Billy McNeill

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For the former ice hockey player, see Billy McNeill (ice hockey)
Billy McNeill
Personal information
Full name William McNeill
Date of birth March 2, 1940 (1940-03-02) (age 68)
Place of birth    Bellshill, Scotland
Playing position Defender
Youth clubs
19??–1957 Blantyre Victoria
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1957–1975 Celtic 486 (22)   
National team
1961-1972 Scotland 029 0(3)
Teams managed
1977
1977-1978
1978-1983
1983-1986
1986-1987
1987-1991
 Clyde
Aberdeen
Celtic
Manchester City
Aston Villa
Celtic

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only.
* Appearances (Goals)

William "Billy" McNeill MBE (born 2 March 1940) is a former Scottish footballer and manager.

Contents

[edit] Football

[edit] Playing career

McNeill, known as Cesar, was arguably the greatest captain of Celtic. His nickname was derived from the actor Cesar Romero. He was signed by Celtic from nearby junior team, Blantyre Victoria, in 1957 as a defender. As captain he won nine Scottish League Championships, seven Scottish Cups, and six Scottish League Cups. He also led the team to victory in the European Cup in 1967, as part of the "Lisbon Lions", and was the first British footballer to hold aloft the European Cup. He retired as a player in 1975 after over 800 appearances for Celtic. He won 29 caps for Scotland.

[edit] Management career

He began his management career at Clyde in April 1977 before moving to Aberdeen in June. However, in 1978 he returned to manage Celtic. His five years in charge saw Celtic win three League Championships, one Scottish Cup and one League cup. On 30 June 1983 he moved to England to manage Manchester City. He secured promotion for City after two seasons in charge, and oversaw survival in their first season back.

In 1986–87, he became one of the few managers to manage two relegated teams in the same season. He started the season as manager of Manchester City but quit in September 1986 to take charge of fellow strugglers Aston Villa. When Villa were relegated after finishing bottom of the First Division in May 1987, he stood down to make way for Graham Taylor and returned to Celtic.

In his first season Celtic won the double of the League Championship and Scottish Cup in the clubs' centenary year. 1987–88, was renowned for late goals for Celtic and in both the semi final and final, Celtic scored late goals to emerge victorious 2–1 in both games. This epitomised the never say die spirit of Cesar himself. He won the Scottish Cup the following season, but quit in 1991 after four years as manager. McNeill's second spell as manager was blighted by the reluctance of the Board to spend money in the transfer market. This was the beginning of the so-called era of the "Biscuit Tin".[citation needed]

[edit] Parliamentary career

In 2003, he unsuccessfully stood as a candidate for the Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party in the election of the Scottish Parliament.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Awards
Preceded by
None		 Scottish Football Writers' Association
Footballer of the Year
1965		 Succeeded by
John Greig
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Duncan MacKay		 Celtic captain
1962-1975		 Succeeded by
Kenny Dalglish
v • d • e
Clyde F.C. – Managers

Moreland (1930's) • Thomson (193?–37) • Travers (1938–56) • Haddow (1956–63) • Prentice (1963–66) • White (1966–67) • Wright (1967) • Robertson (1968–73) • Anderson (1973–76) • Clinton (1976–77) • McNeill (1977) • Brown (1977–87) • Clark (1987–92) • Smith (1992–96) • Speirs (1996–98) • McDonald (1998) • Maitland (1998–02) • Kernaghan (2002–04) • Reid (2004–05) • Roberts (2005–06) • Miller (2006–07) • Hendry (2007-08) • Brown (2008-Present) •
v • d • e
Aberdeen F.C. – Managers

Philip (1903–23) • Travers (1923–38) • Halliday (1938–55) • Shaw (1955–59) • Pearson (1959–65) • Turnbull (1965–71) • Bonthrone (1971–75) • MacLeod (1975–77) • McNeill (1977–78) • Ferguson (1978–86) • Porterfield (1986–88) • Smith (1988–92) • Scott (1988–92) • W. Miller (1992–95) • Aitken (1995–97) • A. Miller (1997–98) • Burkinshaw (1998–99) • Hegarty (1999) • Skovdahl (1999–2002) • Speirs (2002) • Paterson (2002–04) • Calderwood (2004–)
v • d • e
Celtic F.C. – Managers

Maley (1897–1940) • McStay (1940–1945) • McGrory (1945–1965) • Stein (1965–1978) • McNeill (1978–1983) • Hay (1983–1987) • McNeill (1987–1991) • Brady (1991–1993) • Macari (1993–1994) • Burns (1994–1997) • Jansen (1997–1998) • Vengloš (1998–1999) • Barnes (1999–2000) • Dalglish (2000) • O'Neill (2000–2005) • Strachan (2005–)
v • d • e
Manchester City F.C. – Managers

Furniss (1889–93) • Parlby (1893–95) • Ormerod (1895–1902) • Maley (1902–06) • Newbould (1906–12) • Magnall (1912–24) • Ashworth (1924–25) • Hodge (1926–32) • Wild (1932–46) • Cowan (1946–47) • Thomson (1947–50) • McDowall (1950–63) • Poyser (1963–65) • Mercer (1965–71) • Allison (1972–73) • Hart (1973) • Saunders (1973–74) • Book (1974–79) • Allison (1979–80) • Bond (1980–83) • Benson (1983) • McNeill (1983–86) • Frizzell (1986–87) • Machin (1987–89) • Kendall (1989–90) • Reid (1990–93) • Horton (1993–95) • Ball (1995–96) • Coppell (1996) • Clark (1996–98) • Royle (1998–2001) • Keegan (2001–05) • Pearce (2005–07) • Eriksson (2007–08) • Hughes (2008–)
v • d • e
Aston Villa F.C. – Managers

Ramsay (1884–1926) • Smith (1926–34) • McMullan (1934–35) • Hogan (1936–39) • Massie (1945–50) • Martin (1950–53) • Houghton (1953–58) • Mercer (1958–64) • D. Taylor (1964–67) • Cummings (1967–68) • Docherty (1968–70) • Crowe (1970–74) • Saunders (1974–82) • Barton (1982–84) • Turner (1984–86) • McNeill (1986–87) • G. Taylor (1987–90) • Venglos (1990–91) • Atkinson (1991–94) • Little (1994–98) • Gregory (1998–2002) • G. Taylor (2002–03) • O'Leary (2003–06) • O'Neill (2006–)