Alex McLeish

Club

McLeish spent the majority of his first two seasons at Aberdeen in the reserves and also had a loan spell at local Junior side Lewis United. McLeish won the Scottish 2nd XI Cup with the Dons in 1978. He made his competitive debut under Billy McNeill in a New Year fixture against Dundee United on 2 January 1978. His first major final appearance was under the management of Alex Ferguson as a substitute in a 2–1 defeat to Rangers in the 1978–79 League Cup and most of his appearances during the 1970s were as a midfielder, with Willie Garner and Doug Rougvie preferred in defence. However, McLeish eventually made the centre-back position his own, and over the next seven seasons he enjoyed great success, winning eight domestic and two European trophies. Highlights included scoring in a 4–1 victory over Rangers in the 1982 Scottish Cup Final on his 200th Dons appearance, and a vital goal against Bayern Munich during the campaign leading to the European Cup Winners' Cup win over Real Madrid in 1983. During this period, McLeish formed a formidable defensive triumvirate with Willie Miller and Jim Leighton for both club and country. Even after he had won his first Scotland cap, McLeish's father asked then Aberdeen boss Alex Ferguson to persuade him to continue training as an accountant. When Ferguson left in 1986 to go to Manchester United, he tried to get McLeish to sign, but it did not work out; he also had talks with Tottenham Hotspur. A testimonial match was arranged…

Motherwell

After his successful playing career, he quickly went into football management with Motherwell in 1994, one year before he retired as a player. His first season at Motherwell saw him take the Lanarkshire club to second in the Premier Division behind Walter Smith's Rangers. However, he failed to build on this success and the next two seasons were spent in relegation battles. He resigned as manager to take over at Hibernian in 1998.

Hibernian

McLeish took over a struggling Hibernian side, which was relegated from the Scottish Premier Division in 1998 despite a slight upturn in fortunes under McLeish. He then guided the Edinburgh team back to the Scottish Premier League at the first attempt by winning the First Division championship. Hibernian consolidated in their first season back in the top division, finishing mid-table and reaching the Scottish Cup semi-final. In the 2000–01 season, Hibs started very strongly. Eventually, they had to settle for third place and a Scottish Cup final appearance. This performance attracted the attention of bigger clubs, including West Ham United and Rangers. McLeish attracted players such as Russell Latapy and former French international Franck Sauzée to Hibs. He also helped develop young striker Kenny Miller, who would later go on to play 69 games for Scotland. During this period, McLeish worked towards and was awarded a UEFA Pro Licence.

Rangers

His work at Hibs was noticed, and he was linked with several…

Club

International

Managerial record

Player

Aberdeen

Scottish Premier Division: 1979–80, 1983–84, 1984–85 Scottish Cup: 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1989–90 Scottish League Cup: 1985–86, 1989–90 Drybrough Cup: 1980 European Cup Winners' Cup: 1982–83 European Super Cup: 1983 Scotland

Rous Cup: 1985 Individual

Scotland national football team roll of honour: 1987 SFWA Footballer of the Year: 1990

Manager

Hibernian

Scottish First Division: 1998–99 Rangers

Scottish Premier League: 2002–03, 2004–05 Scottish Cup: 2001–02, 2002–03 Scottish League Cup: 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05 Birmingham City

Football League Championship runner-up (promotion): 2008–09 Football League Cup: 2010–11 Individual

Scottish Football Hall of Fame: inducted 2005 Scottish Premier League Manager of the Month: October 2000, February 2002, September 2002, February 2003, August 2003, September 2003, November 2004, February 2005, January 2006 Premier League Manager of the Month: December 2009