Ian Ferguson (footballer, born 1967)

Ian Ferguson

Personal information
Full name	Ian Ferguson
Date of birth	(1967-03-15) 15 March 1967
Place of birth	Glasgow, Scotland
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
1984	Clyde youth
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1984–1986	Clyde	26	(4)
1986–1988	St Mirren	57	(10)
1988–2000	Rangers	238	(22)
2000–2002	Dunfermline	60	(2)
2002–2004	Northern Spirit	37	(3)
2005–2006	Central Coast Mariners	3	(0)
Total		418	(41)
International career
1988–1997	Scotland	9	(0)
Managerial career
2009–2010	North Queensland Fury
2010–2013	Perth Glory
2013–2017	Northern Fury
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ian Ferguson (born 15 March 1967) is a former professional footballer and current football manager. Ferguson, who possessed the superstition of having to play with the right side of his shirt hanging outside of his shorts, is one of the Rangers players elected to the club's Hall of Fame.

Club career

St Mirren

Ferguson started his career with Clyde, but was transferred to St Mirren in 1986. He scored the winning goal in the 1987 Scottish Cup Final, as St Mirren won 1–0 against Dundee United.

Rangers

Nine months after winning the Scottish Cup, he transferred to Rangers for £850,000 - still the record fee received by St Mirren. He is remembered as a key Rangers player, appearing 336 times and scoring 46 goals. Ferguson's total of ten Scottish League titles is a record second only to Bobby Lennox of Celtic (who won eleven). Along with Ally McCoist and Richard Gough, he played a part in every season of Rangers' historic run of nine titles in a row between 1988–89 and 1996–97 under managers Graeme Souness and Walter Smith and also featured in the first title win with manager Dick Advocaat in 1998–99. He found his playing time increasing limited under Advocaat, however, and moved on to Dunfermline Athletic in 2000.

International career

Ferguson won nine Scotland caps, achieved at irregular intervals over a period of nine years.

Managerial career

North Queensland Fury FC

On 15 September 2008, Ferguson was confirmed as the new manager of North Queensland FC leaving his post as assistant manager at Central Coast Mariners. He took up the post straight away in order to give the team the best preparation possible for their inaugural season in Australia's Hyundai A League. Ferguson lasted only one year with the Fury, when the club folded due to financial instability.

Perth Glory FC

In 2010 Ferguson moved to become the assistant to David Mitchell at the Perth Glory at the end of the 2009–10 season and becoming the coach on 12 October 2010 after David Mitchell resigned. On 27 March 2012 he signed a two-year contract extension with the club.

Ferguson successfully guided Perth Glory to their first A-League Grand Final in April 2012, after beating Minor A-League Premiers Central Coast Mariners in a penalty shootout at the Mariner's home ground in Gosford. However they lost the subsequent Grand Final 2–1 following a late comeback from Brisbane Roar who were awarded a controversial injury time penalty.

Ferguson's contract was mutually terminated on 11 February 2013 as Perth Glory manager, after five straight losses and six hours of game time without a goal scored.

Northern Fury FC (NPL Queensland)

In 2013, Ferguson was announced as the Director of Football and Coaching at the Townsville NPL Queensland franchise Northern Fury FC

On 16 February 2017, Ferguson resigned as Northern Fury manager, less than a fortnight from the beginning of the Fury's season. He was replaced by Paul Roncato.

Statistics

As of 9 February 2013

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	D	L	Win %
North Queensland Fury		15 September 2008	6 April 2010	27	8	8	11	029.63
Perth Glory		12 October 2010	9 February 2013	72	23	14	35	031.94
Total				99	31	22	46	031.31

External links

• Central Coast Mariners profile
• Ian Ferguson at the Scottish Football Association