson.[20] When Stein retired as Celtic manager, he identified McNeill as his successor, and McNeill accepted the club's offer. He was succeeded at Aberdeen byAlex Ferguson.[19]
McNeill returned to a Celtic side who had finished in fifth place in1977–78. He immediately improved the club's fortunes, as they won the league championship in1978–79. Celtic clinched the title in their final match of the league season by beating Rangers 4–2, despite having hadJohnny Doyle sent off.[21]
His five years in charge saw Celtic win three League championships, in 1978–79, 1980–81 and 1981–82, the Scottish Cup in 1979–80 and the League Cup in 1982–83.[22] This period saw Celtic's greatest competition come from theNew Firm clubs – Aberdeen, who won the League championship in 1979–80, and Dundee United, who won the title in 1982–83.[23]
McNeill is credited with developing young players for Celtic, such asPaul McStay andCharlie Nicholas, and making signings such asMurdo MacLeod andDavie Provan who became key players for the club through the 1980s. However, McNeill found working with Desmond White, Celtic's chairman, very difficult, and felt underpaid and underappreciated. Despite Celtic's successes, by 1983 he was being paid less than the managers of Aberdeen, Dundee United, Rangers and St Mirren. When White sold Nicholas to Arsenal, against McNeill's wishes, McNeill looked for the first available way out, and took up the offer to manage Manchester City.[19]
On 30 June 1983 he moved to England to manageManchester City. Two years before being appointed by City, he had been strongly linked with the manager's job at theircity rivalsManchester United, whenRon Atkinson was appointed instead.[24] McNeill secured promotion for City after two seasons in charge (in1984–85), and oversaw survival in their first season back in the First Division (1985–86).[6]
He started the1986–87 season as manager of Manchester City, but quit in September 1986 to take charge ofAston Villa.[9] When Villa were relegated, after finishing bottom of the First Division in May 1987, McNeill stood down and was replaced byGraham Taylor.[25] Manchester City were also relegated that season.
He then returned to Celtic, and in his first season,1987–88, the club won the League Championship and Scottish Cup double in their centenary year.[9] Celtic were renowned for scoring late goals that season, and in both the Cup semi-final and final scored late goals to come from behind and win 2–1. Celtic won the Scottish Cup in1988–89, defeating Rangers 1–0 in thefinal.[26][27]
The following two seasons were disappointing, and Celtic did not win a trophy. They lost the1990 Scottish Cup Final to Aberdeen on penalties. Celtic's league performance was particularly poor; after finishing in third place in 1988–89, they managed only fifth in1989–90 and third in1990–91. This was the beginning of a period of poor results and increasing financial instability for Celtic, which continued until the club was taken over byFergus McCann in 1994. McNeill was sacked by Celtic on 22 May 1991 after four seasons as manager, at the age of 51.[28] In two spells he won eight trophies as Celtic manager – four League championships, three Scottish Cups and one League Cup.[22][29]
After leaving Celtic he turned down several offers to return to management, including fromDundee, and worked in the media instead. He remained bitter about the manner of his departure from Celtic, until he was asked to become a club ambassador in 2009.[19]
McNeill had a brief spell asfootball development manager[note 2] atHibernian in the later part of the1997–98 season.[30] He was brought in as a mentor to managerJim Duffy,[30] as they unsuccessfully attempted to arrest a decline in fortunes at the club.[31] McNeill took charge of the team for one game after Duffy was sacked, even though he had been out of football since leaving Celtic in 1991 and was recovering from heart surgery.[32] He left Hibernian at the end of the 1997–98 season.[33]
McNeill wrote three autobiographies:
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McNeill was awarded theMBE in November 1974. In 2002 he was voted Celtic's greatest ever captain, and a member of Celtic's greatest team, by the club's fans.[34] He was inducted into theScottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2002[35] and theScottish Football Hall of Fame in 2004.[36]
In December 2015 Celtic installed a statue at the entrance to the Celtic Way outsideCeltic Park, created by sculptorJohn McKenna. The statue, in bronze on a granite base, shows McNeill holding aloft the European Cup, an iconic image in the club's history.[37]
In 2019, he was recognised with the "One Club Award" by Spanish clubAthletic Bilbao for his achievements and loyalty to Celtic.[38][39]
A short time after his death, the new sports pitch at his former school, Our Lady's High, was named in his honour.[40]
