Alan McInally: Difference between revisions

Alan McInally
Personal information
Full name	Alan Bruce McInally
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Striker (Retired)

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Revision as of 12:22, 10 March 2009

Alan Bruce McInally (born 10 February 1963, Ayrshire) is a former professional footballer in Scotland, England and Germany. Since retiring from football, he is best known for his work at Sky Sports as a football analyst.

He is the son of Jackie McInally, who played in Kilmarnock's title-winning side of 1965.

He began his career with his local side Ayr United, making his debut in the 1980/1 season in the Scottish League Division One. His early style was as a bustling "up and at 'em" type centre forward, and during his time at Ayr, he had the more than respectable goal ratio of exactly 1 in 3. A great season in 1983/4, where McInally got his best haul to date of 15 goals in 35 games earned him a move to Glasgow giants Celtic in the Scottish Premier Division. Strangely, McInally had his best personal season here, while Ayr only survived relegation by one point.

With Celtic, and now in the top flight after 4 seasons in the 2nd tier, he was mainly used as a reserve, but was a respected member of the squad, weighing in with important goals when called upon. He also experienced european football for the first time with Celtic, and even then the continentals found the raw McInally's rough and tumble style hard to counter. Celtic won the Scottish Cup in 1985, but McInally wasn't involved on the day. He did play in the Scottish League Cup Final in 1986, but was on the losing side as Celtic lost against Rangers.

He won his first medal in the 1985/6 season, when Celtic won the title on goal difference from Hearts of Midlothian. Although he played only 16 games (with 1 goal scored), he was a valued member of the team, getting a more regular place the following season. McInally really came into his own in his 3rd season at the club in 1986/7, scoring 15 goals in his 38 league games. This was his last season at the club, as the new manager Billy McNeil decided to make a clean sweep of the playing staff, and the three main strikers all went abroad - Mo Johnstone to Nantes in France, Brian McClair to Manchester United and McInally followed him to England, ending up at Aston Villa, in the Second Division.

In his first season at Villa, McInally helped them to get promoted back to the top flight, scoring 4 goals in his 26 league games as Villa finished second behind Millwall, and the next season they were among the favourites for an immediate return to the second tier. However, McInally, now used to the rigours of English football, came into his own as he added technical finesse to his tough style, and helped Villa survive by netting 14 league goals in his 33 games, scoring 23 goals in all competitions. It was this season that he also made his debut in the Scottish national team, in February 1989 in a World Cup qualifier against Cyprus as a sub, which the Scots won 3-2.

McInally's second cap - his full debut - against Chile in May 1989 resulted in his first goal (the Scots won 2-0) and also more importantly, he caught the eye of German giants Bayern Munich, who were suffieciently impressed by McInally's overall season to bid a record fee for them at the time of £1.2 Million to take McInally to the Bundesliga. The Bayern attack was revamped for this up coming 1989/90 season, with the Yugolav Radmilo Mihailjovic also bought in expensively as Bayern went to defend their Bundesliga crown and make headway in the European Cup.

McInally - now nicknamed Big Mac by the Bayern fans - began well in the Bundesliga, proving a handful for the defences, but then the referees clamped down on his style and his disciplinary record suffered. He was a regular thoughout this season, but halfway through, the Bayern management decided that this strikeforce was not what they wanted and began to look for replacements for McInally and Mihailjovic. McInally was still palying well enough to warrant further selections with Scotland on their way to the 1990 World Cup finals, playing against Yugoslavia and France. At the end of his first season, McInally helped Bayern to the league title, and scored 10 goals in his 31 league games, a respectable tally in his first season abroad. He also helped Bayern to the semi finals of the European Cup, where they fell to AC Milan, despite McInally's goal in the second leg in Munich.

