 McLeish as Aston Villa manager in 2012 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alexander McLeish[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 21 January 1959[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Glasgow, Scotland | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Glasgow United | |||
| 1976–1978 | Aberdeen | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1978–1994 | Aberdeen | 493 | (25) |
| 1976 | → Lewis United | ||
| 1994–1995 | Motherwell | 3 | (0) |
| Total | 496 | (25) | |
| International career | |||
| 1978–1987 | Scotland U21[2] | 6 | (0) |
| 1980–1993 | Scotland[3] | 77 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1994–1998 | Motherwell | ||
| 1998–2001 | Hibernian | ||
| 2001–2006 | Rangers | ||
| 2007 | Scotland | ||
| 2007 | Scotland B | ||
| 2007–2011 | Birmingham City | ||
| 2011–2012 | Aston Villa | ||
| 2012–2013 | Nottingham Forest | ||
| 2014–2015 | Genk | ||
| 2016 | Zamalek | ||
| 2018–2019 | Scotland | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Alexander McLeish OBE (born 21 January 1959[4]) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He played as a defender for Aberdeen during their 1980s glory years, making nearly 500 League appearances for the club, and won 77 caps for Scotland.
McLeish started his managerial career with spells at Motherwell and Hibernian, before guiding Rangers to two championships and five cup wins in five years. McLeish spent ten months as manager of the Scotland national team which narrowly failed to qualify for the finals of the 2008 UEFA European championship. He then resigned this post in November 2007 to become manager of Birmingham City, who were in the Premier League at the time. Though Birmingham were relegated at the end of the season, McLeish guided them back to the Premier League in 2009. Birmingham then won the 2011 Football League Cup Final, but were relegated again from the Premier League at the end of the 2010–11 season.
Following this relegation he resigned his post at Birmingham to become manager at their city rivals, Aston Villa. This made him the first manager to move directly from Birmingham City to Aston Villa, and only the second manager after Ron Saunders to manage both clubs. Having only narrowly avoided relegation in the 2011–12 Premier League season, his contract was terminated by Villa at the end of his first season. McLeish was appointed manager of Championship club Nottingham Forest in December 2012, but left after 40 days by mutual consent.[5] He managed Belgian Pro League club Genk in the 2014–15 season, and Zamalek of the Egyptian Premier League in 2016. He then had a second stint as Scotland national team manager.
In recognition of his distinguished service to Scottish sport, in 2008 McLeish was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Aberdeen.[6]
- ^ a b c "Alex McLeish: Profile". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
- ^ "Alex McLeish". fitbastats.com. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
- ^ "Alex McLeish – A Squad". Scottish Football Association. Archived from the original on 8 September 2012. Retrieved 2 October 2011.
- ^ "Manager Profile – Alex McLeish". 4thegame. Archived from the original on 6 March 2008.
- ^ "Alex McLeish: Nottingham Forest manager exits City Ground". BBC Sport. 5 February 2013. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
- ^ "Alex McLeish honoured by University of Aberdeen". Birmingham Mail. 3 July 2008. Archived from the original on 11 May 2011. Retrieved 4 July 2008.