Ian McCall was born in Dumfries, Scotland. In his boyhood, he was a regular on the Palmerston terraces watching Queen of the South. His hopes of playing for his home town club were dashed, though, by then chairman Willie Harkness. "I played a trial game for the club, and thought I did reasonably well," McCall recalls. "Drew Busby was the manager, but I was told by Willie Harkness I might not make the grade. Instead I went to Queen's Park, and then three years after that was sold to Rangers for £250,000."[2]
McCall never made more than 75 league appearances in a single spell for one club. He made 85 league appearances for Dunfermline broken over two separate periods with the Fife club.
Managerial career
Clydebank, Morton and Airdrie
His spell at Clydebank took place against the backdrop of an abortive scheme to relocate the club to Dublin.
In 17 games in charge at Morton, McCall achieved five wins and 9 defeats.
This was followed by a move to Airdrieonians. Airdrie challenged for promotion to the Scottish Premier League before the club's extinction in 2002, making McCall the last manager in the club's history. McCall won 23 of his 65 games in charge.
Falkirk and Dundee United
A spell, at Falkirk,[3] with the best win rate of his managerial career, led to McCall twice being offered the manager's job at Dundee United, which he finally accepted in January 2003. In McCall's first top flight managerial season the Tayside club achieved a top-6 finish, but in the following season with the club in a relegation battle he was sacked in March 2005.
Queen of the South
In November 2005, Ian McCall returned to management with his home town club Queen of the South. After a less than auspicious start to his reign as Queens manager, the Palmerston outfit enjoyed somewhat of a resurgence in the early months of 2006, finally securing eight position in the league and thus avoiding having to play-off to maintain first division status. 2006/07 provided a second relegation battle. Allan Jenkins scored the Stranraer winner on a 2 January South West relegation derby leaving Queens firmly in the play off spot that was ninth place.[4] However Jenkins was sold to Gretna 10 days later.[5] Stranraer's league form imploded immediately recording only one other league win from then until the season's end.[4] Despite narrowly avoiding relegation, Ian McCall was sacked by Queen of the South, with his assistant Gordon Chisholm taking over. His departure from Queen of the South was in bitter circumstances. McCall fielded an ineligible player in Jamie Adams in a Scottish Cup run early in 2007. Queens were fined £20,000 by the SFA. Chairman Davie Rae described the fine as, "A considerable sum".[6] McCall's departure from Queens was at the season's end.[7] In 70 games in charge McCall notched 19 wins.
Partick Thistle
He became manager of Partick Thistle in May 2007.[7] staying until 15 April 2011 when he departed after achieving 70 wins from 179 games in charge. In his first season in charge, McCall largely rebuilt the squad, bringing in players such as Marc Twaddle, Gary Harkins and Liam Buchanan, each of whom would go on to serve with distinction at the club.
Ayr United
After three years out of the game, McCall was appointed manager of Ayr United in January 2015.[8] He led the "Honest Men" to promotion to the Scottish Championship through the play-offs in May 2016. They were relegated the following season in May 2017. McCall then led an instant promotion back to the second tier in the following season by winning the Scottish League One title. Ayr reached the promotion playoffs in 2018–19. McCall left the club in September 2019 to rejoin Partick Thistle.[9]
Partick Thistle (second spell)
During his second stint as Thistle manager, McCall won promotion to the Championship in 2020–21. This had followed their relegation in the 2019–20 season, which had been curtailed by the Covid-19 pandemic. McCall left the club on 12 February 2023, following a Scottish Cup defeat against Rangers.[10]
Clyde
McCall was appointed Clyde manager in November 2023.[11]
Media work
McCall has worked for a number of years as a media pundit. McCall commented, "I can't really slag my bosses at the BBC because they're my pals."[2]
Personal life
McCall lives in Glasgow. He has a son, called Edson, from a previous marriage.[12][13]
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