Ian McNeill

John McKeand "Ian" McNeill (24 February 1932 – 6 October 2017) was a Scottish professional footballer and manager. Playing at inside forward, McNeill started his career at Aberdeen, making his first team debut in January 1951. McNeill moved to England in 1956, and went on to play for Leicester City, Brighton & Hove Albion and Southend United. He returned to Scotland to join Ross County, then a Highland League club, initially as a player before taking over as manager the following season. He led the club to their first ever Highland League Championship in 1967.

He then became manager of Wigan Athletic, then a Northern Premier League club, in 1968. McNeill then managed Salisbury in the Southern League, before returning for a second spell at Ross County in 1971. In 1976 he rejoined Wigan Athletic, and led the club into the Football League in 1978. In 1981 he became assistant manager to John Neal at Chelsea. When Neal was sidelined with ill-health during the 1984–85 season, McNeill also took temporary charge of first team affairs.

He returned to management in 1987, this time with Shrewsbury Town and remained until 1990. After this he became assistant manager to Bruce Rioch at Millwall, and later worked as a scout for Bolton Wanderers, Leeds United, Norwich City, Wigan Athletic and Chelsea. He retired from the sport in 2006 and returned to Scotland. Provided by Wikipedia