Jim McLean

Jim McLean

James Yuille McLean was a Scottish football player, manager and director. He managed Dundee United between 1971 and 1993. His playing career included spells with Hamilton Academical, Clyde, Dundee and Kilmarnock as an inside forward. He was inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame in 2005.

About Jim McLean in brief

Summary Jim McLeanJames Yuille McLean was a Scottish football player, manager and director. He managed Dundee United between 1971 and 1993, becoming the longest-serving and most successful manager in the club’s history. His playing career included spells with Hamilton Academical, Clyde, Dundee and Kilmarnock as an inside forward. McLean’s achievements saw him win the first ever SFWA Manager of the Year award in 1987. He was inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame in 2005. His maternal grandfather William Yuille had been a professional footballer, playing for Rangers before the First World War. The three brothers, Willie, Jim and Tommy, who all went on to become professional football players and managers, had a strict religious upbringing in Larkhall, Lanarkshire. He died in a car crash in 2007, aged 80. He is survived by his wife, two daughters and a son, all of whom are now in their thirties, and a daughter-in-law, who is also a former footballer. The family still live in the village of Ashgill, near Dundee, where Jim McLean played for Dundee in the Scottish League Cup in the 1960s and 1970s. He also had a son and two step-daughters, both of whom have also played for the Scottish Premier League club Dundee City. He has also been a part-time assistant manager to Jock Stein with the Scotland national team.

He retired from playing in 1970 and returned to Dundee as a coach in July that year. In November that year he was first team coach at Dundee for 18 months. In July 1971 he became manager of their local rivals Dundee. He replaced Jerry Kerr, who was retiring, as manager of Dundee United. Mclean replaced Kerr with the club winning the Scottish FA Cup in 1979 and 1980. Under McLean, the club also lost in a further eight domestic cup finals. He became a Dundee director in 1984 and served as chairman between 1988 and 2000, when he resigned after assaulting a reporter. In the short term, he used his knowledge of the Scottish scene to buy experienced players who would allow him to re-shape the squad and encourage them to sign for Celtic, Aston Villa and Dundee respectively rather than for Aston Villa, Celtic, Villa and United respectively. He made more than 125 league appearances for Hamilton before leaving in 1960 to join Clyde. After playing in over 100 league games for Clyde, he was transferred to Dundees for £10,000 in 1965. He scored 17 goals for Dundees during the 1966–67 season, which made him the club’s leading scorer.