Stuart McCall

Club career

Bradford City

McCall was signed by George Mulhall in 1980 from Farsley Celtic on his 16th birthday, before becoming one of the club's two apprentices in June 1981. Mulhall's successor, Roy McFarland, gave McCall his first-team debut at Reading on 28 August 1982 – the opening day of the 1982–83 season – when he deputised for Ces Podd at right back. He had played just six league games by 29 January 1983 when he made the first of 134 consecutive league appearances, all in midfield under new manager Trevor Cherry. City finished 12th in Division Three that season. The following season City struggled to make up for the absence of Bobby Campbell, who had left to join Derby County, and won just one of their first fifteen games, until Cherry bought Campbell back from Derby, and City won a record ten consecutive games on their way to a seventh-place finish. During the summer of 1984, Cherry made the two key signings of central defender Dave Evans and right winger John Hendrie to build on the previous season's high finish. McCall was an integral part of the team as City won the Division Three championship in 1984–85, during which he scored eight goals as one of two ever-present players. The title was assured in the penultimate game when McCall scored the second goal in a 2–0 victory over Bolton Wanderers. The league title was paraded before the final game of the season on 11 May 1985 at home to Lincoln City. However, the club's title was overshadowed…

Early coaching career

In July 2000, McCall accepted his first coaching role, when he was appointed assistant manager to Chris Hutchings at Bradford City, after Hutchings was promoted from the role to replace Paul Jewell as City manager. Just four months later, Hutchings was sacked, and McCall was appointed as caretaker-player manager. His first game in the role was against his former team Everton, who were led by his former manager Walter Smith, but ended with a 1–0 defeat. He was in charge for one more game, which also ended in defeat, until Jim Jefferies was appointed the new manager. Jefferies brought with him his own assistant Billy Brown, and McCall was appointed first-team coach. After leaving Bradford City, he joined Sheffield United, where he also took up a coaching role. When he retired in 2004, he remained at Sheffield United as assistant to Neil Warnock. Working alongside Warnock and learning the managerial ropes from him, he helped mastermind The Blades' promotion to the Premier League in 2006. United were relegated to the Championship on the final day of the 2006–07 season and Warnock resigned three days later. McCall had already decided that the 2006–07 season would be his last as assistant manager, and when he was overlooked as a successor to the United manager's position, in favour of Bryan Robson, he decided to leave after five years with the club.

Bradford City (first period as manager)

McCall admitted in his autobiography, The Real…

McCall was a box-to-box midfielder characterised by his tireless running, tackling and also weighing in with an average of one goal every 11 games. Despite his position in the middle of the park he was rarely suspended and was sent off just once in his career – in the final minute of a 2–0 defeat to Charlton Athletic on 4 November 2000. He also had a never-say-die attitude proven by a number of key late goals including his equaliser which sent the 1989 FA Cup Final into extra-time, and a 93rd-minute equaliser against Tottenham Hotspur during Bradford's difficult start to their Premier League campaign in the 1999–2000 season. He was a passionate player with a strong desire to win games.

Stuart McCall was born in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, to Scottish parents Andy, a former professional footballer, and Jean McCall. He was the couple's third child after Leslie and Janette, who were 20 and 15 respectively when Stuart was born. The family home was close to Leeds United's Elland Road ground where McCall would spend many Saturday afternoons watching United, dreaming of following his father and playing for Leeds, even after the family moved to Wortley. McCall played football for Upper Wortley Primary School and Thornhill Middle School, even scoring a winning goal for the latter in a cup final when he came on as a substitute with his arm in a sling. While McCall also played table tennis as a schoolboy, football was a focus, and he captained the Leeds under-11 boys team and played for other Leeds representative sides. McCall's parents split and he made up for his size when he moved to one of Leeds' toughest estates and played for pub sides by the age of 14. He moved schools to Harrington High and also played for local young sides Pudsey Juniors, Holbeck and later Farsley Celtic. McCall thought he had missed his chance of playing professionally after a string of other players were signed by professional clubs, until Farsley played Bradford City's junior side in a friendly and he impressed coach Bryan Edwards enough to be asked for a trial. His son Craig was also a footballer.