| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Miller McColl[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 7 June 1927[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Alexandria, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 25 October 2008 (aged 81) | ||
| Place of death | Glasgow, Scotland[3] | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Vale of Leven | |||
| 1943–1945 | Queen's Park | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1945–1960 | Rangers | 362 | (12) |
| International career | |||
| 1950–1958 | Scotland | 14 | (0) |
| 1952–1958 | Scottish League XI | 7 | (3) |
| 1958[4] | SFL trial v SFA | 1 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1960–1965 | Scotland | ||
| 1965–1968 | Sunderland | ||
| 1967 | → Vancouver Royal Canadians (USA) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
John Miller "Ian" McColl (7 June 1927 – 25 October 2008)[5] was a Scottish football player and manager. McColl played as a defender for Queen's Park and Rangers, while he also represented both the Scotland national team and the Scottish League. After retiring as a player, he managed the Scotland national team and English club Sunderland.
Born in Alexandria, West Dunbartonshire,[2] the grandson of Scotland international William McColl, McColl developed his footballing skills with Vale of Leven (Juniors), and joined Queen's Park in 1943[6] when he moved to Glasgow to study engineering at the University of Glasgow.[7] He continued his studies after turning professional and later worked as a qualified engineer.[3]
Rangers manager Bill Struth signed McColl in 1945.[8] During his 15-year spell at Ibrox, he won six League championships, five Scottish Cups and two League Cups.[8] He captained the club during the 1950s and was part of what was known as the Iron Curtain defence, alongside the likes of Sammy Cox, Willie Woodburn and George Young.[8]
His final appearance for Rangers was in the 1960 Scottish Cup Final, a 2–0 win against Kilmarnock. He made a total of 575 appearances for the Glasgow club in all competitions.[9] He also won 14 caps for Scotland and represented the Scottish League XI.[10]
After his playing career, he quickly went into management. He was appointed manager of Scotland in 1960 and enjoyed a winning start, beating Northern Ireland 5–2 at Hampden Park. Under McColl's managership, Scotland won British Home Championships in 1962 and 1963.[8] The team beat England 2–0 at Hampden and 2–1 at Wembley in the process. Other notable results under his tenure include a 6–2 win against Spain in Madrid, a 6–1 win over Northern Ireland in Belfast and a 6–1 win over Norway in Glasgow. He was in charge of Scotland for a total of 27 matches, winning 16 of them.[8] This gave him a winning percentage of 59.3%, the second best of any Scotland manager.[11]
McColl was appointed manager of Sunderland in 1965. Despite signing Jim Baxter,[8] McColl was unable to make Sunderland into a successful side.[11] He was sacked by Sunderland in 1968 and spent the rest of his working life as a civil engineer.[11]
| Scotland national team[12] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 1950 | 4 | 0 |
| 1951 | 1 | 0 |
| 1956 | 3 | 0 |
| 1957 | 5 | 0 |
| 1958 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 14 | 0 |
As of 28 March 2015[update]
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Scotland | 
|
1960 | 1965 | 28 | 17 | 3 | 8 | 60.71 |
| Sunderland | 
|
1965 | 1968 | 124 | 39 | 27 | 58 | 31.45 |
