Ally McCoist

Alistair “Ally” Murdoch McCoist, (born 24 September 1962) is a Scottish former footballer who has since worked as a manager and TV pundit.

His high-school team coach and chemistry teacher was former Clyde and Scotland forward Archie Robertson, who was acknowledged by McCoist for his guidance and influence, but who died in 1978 just as his protégé's career was taking off.

Upon leaving school, McCoist had a short spell working as a clerical assistant in the Overseas Development Agency (now the Department for International Development) branch office at Hairmyres.

The role offered flexible working arrangements, allowing him to organise his hours around his football career.

McCoist's first professional club was St Johnstone, having signed from Fir Park Boys Club in 1978.

He had been denied a move to St Mirren because Alex Ferguson thought he was not good enough.

"When I was 14, 15, Sir Alex used to pick me up from school. I used to go to Hunter High in East Kilbride, and he stayed up in Greenhills, I think it was, in East Kilbride. And he used to pick me up – myself and another lad, Stevie Cowan, who he did sign at St Mirren and went to Aberdeen with him. We'd train with the S-forms, and Sir Alex would take the training with the first team and the reserves. And then Stevie and I would wait, and Sir Alex would give us a couple of quid and we'd nip round to the chippie in Love Street. We'd go back and wait for Sir Alex finishing, and then he would drop us off at the house."

McCoist made his debut for St Johnstone on 7 April 1979 in a 3–0 win over Raith Rovers.

He did not score his first goal for the club until he scored Saints' final goal in a 3–0 win against Dumbarton in August 1980.

He went on to score 23 goals in 43 appearances that season, including a consolation against Rangers in a 3–1 defeat in Scottish Cup replay.

Due to his form with both St Johnstone and the Scotland under-18 side, McCoist gained the attention of several English clubs, including Sunderland, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Middlesbrough and Tottenham Hotspur.

McCoist began his playing career with Scottish club St Johnstone, before moving to English side Sunderland in 1981.

He returned to his homeland two years later, signing with Rangers.

He started the 1981–82 season with four goals in five League Cup games including the opening goal in a 2–0 win over Celtic at Muirton Park and the consolation in a 4–1 defeat in the corresponding fixture at Parkhead.

Sunderland manager Alan Durban signed McCoist in August 1981.

The £400,000 transfer fee spent on the striker made him Sunderland's record signing.

McCoist's time at Sunderland was unsuccessful, however: he scored nine goals in 65 appearances for a side struggling at the foot of the English First Division.

He managed two goals during the 1981–82 season, his first coming against Nottingham Forest and his second a curling effort from the edge of the box against Southampton.

Three goals in three pre-season games against Dundee, Dunfermline Athletic and former team St Johnstone, were followed by a goal against European champions Aston Villa on the opening day of the 1982–83 in a 3–1 win.

He followed this up with a goal against Brighton & Hove Albion, meaning he had matched his previous season's tally midway through September.

October 1982 proved to be the highlight of McCoist's spell with Sunderland, as he scored five goals in as many games against Norwich City, Southampton, Manchester City, Everton and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

With seven goals scored by the end of October, McCoist failed to score another goal in a Sunderland shirt.

Despite this, he finished third-top scorer for Sunderland in 1982–83, one goal behind Nick Pickering.

At the end of the 1982–83 season, McCoist returned to Scotland and joined Rangers for a fee of £185,000.

A prolific striker, he is the fifth-highest all-time goalscorer in the top tier of the Scottish football league system, having scored 260 times for Rangers and Kilmarnock between 1983 and 2001.

Towards the end of his playing career, McCoist started his media career.

In early 1983, Alan Durban invited McCoist into his office and informed him that Rangers' John Greig had called him with an interest in signing the player.

"He said, 'Do you fancy it?'" recalled McCoist.

"And I said, 'Aye. I've got to be honest with you.' He said, 'I think you should go, for the simple fact that I don't think I'll be here in three or four months.' Sure enough, he got the sack relatively soon after that."

McCoist had a highly successful career with Rangers, becoming the club's record goalscorer and winning nine successive league championships between 1988–89 and 1996–97.

He later played for Kilmarnock.

Between 1996 and 2007, he was a team captain on the BBC sports quiz A Question of Sport.

McCoist was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.

He is also a member of the Scotland Football Hall of Fame, having gained 61 international caps.

He began to scale back his media commitments in 2007, when he became an assistant manager to Walter Smith at Rangers.

He succeeded Smith as Rangers manager in 2011, but the club then suffered from serious financial difficulties.

Rangers went into liquidation in 2012 and the club was placed in the fourth tier of Scottish league football.

McCoist helped them win successive promotions to the second tier, but after a poor start to the 2014–15 season McCoist handed in his 12-months' notice in December 2014 and was placed on gardening leave.

In September 2015, McCoist and Rangers mutually agreed to terminate his contract.

Born at Bellshill Maternity Hospital and raised in East Kilbride, McCoist attended Maxwellton Primary and Hunter High School.