Ally McCoist

2.1.1. St Johnstone

McCoist began his professional playing career with St Johnstone F.C., signing from Fir Park Boys Club in 1978. His opportunity to join St Mirren F.C. earlier was reportedly denied by Alex Ferguson, who believed McCoist was not good enough at the time. McCoist later recounted his youth interactions with Sir Alex Ferguson, who would pick him up from school for training and offer pocket money for fish and chips.

He made his debut for St Johnstone on 7 April 1979 in a 3-0 victory against Raith Rovers F.C.. His first goal for the club came in August 1980, securing St Johnstone's final goal in a 3-0 win over Dumbarton F.C.. During the 1980-81 season, he notably scored 23 goals in 43 appearances, including a consolation goal against Rangers F.C. in a Scottish Cup replay that ended in a 3-1 defeat. His impressive form with St Johnstone and the Scotland under-18 team attracted the attention of several English clubs, including Sunderland A.F.C., Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C., Middlesbrough F.C., and Tottenham Hotspur F.C.. He started the 1981-82 season strongly, netting four goals in five League Cup games, including the opening goal in a 2-0 victory over Celtic F.C. at Muirton Park.

2.1.2. Sunderland

In August 1981, Sunderland manager Alan Durban signed McCoist for a transfer fee of 400.00 K GBP, making him Sunderland's record signing at the time. However, McCoist's period at Sunderland was largely considered unsuccessful, as he scored only nine goals in 65 appearances for a team struggling in the English First Division. His first two goals during the 1981-82 season came against Nottingham Forest F.C. and Southampton F.C..

In the 1982-83 season, he started well with three goals in pre-season games and a goal against European champions Aston Villa F.C. on the opening day, followed by another against Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.. October 1982 proved to be the highlight of his spell, with five goals in as many games against Norwich City, Southampton, Manchester City, Everton, and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Despite scoring seven goals by the end of October, he did not score another goal for Sunderland. He still finished as the third-top scorer for Sunderland in 1982-83, one goal behind Nick Pickering. In early 1983, Alan Durban advised McCoist to join Rangers, anticipating his own departure from Sunderland.

2.1.3. Rangers

At the conclusion of the 1982-83 season, McCoist returned to Scotland, joining Rangers for a fee of 185.00 K GBP. This move was a dream come true for him, as he recalled immediately phoning his grandmother in Thornliebank to share the news.

During his fifteen years with Rangers, McCoist amassed an impressive collection of accolades, including ten league championship medals. This began with a title in the 1986-87 season and notably included the entirety of the club's historic "Nine in a Row" period from 1989 to 1997. He also secured one Scottish Cup winner's medal (though he appeared in matches during the Scottish Cups of 1992-93 and 1995-96 which Rangers won, he did not play in either final due to injury) and nine Scottish League Cup winner's medals. McCoist made history as the first player to be Europe's top goalscorer twice in a row, achieving this feat in 1992 and 1993. In 1992, he received both of Scottish football's most prestigious Player of the Year awards. He was the Scottish Premier League top scorer three times (1986, 1992, 1993) and the Scottish Premier League 2nd Division top scorer in 1981. He was also the European Cup top scorer in 1987-88.

McCoist made his competitive debut for the Ibrox side against St Mirren F.C. on the opening day of the 1983-84 season, scoring twenty goals that year. Despite his scoring, he faced a challenging period from supporters, which he later stated made him stronger. He scored a hat-trick in the League Cup final victory over Celtic F.C. in March 1984. The following season, he contributed 18 goals while Rangers were still in a difficult period.

In the 1985-86 season, McCoist scored 24 goals. The arrival of Graeme Souness at Rangers in 1986 marked the beginning of a significant transformation for the club and Scottish football. McCoist credited Souness, noting the impact of early signings like England captain Terry Butcher and England goalkeeper Chris Woods. McCoist scored another hat-trick in the Glasgow Cup final against Celtic, further boosting his reputation. He was an ever-present figure in Rangers' title-winning side of 1987, netting 34 goals.

In September 1987, McCoist was convicted of assault and fined 150 GBP following an incident outside an East Kilbride nightclub in December 1986. Rangers subsequently fined him and Iain Durrant 1.50 K GBP each.

McCoist's tally of 31 goals in 1987-88 was not enough to prevent Celtic from regaining the league title. Although Rangers recaptured their crown in 1988-89, which was the first of their nine consecutive titles, McCoist played only 19 games that season and found himself in and out of the first team for the initial three successes. During the 1990-91 season, Mo Johnston and new signing Mark Hateley were the preferred forward pairing. An incident involving McCoist attending the Cheltenham Festival when players were given free time before back-to-back games against Celtic led to him being dropped from the squad by Souness and forced to issue a public apology for breaching team discipline. He returned to the team for the second match after Hateley's red card in the first, but Rangers lost both games without scoring, leaving his future at the club uncertain.