A couple of McInally goals against Malta in a friendly in May 1990 effectively earned McInally a place in the Scotland squad for the 1990 World Cup Finals in Italy. He started the first game against Costa Rica, which was a humiliating defeat against Costa Rica, McInally failing to make his height and power work against the Costa Rican defence. That was the end of McInally's international career. He didn't play in any more of the Scottish games in the World Cup (they went out in the first phase), and indeed never played for Scotland again, finishing with 3 goals in his 8 caps.

Back at Bayern Munich for the 1990/1 season, McInally was now deemed a reserve at Bayern (Mihailjovic had now been sold), but he was regularly given a run out in europe, where he scored some goals in the early rounds of the European Cup. Bayern were willing to let him go, and Chelsea came in for him, but McInally turned them down, preferring to fight on in Munich. This season, he only played 7 goalless games in the league, and was unable to help Bayern to get past Red Star Belgrade in the European Cup semi final, despite a battering ram performance in the first leg in Munich. This season was effectively McInally's last as a top level professional, as he began to succumb to injury.

McInally only managed 2 league games for Bayern in the 1991/2 season, before suffering a long term knee injury. This injury ended his time with the German giants, who supported McInally until his contract ran out with them at the end of the 1992/3 season. On the expiry of this contract, and back to a semblance of fitness, McInally returned to Scotland and signed for Kilmarnock in 1994, a club in which his father Jackie had been a hero, helping them to win the Scottish title in 1965. McInally managed to turn out for Kilmarnock 8 times in the 1993/4 season, before calling it a day and retiring because of his knee injury.

He currently works on Soccer Saturday as a pundit, alongside the likes of Phil Thompson and Jeff Stelling, and contributes to the BETDAQ Exchange Views blog. On 10 February 2007, Jeff Stelling revealed the middle name of Alan McInally, live on Soccer Saturday which prompted Alan to ring in during the commercial break (from home on his birthday) and jokingly vowed to get even with Jeff.

External links

Alan McInally at IMDb
Alan McInally at Soccerbase

Template:Scotland-footybio-stub

@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 He is the son of [[Jackie McInally]], who played in Kilmarnock's title-winning side of 1965.
+He began his career with his local side [[Ayr United]], making his debut in the 1980/1 season in the [[Scottish League Division One]]. His early style was as a bustling "up and at 'em" type centre forward, and during his time at Ayr, he had the more than respectable goal ratio of exactly 1 in 3. A great season in 1983/4, where McInally got his best haul to date of 15 goals in 35 games earned him a move to Glasgow giants [[Celtic]] in the [[Scottish Premier Division]]. Strangely, McInally had his best personal season here, while Ayr only survived relegation by one point.
-His clubs include [[Ayr United F.C.|Ayr United]], [[Celtic F.C.|Celtic]], [[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]] and [[Bayern Munich]].
+With Celtic, and now in the top flight after 4 seasons in the 2nd tier, he was mainly used as a reserve, but was a respected member of the squad, weighing in with important goals when called upon. He also experienced european football for the first time with Celtic, and even then the continentals found the raw McInally's rough and tumble style hard to counter. Celtic won the [[Scottish Cup]] in 1985, but McInally wasn't involved on the day. He did play in the [[Scottish League Cup]] Final in 1986, but was on the losing side as Celtic lost against Rangers.
-He retired from playing 1994 after a one-year spell at [[Kilmarnock F.C.|Kilmarnock]].
+He won his first medal in the 1985/6 season, when Celtic won the title on goal difference from [[Hearts of Midlothian]]. Although he played only 16 games (with 1 goal scored), he was a valued member of the team, getting a more regular place the following season. McInally really came into his own in his 3rd season at the club in 1986/7, scoring 15 goals in his 38 league games. This was his last season at the club, as the new manager [[Billy McNeil]] decided to make a clean sweep of the playing staff, and the three main strikers all went abroad - [[Mo Johnstone]] to [[Nantes]] in France, [[Brian McClair]] to [[Manchester United]] and McInally followed him to England, ending up at [[Aston Villa]], in the Second Division.
+In his first season at Villa, McInally helped them to get promoted back to the top flight, scoring 4 goals in his 26 league games as Villa finished second behind [[Millwall]], and the next season they were among the favourites for an immediate return to the second tier. However, McInally, now used to the rigours of English football, came into his own as he added technical finesse to his tough style, and helped Villa survive by netting 14 league goals in his 33 games, scoring 23 goals in all competitions. It was this season that he also made his debut in the [[Scottish national team]], in February 1989 in a [[World Cup qualifier]] against [[Cyprus]] as a sub, which the Scots won 3-2.
+McInally's second cap - his full debut - against [[Chile]] in May 1989 resulted in his first goal (the Scots won 2-0) and also more importantly, he caught the eye of German giants [[Bayern Munich]], who were suffieciently impressed by McInally's overall season to bid a record fee for them at the time of £1.2 Million to take McInally to the [[Bundesliga]]. The Bayern attack was revamped for this up coming 1989/90 season, with the Yugolav [[Radmilo Mihailjovic]] also bought in expensively as Bayern went to defend their Bundesliga crown and make headway in the [[European Cup]].
+McInally - now nicknamed Big Mac by the Bayern fans - began well in the Bundesliga, proving a handful for the defences, but then the referees clamped down on his style and his disciplinary record suffered. He was a regular thoughout this season, but halfway through, the Bayern management decided that this strikeforce was not what they wanted and began to look for replacements for McInally and Mihailjovic. McInally was still palying well enough to warrant further selections with Scotland on their way to the [[1990 World Cup finals]], playing against Yugoslavia and France. At the end of his first season, McInally helped Bayern to the league title, and scored 10 goals in his 31 league games, a respectable tally in his first season abroad. He also helped Bayern to the semi finals of the European Cup, where they fell to [[AC Milan]], despite McInally's goal in the second leg in Munich.
+A couple of McInally goals against Malta in a friendly in May 1990 effectively earned McInally a place in the Scotland squad for the [[1990 World Cup Finals]] in [[Italy]]. He started the first game against [[Costa Rica]], which was a humiliating defeat against Costa Rica, McInally failing to make his height and power work against the Costa Rican defence. That was the end of McInally's international career. He didn't play in any more of the Scottish games in the World Cup (they went out in the first phase), and indeed never played for Scotland again, finishing with 3 goals in his 8 caps.
+Back at Bayern Munich for the 1990/1 season, McInally was now deemed a reserve at Bayern (Mihailjovic had now been sold), but he was regularly given a run out in europe, where he scored some goals in the early rounds of the European Cup. Bayern were willing to let him go, and [[Chelsea]] came in for him, but McInally turned them down, preferring to fight on in Munich.  This season, he only played 7 goalless games in the league, and was unable to help Bayern to get past [[Red Star Belgrade]] in the European Cup semi final, despite a battering ram performance in the first leg in Munich. This season was effectively McInally's last as a top level professional, as he began to succumb to injury.
+McInally only managed 2 league games for Bayern in the 1991/2 season, before suffering a long term [[knee injury]]. This injury ended his time with the German giants, who supported McInally until his contract ran out with them at the end of the 1992/3 season. On the expiry of this contract, and back to a semblance of fitness, McInally returned to Scotland and signed for [[Kilmarnock]] in 1994, a club in which his father Jackie had been a hero, helping them to win the Scottish title in 1965. McInally managed to turn out for Kilmarnock 8 times in the 1993/4 season, before calling it a day and retiring because of his knee injury.
-He was capped eight times for Scotland, scoring three times.
 He currently works on [[Soccer Saturday]] as a pundit, alongside the likes of [[Phil Thompson]] and [[Jeff Stelling]], and contributes to the [[BETDAQ]] Exchange Views blog. On 10 February 2007, [[Jeff Stelling]] revealed the middle name of Alan McInally, live on Soccer Saturday which prompted Alan to ring in during the commercial break (from home on his birthday) and jokingly vowed to get even with Jeff.