 MacLeod in 1949 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alistair Reid MacLeod[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1931-02-26)26 February 1931 | ||
| Place of birth | Glasgow, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 1 February 2004(2004-02-01) (aged 72) | ||
| Place of death | Ayr, Scotland | ||
| Position(s) | Left wing | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1949–1955 | Third Lanark | 112 | (17) |
| 1955–1956 | St Mirren | 22 | (3) |
| 1956–1961 | Blackburn Rovers | 193 | (47) |
| 1961–1963 | Hibernian | 52 | (6) |
| 1963–1964 | Third Lanark | 24 | (1) |
| 1964–1965 | Ayr United | 17 | (0) |
| Total | 420 | (80) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1966–1975 | Ayr United | ||
| 1975–1977 | Aberdeen | ||
| 1977–1978 | Scotland | ||
| 1978 | Ayr United | ||
| 1979–1981 | Motherwell | ||
| 1984–1985 | Airdrieonians | ||
| 1985–1990 | Ayr United | ||
| 1991–1992 | Queen of the South | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Alistair Reid MacLeod (26 February 1931 – 1 February 2004) was a Scottish professionalfootball player and manager. He is perhaps best known for his time as theScotland national football team manager, including their appearance at the1978 FIFA World Cup. MacLeod played as aleft winger forThird Lanark (two spells),St Mirren,Blackburn Rovers,Hibernian andAyr United. He then managedAyr United (three spells),Aberdeen, Scotland,Motherwell,Airdrieonians andQueen of the South.
Alistair Reid MacLeod was born in the south side of Glasgow on 26 February 1931. His family lived inClydebank for a while but the house was bombed during the Second World War. At length they settled inMount Florida, near toHampden Park andCathkin Park. MacLeod signed provisionally forThird Lanark when he was still a schoolboy.[2] He made swift dashes up the left wing. His distinctive running action earned him the nickname "Noddy".[3]
MacLeod started his playing career at Third Lanark as a provisional signing as a schoolboy in 1947. He made his first-team debut againstStirling Albion at Cathkin Park on 6 November 1949.
In 1953, MacLeod was in the Thirds side that trouncedAlloa Athletic in theLeague Cup opener, 10–0. Sitting 8–0 up, MacLeod's teammates' main objective was to get him on the scoresheet. He had set up five goals but had missed several sitters himself. A left-foot rocket shot, and a simple tap in took Thirds' tally to 10. He joined theRoyal Scots forNational Service but was still able to turn out for the Thirds.
MacLeod was reluctant to move toSt Mirren in 1956, but having secured a guarantee that the reported £8,000 fee would tremendously help Third Lanark's survival, he moved on. He spent only six weeks at St Mirren before moving to English teamBlackburn Rovers.
Managed by fellow ScotDally Duncan, MacLeod was man of the match in the1960 FA Cup Final, but the game was lost 3–0 toWolves.[2] While at Blackburn he made strenuous efforts along with thePFA stewardJimmy Hill to help abolish themaximum wage, but when subsequently his promised wage increase was not forthcoming, while other players in the team were raised from £20 to £25 per week, he entered into discussions withHibernian. When Blackburn realised that they were going to lose him to Hibs they matched their offer with an increase from £20 to £25. MacLeod, having already accepted Hibs' offer, felt he could not go back on his word, so left Blackburn to go back to Scotland.
He played with Hibs until 1963, when he returned to Third Lanark. In 1964 he signed forAyr United, where he finished his playing career, with no major honours won.
He started his managerial career in 1966 when he took charge of Ayr United. He took Ayr back to Scotland'stop division and turned them into a well respected side.[2] He took them to a Scottish and a League Cup semi-final[2] and also set their attendance record with 25,225 watching a 2–1 success overRangers F.C. In 1973, MacLeod was named Ayr's "Citizen of the Year".
In November 1975, after nine years at Ayr, he moved toAberdeen where he guided them to a League Cup final success overCeltic.[2]
After success with Ayr and Aberdeen, in May 1977 theScottish Football Association appointed him manager of theScotland national team.[2] He introduced himself to the squad with the blunt statement: "My name is Ally MacLeod and I am a winner." In his first months in charge, Scotland beatEngland atWembley and qualified for the1978 World Cup from a group containingCzechoslovakia, who had won the1976 European Championship, andWales.[2] Scotland's World Cup expectations gathered momentum with MacLeod happy with the wave of massive optimism, saying to the press his team would return with "at least a medal".[2] Scottish comedianAndy Cameron recorded a version of "Ally's Tartan Army", which reached number 6 in the UK charts just before the World Cup.
