Derek McInnes

Derek John McInnes (born 5 July 1971) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Scottish Premiership club Kilmarnock.

He featured prominently for Greenock Morton, Rangers, West Bromwich Albion and Dundee United during his playing career.

He won two caps for the Scotland national football team while with West Brom.

McInnes began his professional career in 1988 as a teenager at Greenock Morton, where he played in 259 games in all competitions over nine seasons and credited the influence of assistant manager John McMaster, before moving to Rangers, where he spent almost five years as a squad player, taking part in 52 matches for the Ibrox club; his main achievement was winning the Scottish Cup in 1999 to clinch a domestic treble.

McInnes scored four goals for Rangers, with strikes against FC Alania Vladikavkaz in the Champions League and Hearts in the league.

He also scored twice against Ayr United and Dunfermline in Rangers' run to the 1996 Scottish League Cup Final, but he did not feature in the final itself.

During his time in Glasgow, McInnes had a loan spell at English club Stockport County, where he made 13 league appearances.

He was also briefly at French side Toulouse during a season in which the club was promoted from the second division, although he only featured in three league matches.

McInnes joined West Bromwich Albion in the summer of 2000, but a cruciate ligament injury ended his season in October.

He returned the following season to captain West Brom to a place in the Premier League.

He also won West Brom's Goal of the Season award at the end of the promotion campaign, for his 25-yard strike against Sheffield United in the Battle of Bramall Lane.

McInnes was the first West Brom player to be sent off in the Premier League.

He was dismissed in the second half of the club's first Premier League match against Manchester United at Old Trafford in August 2002.

He played in the majority of West Brom's Premier League games during the 2002–03 season but was unable to prevent them from being relegated.

He made 88 league appearances and scored six times for the West Midlands club.

International recognition came late to McInnes as he made his Scotland debut on 21 August 2002, coming on as a substitute for the last ten minutes against Denmark in a friendly.

Three months later, against Portugal, he was a substitute once again, coming on midway through the first half.

McInnes joined Dundee United on 11 July 2003, and was immediately installed as team captain by manager Ian McCall.

In his first full season at Tannadice, McInnes missed only three league and one cup game.

He helped the club to a fifth-place finish in the Scottish Premier League and scored twice—his first coming in the Scottish Cup against Dunfermline and his second in a league match against Hearts.

After an unsteady start to the 2004–05 season, McInnes began to take control again in the centre of midfield.

He then picked up an injury with a third of the season remaining but managed to return to the first team for the Scottish Cup final at the end of the season.

In April 2006, United manager Craig Brewster announced that McInnes was free to leave the club at the end of the season, despite having a year of his contract left to run.

He made 83 appearances for Dundee United, with four goals scored.

On 24 June 2006, it was announced that McInnes had finally come to an agreement to be released from his contract and he subsequently joined Millwall.

The then-Lions boss Nigel Spackman gave McInnes the captain's armband with the comment: "Every Millwall player on that pitch should be a Derek McInnes."

McInnes scored once during his spell with Millwall, his goal coming in a 3–2 defeat to Cheltenham on 26 August 2006.

McInnes became manager of St Johnstone where he had been on the playing staff, in November 2007.

McInnes left Millwall on a free transfer during the January 2007 transfer window, returning to Scotland to sign for St Johnstone late on New Year's Day.

He made his debut for the Perth club on 6 January, against Ayr United in the Scottish Cup at McDiarmid Park.

McInnes was appointed manager of St Johnstone on 27 November 2007, after the previous management team of Owen Coyle and Sandy Stewart had departed for Burnley.

He guided the club to promotion to the Scottish Premier League in 2009 and retained that status for two seasons.

On 2 May 2009, McInnes secured promotion to the Scottish Premier League for St Johnstone, ending their seven-year stint in the First Division.

During the 2009–10 close season, McInnes was linked with the managerial positions at West Bromwich Albion and Watford.

He remained at St Johnstone, however, and in October 2009 he signed a new contract with the Perth club.

McInnes was appointed manager of Football League Championship club Bristol City in October 2011.

Despite avoiding relegation in 2011–12, McInnes was sacked by Bristol City in January 2013 with the club bottom of the Championship.

McInnes was granted permission by St Johnstone to be interviewed by Bristol City for their managerial position, alongside former Barnsley manager Mark Robins and another unnamed candidate, in October 2011.

He was appointed Aberdeen manager in March 2013 but was sacked eight years later in March 2021, having won the Scottish League Cup in 2014, finished Scottish Premiership runners-up on four occasions and reached three other cup finals during his spell in charge.

In January 2022 McInnes was appointed manager of Kilmarnock on an 18-month deal, succeeding previous manager Tommy Wright.