In 2019, the Billy McNeill Commemoration Committee was created in Bellshill, and campaigned to raise funds to build a bronze sculpture of McNeill at the pedestrian area of Bellshill Cross.[41] The statue was unveiled in November 2022.[42]
McNeill's maternal grandparents were from Lithuania,[43] while his father was of Irish descent.[44] He was Catholic.[45][46]
McNeill married Liz Callaghan, a dancer on the TV variety showThe White Heather Club in 1963. They had five children.[6]
McNeill, along with former Rangers playerEric Caldow, stood as a candidate for theScottish Senior Citizens Unity Party in the2003 Scottish Parliament election.[47] In 2008, he was awarded an honorary degree from theUniversity of Glasgow.[7]
During the2014 Scottish independence referendum McNeill was a supporter of theBetter Together campaign againstScottish independence.[48]
It was reported in February 2017 that McNeill was suffering fromdementia and was very limited in his speech.[49] He died on 22 April 2019, aged 79.[6][50][9]
| Club | Season | League | Scottish Cup | Scottish League Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Celtic | 1957–58 | Division One | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | |
| 1958–59 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 23 | 0 | |||
| 1959–60 | 19 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 32 | 0 | |||
| 1960–61 | 31 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 43 | 1 | |||
| 1961–62 | 29 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 41 | 1 | |||
| 1962–63 | 28 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 42 | 1 | |||
| 1963–64 | 28 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 8 | 0 | – | 46 | 0 | |||
| 1964–65 | 22 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 36 | 1 | |||
| 1965–66 | 25 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 1 | – | 49 | 1 | |||
| 1966–67 | 33 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 9 | 1 | – | 58 | 3 | |||
| 1967–68 | 34 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3[a] | 1 | 50 | 6 | ||
| 1968–69 | 34 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 6 | 0 | – | 56 | 6 | |||
| 1969–70 | 31 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 9 | 0 | – | 55 | 7 | |||
| 1970–71 | 31 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 5 | 1 | – | 54 | 3 | |||
| 1971–72 | 34 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 7 | 0 | – | 55 | 4 | |||
| 1972–73 | 30 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 0 | – | 51 | 2 | |||
| 1973–74 | 30 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 0 | – | 53 | 0 | |||
| 1974–75 | 30 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 45 | 1 | |||
| Career total | 486 | 22 | 94 | 7 | 137 | 4 | 69 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 789 | 37 | ||
NB These totals do not include appearances in theGlasgow Cup, which at the time was a senior trophy.[53]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 1961 | 6 | 0 |
| 1962 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1963 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1964 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1965 | 6 | 1 | |
| 1967 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1968 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1969 | 4 | 2 | |
| 1972 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 29 | 3 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13 October 1965 | Hampden Park,Glasgow, Scotland |  Poland | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 2 | 3 May 1969 | Racecourse Ground,Wrexham, Wales |  Wales | 1–0 | 5–3 | 1968–69 British Home Championship |
| 3 | 17 May 1969 | Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland |  Cyprus | 2–0 | 8–0 | 1970 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||||
| Clyde[55] |  | April 1977 | June 1977 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 050.00 | |
| Aberdeen[56] | | June 1977 | August 1978 | 50 | 31 | 11 | 8 | 062.00 | |
| Celtic[22] | | August 1978 | May 1983 | 258 | 165 | 40 | 53 | 063.95 | |
| Manchester City |  | June 1983 | September 1986 | 150 | 60 | 41 | 49 | 040.00 | |
| Aston Villa | | September 1986 | May 1987 | 41 | 9 | 15 | 17 | 021.95 | |
| Celtic[22] | | May 1987 | May 1991 | 197 | 108 | 41 | 48 | 054.82 | |
| Total | 654 | 346 | 140 | 168 | 052.91 | ||||
Scotland[58]
Aberdeen[20]
Manchester City
"Billy's nickname is Cesar," the prof told the audience. "However, this doesn't come from any Roman connections, rather from a movie. In the originalOcean's 11,Cesar Romero drove the getaway car.
My Albanian grandparents boarded an immigrant ship believing that they were bound for the New World, but instead of landing in New York they disembarked at Leith
Media related toBilly McNeill at Wikimedia Commons
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Celtic captain 1962–1975 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |