| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Livingstone McMillan[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 18 March 1931 | ||
| Place of birth | Airdrie, Scotland | ||
| Position(s) | Inside-forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1948–1958 | Airdrieonians | 249 | (102) |
| 1958–1964 | Rangers | 127 | (36) |
| 1964–1966 | Airdrieonians | 52 | (17) |
| Total | 428 | (155) | |
| International career | |||
| 1952–1961 | Scotland | 6 | (2) |
| 1952–1954[2] | Scottish League XI | 2 | (0) |
| 1953[3] | Scotland B | 1 | (1) |
| 1955[4] | Scotland A vs B trial | 1 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1970–1976 | Airdrieonians | ||
| 1985–1986 | Airdrieonians | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
John Livingstone "Ian" McMillan (born 18 March 1931) is a Scottish former footballer who played for Airdrieonians, Rangers and the Scotland national team.
McMillan was born in Airdrie. Nicknamed "The Wee Prime Minister" (he shared a variant of his surname with the incumbent of the era),[5][6][7] he started his career with local club Airdrieonians in 1948 where he would go on to become a club legend.[8] He scored 102 goals in 249 league appearances over ten years for the club[9] in this spell, in the role of scheming inside-forward (a creative midfield position in today's football parlance).[7]
McMillan was at Rangers from 1958 until 1964, making 127 league appearances[9] and 200 in all competitions, including the 1961 European Cup Winners' Cup Final. The Gers lost out in that tie to Fiorentina,[10] but his spell was otherwise very successful,[7] featuring four Scottish League titles (1958–59, 1960–61, 1962–63 and 1963–64), three Scottish Cup winner's medals (1960, 1962 and 1963), and two from the Scottish League Cup (1960 and 1961).[11] Despite his prominent role at a major club, he also continued to work in his other profession as a mining surveyor]] as he had done as a part-time player.[7] He studied geology as a student at the University of Edinburgh.
He returned to Airdrieonians in 1964[9] where he would remain for a further two years, though affected by injuries.[8]
He was capped six times by the Scotland national team between 1952 and 1961, scoring twice – both against the United States in April 1952. McMillan was in Scotland's 22-man 1954 World Cup squad, but the SFA decided to take only 13 of the group to the finals, with McMillan staying at home on reserve with the likes of Bobby Combe and Jimmy Binning (inside forward George Hamilton was also on reserve, but travelled after Bobby Johnstone withdrew through injury).
McMillan later managed Airdrieonians between 1970 and 1976, taking them to 1975 Scottish Cup Final.[8][12] He is currently Honorary president of the current Airdrieonians,[6] a club that was formed as 'Airdrie United' after the original Airdrieonians went out of business in 2002.
He is the grandfather of Iain Russell.[citation needed]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 1952 | 3 | 2 |
| 1955 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1956 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1961 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 6 | 2 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30 April 1952 | Hampden Park, Glasgow | 2 |  United States |
3–0 | 6–0 | Friendly match | [13][1] |
| 2 | 6–0 | [13][1] |
