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.
Personal information | |||
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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) |
National team | |||
1950–1958 | Scotland | 14 | (0) |
1952–1958 | Scottish League XI | 7 | (3) |
1958[4] | SFL trial v SFA | 1 | (0) |
Teams managed | |||
1960–1965 | Scotland | ||
1965–1968 | Sunderland | ||
1967 | → Vancouver Royal Canadians (USA) | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
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]
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]
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]
Scotland national team[12] | ||
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Year | Apps | Goals |
1950 | 4 | 0 |
1951 | 1 | 0 |
1956 | 3 | 0 |
1957 | 5 | 0 |
1958 | 1 | 0 |
Total | 14 | 0 |
As of 28 March 2015[update]
Team | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||
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G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
Scotland | ![]() |
1960 | 1965 | 28 | 17 | 3 | 8 | 060.71 |
Sunderland | ![]() |
1965 | 1968 | 124 | 39 | 27 | 58 | 031.45 |
Scotland squad – 1958 FIFA World Cup | ||
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Rangers F.C. – Hall of Fame | ||
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Ian McColl managerial positions | |||||||||
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