Alexander McLeishOBE (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]
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^"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.
2018). "AlexMcLeish says it was his 'destiny' to return as Scotland manager". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 March 2018. "Scotland: AlexMcLeish exits after...
occupied the post since its inception, with Beattie, Jock Stein and AlexMcLeish occupying it in two spells. Six of those managers were in caretaker or...
suggested that new Scotland manager AlexMcLeish should select McTominay "because it looks like England is missing him". McTominay pledged his future to Scotland...
12 April 2007. "Rise and fall of McLeish's Scotland". BBC Sport. 27 November 2007. Retrieved 2 February 2008. "McLeish leaves Scotland for Blues". BBC...
professional football. McLeish's career was cut short after an injury and he returned to education, studying at Heriot-Watt University. McLeish joined the Labour...
McLeish is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: Adam McLeish, British sportsman in Snowboarding AlexMcLeish (born 1959), Scottish former...
football managers themselves, including Tony Fitzpatrick, AlexMcLeish, Gordon Strachan, Mark McGhee, Willie Miller, Neale Cooper, Bryan Gunn, Eric Black...
value of hard work and dedication; Gunn also served as a boot boy for AlexMcLeish. Leighton's presence meant that Gunn played only 21 games for Aberdeen...
In March 2018, Gunn was offered the opportunity by Scotland manager AlexMcLeish to switch allegiances to Scotland, but decided to stay with the England...
by manager Ally MacLeod. Miller's central defensive partnership with AlexMcLeish was integral to Aberdeen's success in the 1980s, as they won all the...
a match for which Hart was ineligible, left manager AlexMcLeish with a selection dilemma. McLeish chose Hart, who kept his place in the starting 11 as...
Souttar made his debut for the Scotland under-19 team, against England. AlexMcLeish called Souttar into the senior Scotland squad for the first time in May...
Peter Grant, James McFadden & Stevie Woods join AlexMcLeish's staff". BBC Sport. BBC. 11 March 2018. Retrieved 11 March 2018. AlexMcLeish sacked as Scotland...
Tierney were being played out of position in the 3–5–2 system adopted by AlexMcLeish to accommodate both players. In November 2019, Tierney withdrew from...
national squad for the first time in March 2018, by new Scotland manager AlexMcLeish. He made his full international debut on 23 March, in a 1–0 defeat to...