Qualification was particularly sweet for Scotland since, for the second World Cup in succession, Scotland had achieved what their traditional rivalsEngland had not. Defeat against England in the1977–78 British Home Championship was taken to mean little. Spirits remained sky-high as 25,000 people came toHampden Park to watch the squad circle the ground in an open-top bus prior to their departure for Argentina.[2]Prestwick Airport was packed with supporters seeing the team off. When a journalist asked him "What do you plan to do after the World Cup?" MacLeod replied: "Retain it."[4] This anecdote, though, is denied in some accounts of the Scottish saga at the 1978 World Cup[5] and has been cited as one of the most popularhoaxes in British football.[6]
Some observers were worried by the absence through injury of full-backDanny McGrain. OpponentsPeru's impressive credentials went overlooked and were not expected to provide many problems in the first match. Peru, however, won the game 3–1. Scotland took the lead butDon Masson missed a penalty and in general failed to play to their potential.[2] Before the match journalist James McKillop had written inThe Glasgow Herald that "The suggestion that we might not win is unthinkable and can be dismissed out of hand."[7] As MacLeod himself put it, the performance against Peru was "rank bad". Plentiful excuses emerged: there had been a dispute concerning bonuses, the hotel swimming pool had no water in it, there was nothing for the players to do. It was then revealed that the wingerWillie Johnston had taken a cold tablet which contained a banned stimulantfencamfamine (Reactivan). He was sent home.[2] MacLeod, at a press conference, saw a mongrel dog approach: "I think he is the only friend I have got left", he said, stretching out a hand.
The game withIran finished a 1–1 draw, after a poor display by the Scots. They then needed to beatthe Netherlands, one of the tournament favourites, by three clear goals, to qualify.[2] The next day'sThe Glasgow Herald ran the result of the Iran game as their main story under the headline "Ally's night of shame".Herald reporter James McKillop described the match as "Ally'sAlamo" and said Scotland had "turned disgrace into humiliation". Adding that at full-time the Scotland players "were lucky not to be lynched", he said he had "never seen Scotland supporters more angry".[8] McKillop's report also stated that in response to the result MacLeod offered "excuses, if not reasons", with MacLeod stated that "the team had been under tremendous pressure in Argentina".[8]
For the Netherlands match MacLeod gaveGraeme Souness his first game of the World Cup and was rewarded with a much-improved team performance. WhenArchie Gemmill scored what is widely thought to be one of the greatest World Cup goals ever (it was officially ranked seventh best byFIFA), to make the score 3–1 to Scotland, qualification to the next phase looked possible. Three minutes later, though, the Dutch pulled a goal back; the game ended 3–2 and Scotland were eliminated ongoal difference. The Netherlands proceeded to the final, where they lost toArgentina.[2]
Following the squads return to Scotland, Macleod's future was discussed by the SFA's International Committee at a meeting in July to consider the team's failure in Argentina. Macleod was present at this four and half hour meeting where a motion to remove him was proposed. The six-man committee agreed to keep Macleod in place as the motion was defeated, butThe Glasgow Herald reported that it was understood that the motion for dismissal had only been defeated on the casting vote of the Committee's chairman, Tom Laughlan ofKilmarnock F.C.[9] An editorial in the same newspaper noted that "the football public expected more from Mr MacLeod in the Scotland job than he was able to deliver. He emerges from a chastening experience a wiser man."[10]
Although MacLeod had survived this immediate inquest by the sport's authorities, he resigned after one more game in charge,[2] only 17 matches and about 500 days after his appointment. His old club Ayr United had been given permission by the Scottish Football Association to talk to MacLeod about him returning as Ayr manager. MacLeod accepted the offer although Ayr were in thesecond tier and the job was thought to pay around £12,000 per year, £3,000 less than he received as Scotland manager. MacLeod admitted that the World Cup failure, and the fallout which followed it, "had taken a lot out of him", but said he was now relaxed and wanted "to prove myself again."[11] His decision to resign and return to club management echoed that of his predecessor in the Scotland job,Willie Ormond.[11] MacLeod's departure left Scotland needing to quickly appoint a manager ahead of their nextUEFA Euro 1980 qualifying match againstNorway.The Glasgow Herald sports reporter Jim Reynolds dismissed the idea that MacLeod might be asked to stay on in a part-time basis until after this match, saying that "Too many people inside Park Gardens", which was the SFA's headquarters, would "breath a sigh of relief" at MacLeod's departure.[12]
The Scottish Football Association's annual report, issued in May 1979, stated that, "regardless of the depressing aspects of Mr MacLeod's latter days in the Association's employ, it would be quite unfair not to comment that he was largely responsible for kindling an enthusiasm for the Scottish team that far exceeded anything which had gone before. The Association benefited considerably from that enthusiasm and should not forget it".
In his autobiography,The Ally MacLeod Story (1979), he wondered whether he had "generated just too much excitement. Had I raised the level of national optimism just too high?" But he was able to console himself: "Would the Scottish fans have tolerated anything less from me than whole-hearted conviction?" MacLeod also reassured the reader that he, for one, never thought that Scotland were invincible, and claimed to be perfectly at peace with himself. "I am a very good manager who just happened to have a few disastrous days, once upon a time, in Argentina."
His subsequent managerial career included spells atMotherwell (1979–1981),Airdrie (1984–1985) and a third spell at Ayr (1986–1989) when he won aSecond Division (third tier) title in1988. His last job in football was withDumfries clubQueen of the South. In 1992, he played in a game for Queens' reserve team, scoring a goal from a penalty at the age of 61.[2][13]
Increasingly again treated with affection by the Scottish footballing public, in July 2003, atHampden Park, he was presented with a crystal decanter in appreciation of his services to the national team and to Scottish football.
He died in 2004, aged 72, after a long battle withAlzheimer's disease.[14] MacLeod was posthumously inducted to theScottish Football Hall of Fame in 2015.[15]
Third Lanark
Hibernian
Blackburn Rovers
Ayr United
Aberdeen
Scotland
Motherwell
Airdrieonians
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Scotland |  | 1977 | 1978 | 17 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 041.18 |
