35 Facts About Jim McLean

James Yuille McLean was a Scottish football player, manager and director.

Jim McLean managed Dundee United between 1971 and 1993, becoming the longest-serving and most successful manager in the club's history, winning three major honours.

Jim McLean was part-time assistant manager to Jock Stein with the Scotland national team.

In European football, Jim McLean's Dundee United reached the European Cup semi-finals in 1984 and the UEFA Cup final in 1987.

Jim McLean became a Dundee United director in 1984 and served as chairman between 1988 and 2000, when he resigned after assaulting a reporter.

Jim McLean's playing career included spells with Hamilton Academical, Clyde, Dundee and Kilmarnock as an inside forward.

Jim McLean was a member of a prominent footballing family; his brothers Tommy and Willie were successful as players and managers.

Jim McLean's achievements saw him win the first ever SFWA Manager of the Year award in 1987.

Jim McLean was inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame in 2005.

James Yuille Jim McLean was born into a working-class family in Larkhall, Lanarkshire, on 2 August 1937, the second of three sons of Tom and Annie Jim McLean, and grew up in the nearby village of Ashgill.

Jim McLean, who played as an inside forward, began his football career with the local junior club Larkhall Thistle.

Jim McLean made more than 125 league appearances for Hamilton before leaving in 1960 to join Clyde.

Jim McLean was not always popular with the Dundee supporters; McLean later attributed that to him having had to follow higher-class players such as Cooke and Alan Gilzean into their team.

Jim McLean was first team coach at Dundee for 18 months.

In November 1971 the club's manager John Prentice announced that he would resign at the end of that year; many outside observers assumed that Jim McLean would become their manager.

Jim McLean immediately started a co-ordinated youth policy which was to produce many fine young players over the two decades which followed; he had personally visited Ralph Milne, John Holt, and Davie Dodds to encourage them to sign for United rather than for Celtic, Aston Villa, and rivals Dundee respectively.

In December 1979, Jim McLean guided his team to triumph in the League Cup by winning a replayed final against Aberdeen.

Jim McLean's goals were always just past what you thought was right.

Jim McLean engaged in early negotiations with the club; one of his main problems with the job offer was Rangers' policy of not signing Roman Catholics, a policy Jim McLean found a ridiculous restriction for any employer as his United team included players from both faiths.

Jim McLean later said that although moving to Rangers would have been better for his career, it was not the only factor in his decision to stay at Dundee United.

Jim McLean's family were happily settled in the Broughty Ferry area of Dundee, and in June 1984 he turned down an offer to manage English club Newcastle United.

Jim McLean's counter-attacking tactics paired with a pressuring style brought some memorable results in that year's European campaign.

Three years later Jim McLean took the team to a European final in the UEFA Cup, defeating Barcelona and Borussia Monchengladbach en route.

Jim McLean won the inaugural Scottish Football Writers' Association Manager of the year award in 1987.

Jim McLean took the team to six Scottish Cup finals, but never won the trophy.

Jim McLean retained those joint responsibilities until stepping down as manager in July 1993, after a reign of almost 22 years.

Jim McLean remained as chairman after resigning as manager, stepping down from this role in October 2000 following an attack on BBC Scotland reporter John Barnes.

Jim McLean returned briefly in January 2002 as a director but departed a month later.

Jim McLean was recognised for his achievements in football by being inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame in 2005.

Jim McLean contributed a regular column to the Daily Record newspaper, giving his views on football.

In October 2006, Jim McLean criticised Eddie Thompson's running of Dundee United in his column, saying he had been a "disaster for the club".

Jim McLean was awarded an honorary doctor of law degree by the University of Dundee in 2011, in recognition of his managerial achievements.

Jim McLean was inducted into the Dundee United Hall of Fame in 2015, with the club describing him as "unquestionably, the most successful manager in the club's history, and unlikely to ever be surpassed".

In February 2020, the Dundee Repertory Theatre produced a play about Jim McLean's life called Smile.

Jim McLean was unable to attend a performance himself due to ill health, but it received the support of his wife Doris and their family.