1. Alistair Murdoch McCoist is a Scottish former footballer who has since worked as a manager and TV pundit.
54 Facts About Ally McCoist
1. 2.
Ally McCoist began his playing career with Scottish club St Johnstone, before moving to English side Sunderland in 1981.
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Ally McCoist returned to his homeland two years later, signing with Rangers.
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Ally McCoist was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.
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Ally McCoist is a member of the Scottish Football Hall of Fame, having gained 61 international caps.
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Towards the end of his playing career, Ally McCoist started his media career.
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Ally McCoist began to scale back his media commitments in 2007, when he became an assistant manager to Walter Smith at Rangers.
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Ally McCoist succeeded Smith as Rangers manager in 2011, but the club then suffered from serious financial difficulties.
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Ally McCoist had been denied a move to St Mirren because Alex Ferguson thought he was not good enough.
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October 1982 proved to be the highlight of Ally McCoist's spell with Sunderland, as he scored five goals in as many games against Norwich City, Southampton, Manchester City, Everton and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
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Ally McCoist won a Scottish Cup winner's medal and nine Scottish League Cup winner's medals.
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Ally McCoist was the first player to be Europe's top goalscorer twice in a row, and in 1992 won Scottish football's two most prestigious Player of the Year awards.
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Ally McCoist made his international debut against the Netherlands in 1986, the same year Graeme Souness arrived at Rangers to begin the Ibrox revolution.
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Ally McCoist scored another hat-trick in the Glasgow Cup final against Celtic to bring further accolades his way, and he was an ever-present in Rangers' title-winning side of 1987, scoring 34 goals along the way.
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That title win was the first of nine-in-a-row, but Ally McCoist found himself in and out of the first team for the first three of those successes.
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Ally McCoist returned to the team for the second of the matches after Hateley was sent off in the first, but Rangers lost both without scoring and his future at the club seemed uncertain.
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When Walter Smith took over from Souness in April 1991, Ally McCoist returned to the fore and came back from a hernia on the final day of the season as the club won the title.
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Ally McCoist had scored the only goal of the Scottish Cup semi-final, an Old Firm meeting in which Rangers played 85 minutes with only ten men, and rounded off the season with the decisive goal in the 1992 Scottish Cup final.
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Ally McCoist missed the 1993 Scottish Cup final but still scored a career-best 49 goals from 52 appearances overall for the campaign.
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Ally McCoist's appearances were limited over the next two seasons as a result of other niggling injuries, and had to compete with a string of new signings between 1993 and 1995, including Gordon Durie and Brian Laudrup, for the forward positions.
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At Rangers, Ally McCoist became the club's record goalscorer, netting 355 goals in all competitions.
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Ally McCoist held the title for the most goals scored by a player in European competitions, until his total was overtaken by Alfredo Morelos.
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Ally McCoist is third in the all-time appearance table for Rangers, having made 581 appearances for the club.
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Ally McCoist finished his career at Kilmarnock, where he spent three seasons alongside long-time Rangers teammate Ian Durrant.
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Coincidentally, McCoist was substituted off in that match while fellow striker Kris Boyd came off the bench to make his debut; he too went on to be become the club's joint-second league goalscorer of all time, level with Eddie Morrison on 121 goals.
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Ally McCoist appeared ten times for the Scotland national under-18 football team.
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Ally McCoist made his debut in a European Under-18 Championship qualifier against Iceland, netting the only goal of the game after 19 minutes.
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Ally McCoist was then selected for Scotland's semi-professional side for a four-team tournament in the Netherlands; however, he failed to make an appearance.
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Ally McCoist made his Scotland debut, aged 23, on 29 April 1986 in a goalless friendly match against the Netherlands.
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Ally McCoist started one game at the 1990 World Cup in Italy after being an integral part of the qualification bid.
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Ally McCoist captained Scotland once, against Australia on 27 March 1996.
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Ally McCoist scored one major tournament goal: a long-range drive at UEFA Euro 1996 against Switzerland, which was his last goal for his country; he had started all three of Scotland's matches at UEFA Euro 1992 but failed to score, and was not selected in the squad for the 1998 World Cup despite having scored 16 goals during the preceding season.
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Ally McCoist is Scotland's fifth-highest scorer, with 19 goals from his 61 caps.
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Ally McCoist joined the Scotland coaching staff under his former manager at Rangers, Walter Smith, in 2004.
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Ally McCoist turned down the managerial position at Inverness Caledonian Thistle in 2006 as he wanted a job nearer his Glasgow home.
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Ally McCoist returned to Rangers as an assistant manager to Walter Smith in January 2007.
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Ally McCoist made a promising start to his first SPL campaign as manager, with Rangers topping the SPL after the first five fixtures and conceding only one goal.
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Ally McCoist was able to see out the season with Rangers finishing in second place despite the points deduction.
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Ally McCoist then worked alongside Green as the club were placed in the Scottish Third Division.
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Ally McCoist submitted formal notice of his intention to resign as manager in December 2014 and began serving a 12-month notice period.
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Ally McCoist was a team captain on the BBC's A Question of Sport from 1996 to 2007 with his rival captains being John Parrott, Frankie Dettori and Matt Dawson, making a record 363 appearances on the show.
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Ally McCoist co-presented a late night chat show McCoist and MacAulay for BBC Scotland from 1998 to 1999 alongside comedian Fred MacAulay.
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In 2001, Ally McCoist won Sports Presenter of the Year at the TRIC Awards.
44.
In 2000, Ally McCoist starred in the film A Shot at Glory alongside Robert Duvall, playing Jackie McQuillan, a fictional legendary ex-Celtic player.
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Ally McCoist wore a Rangers jersey under his Celtic one to keep the material off his skin.
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Ally McCoist has been a regular pundit for ITV Sport's football coverage.
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Ally McCoist worked for ITV during the 2018 World Cup, and his partnership with main commentator Jon Champion was praised by various media sources.
48.
On 10 June 1994, Ally McCoist was awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to football.
49.
Ally McCoist was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2007 and is a member of the Scottish Football Hall of Fame.
50.
Ally McCoist was inducted into the Scotland national football team roll of honour in March 1996, when he was awarded his 50th international cap.
51.
Ally McCoist was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2024 Birthday Honours for services to association football and to broadcasting.
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Ally McCoist has two more sons, Arran and Harris, with his second wife, Vivien.
53.
Ally McCoist had an extramarital affair with the actress Patsy Kensit, which was cited in divorce proceedings from his first wife.
54.
In November 2024, Ally McCoist revealed he has Dupuytren's contracture, a genetic disorder that causes a person's fingers to bend towards their palm.