Brian McClair

Brian John McClair (born 8 December 1963) is a Scottish football coach and former professional footballer.

In his first season for Manchester United he scored 24 league goals, becoming the first Manchester United player to surpass 20 league goals in one season since George Best in the 1967–68 season.

His first goal for Manchester United came in the third game of the season, a 2–0 home win over Watford.

He scored in the next game, a 3–1 away win over Charlton Athletic.

As a player, he was a forward from 1980 to 1998, notable for his near 11-year spell at Manchester United where he won 14 trophies including four Premier League titles, two FA Cups and the European Cup Winners' Cup.

McClair also had important tenures at Scottish clubs Celtic and Motherwell, winning the Scottish League and Scottish Cup with the former.

At Motherwell, he combined his football with studying mathematics at the University of Glasgow.

He was nicknamed "Choccy", as his last name rhymed with the delicacy "chocolate éclair".

McClair began his career with Aston Villa on leaving school in 1980, but left after one season (in which Villa were Football League champions) having never played a competitive game.

He then returned to Scotland in the summer of 1981 and signed for Motherwell.

Initially a midfielder, manager Jock Wallace converted him to a striker.

McClair went on to score 15 league goals in two seasons, including a hat-trick at Fir Park in a 3–0 win over Rangers on 3 January 1983, and both goals in a 2–1 win over Celtic eleven days later.

In May 1983, Billy McNeill signed McClair for Celtic, for a fee of £100,000.

McClair was effectively signed as a replacement for the recently departed Charlie Nicholas.

However, McClair would never actually play for McNeill, as the Celtic manager resigned in June 1983 and was replaced by Davie Hay.

McClair scored in a 2–0 win on his debut against Partick Thistle at Firhill in the Glasgow Cup on 9 August 1983.

By the end of an impressive first season at Celtic, McClair had scored 32 goals and established himself as a first team regular.

A four-goal haul against Dundee in a 6–2 win during September, an outstanding solo goal in a 5–0 win over Sporting Lisbon in the UEFA Cup, and a goal in the 3–2 extra time defeat against Rangers in the League Cup Final in March 1984 highlighted McClair's goalscoring ability.

The following season saw the arrival of Mo Johnston from Watford and, despite their contrasting personalities, McClair and Johnston would quickly form a deadly goalscoring partnership for Celtic.

McClair continued to score regularly for Celtic, and at the end of the season won his first winner's medal, coming on as a substitute in Celtic's 2–1 win over Dundee United in the 1985 Scottish Cup Final.

Despite competition from Alan McInally and Mark McGhee, McClair and Johnston remained the regular pairing playing up front for Celtic.

Their goals helped Celtic to a dramatic league championship win in 1985–86; a memorable 5–0 win over St Mirren at Love Street on the last day of the season with McClair and Johnston both scoring twice as title-rivals Hearts capitulated to a 2–0 defeat at Dundee.

He won the Scottish Cup 1985 and the Scottish Premier Division in 1986.

McClair played in 30 international games for Scotland between 1986 and 1993, and was selected for their squad at UEFA Euro 1992.

After retiring from playing, McClair took on a coaching role at Blackburn Rovers before returning to Manchester United, where he spent several years as Youth Academy Director.

Season 1986–87 was McClair's last at Celtic.

Despite a bright start to the season from Celtic, the team's form began to fade during the winter months and they squandered a nine-point lead in the league, which was won by Rangers.

Another league cup final defeat against Rangers (despite an outstanding goal by McClair) and a fourth-round defeat at Hearts in the Scottish Cup saw Celtic finish the season without any silverware.

Despite Celtic's lack of achievement, McClair was an outstanding success that year.

He scored 41 goals in total, finishing top scorer in the league with 35 goals and won both the Scottish Football Writers' Association Player of the Year and the Scottish Players' Player of the Year awards.

In four seasons with at Celtic, McClair made 204 appearances in all competitions and scored 126 goals.

McClair joined Manchester United in July 1987, for a transfer fee of £850,000 that was determined by a tribunal.

Celtic initially wanted £2million for him, a fee which would have made him the most expensive player at the time to have signed for any British club, whilst Manchester United had offered only £400,000.

He scored a brace in the 4–2 away win over Sheffield Wednesday on 10 October 1987, and another double in the late December win over defending champions Everton.

He put a further double over Sheffield Wednesday in the March return game at Old Trafford, and scored a hat-trick against Derby County in early April.

He managed further braces in the final two games of the season (against Portsmouth and Wimbledon).

Only Liverpool's John Aldridge managed more First Division goals that season.

McClair managed a total of 31 goals in all competitions, but a late penalty miss in the fifth round of the FA Cup at Arsenal meant that Manchester United lost the tie 2–1 and he was denied the chance of silverware as well as building on his already highly impressive goal tally.

1988–89 was a trying season for United after the excellent progress of 1987–88.

After a season playing alongside Peter Davenport, McClair now found himself paired with returning hero Mark Hughes (back at Manchester United after two years abroad) and much was expected of the newly formed partnership.