When Walter Smith took over from Souness in April 1991, McCoist's fortunes revived. He returned from a hernia injury on the final day of the season as the club secured the league title. Despite starting the next season on the bench due to minor injuries, McCoist had an exceptional 1991-92 campaign. He won both the Players' Player of the Year and the Sportswriters' awards, scoring 34 times in the league. He formed an effective partnership with Hateley, as Rangers achieved a domestic double. His goals earned him the European Golden Boot - a first for a Scottish player - sealed with two long-range strikes in the final match of the season against Aberdeen, a game he later admitted playing in a semi-conscious state after a night of drinking. He also scored the only goal in the Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic, where Rangers played most of the match with ten men, and netted the decisive goal in the 1992 Scottish Cup final. McCoist humorously recalled how a Romanian player almost surpassed his Golden Boot tally with a late surge of goals.

He replicated his scoring feat a year later, in 1992-93, again with 34 goals in the Premier Division, despite missing the final seven matches of the season after breaking his leg playing for Scotland against Portugal in April. This injury also caused him to miss the 1993 Scottish Cup final, even though he had scored the winner in the semi-final to secure Rangers' place. Overall, he recorded a career-best 49 goals from 52 appearances for that campaign.

After a six-month recovery, he marked his return from injury by scoring an overhead kick as a substitute to win the 1993 Scottish League Cup final against Hibernian F.C.. His strike partnership with Mark Hateley was highly regarded, with Hateley describing McCoist as "the perfect partner" and an "unbelievable goal scorer."

Over the subsequent two seasons, McCoist's appearances were limited due to recurring injuries and increased competition from new signings such as Gordon Durie and Brian Laudrup, who were vying for forward positions.

Having regained his fitness, he played more regularly in the 1995-96 season, scoring 16 league goals and contributing to an Old Firm Scottish Cup semi-final victory (as he had done in 1992 and would again in 1998), though he again missed the final. A tenth Premier Division winner's medal, marking the completion of the "nine-in-a-row," and a ninth League Cup win (in which he scored twice) followed in 1996-97. His final appearance in a Rangers jersey was in the 1998 Scottish Cup final, where he scored in a 2-1 defeat by Heart of Midlothian F.C..

At Rangers, McCoist became the club's record goalscorer, netting 355 goals across all competitions. He also holds the club record for the number of league goals scored (251) and Scottish League Cup goals scored (54). He previously held the record for most goals scored by a player in European competitions (21) until it was surpassed by Alfredo Morelos. McCoist is also third in Rangers' all-time appearance table, having made 581 appearances for the club. Reflecting on his time at Rangers in 2018, McCoist described it as "the greatest experience of my life" and "a dream come true."

2.1.4. Kilmarnock

McCoist concluded his illustrious playing career at Kilmarnock F.C., where he spent three seasons playing alongside his long-time Rangers teammate Ian Durrant. After suffering another broken leg in 1999 during a match against Rangers, in the final months of his Kilmarnock spell, he was an unused substitute in the 2001 Scottish League Cup final defeat to Celtic. In what proved to be his final match against his former club, he had a penalty saved by Stefan Klos at Rugby Park. A few weeks later, his manager Bobby Williamson denied him a cameo appearance from the bench at Ibrox as Kilmarnock were already losing heavily, though he received an ovation from supporters on the field after the final whistle.

His final game as a player, at the age of 38, was at home against Celtic on the last day of the SPL campaign on 20 May 2001. Kilmarnock secured a 1-0 victory, which enabled them to qualify for the following season's UEFA Cup. Coincidentally, McCoist was substituted off in that match, while fellow striker Kris Boyd came off the bench to make his debut; Boyd would later become the club's joint-second league goalscorer of all time, alongside Eddie Morrison, with 121 goals.

2.2.1. Age-group Teams

McCoist made ten appearances for the Scotland national under-18 football team. His debut was in a European Under-18 Championship qualifier against Iceland, where he scored the game's only goal after 19 minutes. He also scored in the return leg, a 3-1 victory that secured Scotland's qualification for the European Under-18 Championships.

He found the net again in his third appearance, a 3-1 win over Northern Ireland. His next three appearances were in the prestigious Monaco Youth Tournament, which included a 1-0 defeat to West Germany, a 2-0 victory over Switzerland, and a 1-1 draw with France, bringing his total to five goals in six appearances. McCoist was also selected for Scotland's semi-professional side for a four-team tournament in the Netherlands but did not make an appearance.

At the European Under-18 finals, Scotland was grouped with Austria, Spain, and defending champions England. McCoist started all three games, as Scotland defeated both Austria and England 1-0, with McCoist scoring the winner against England. The final group game against Spain ended in a 1-1 draw, with McCoist scoring from a free-kick, but Scotland was eliminated on goal difference.

2.2.2. Full Team

McCoist made his senior Scotland debut on 29 April 1986, at the age of 23, in a goalless friendly match against the Netherlands. He played an integral role in Scotland's qualification for the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy, where he started one game and made late substitute appearances in the other group matches.

In March 1993, he sustained a broken leg during a disastrous qualifying match against Portugal, which Scotland lost 5-0 and subsequently failed to progress in the World Cup qualifiers.

He captained Scotland once, on 27 March 1996, against Australia, scoring the winning goal after 55 minutes in a 1-0 victory at Hampden Park. McCoist scored one major tournament goal: a long-range strike at UEFA Euro 1996 against Switzerland, which proved to be his final goal for his country. While he started all three of Scotland's matches at UEFA Euro 1992, he did not score. Despite having scored 16 goals during the preceding season, he was notably not selected for the squad for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. McCoist expressed his devastation at this decision, admitting he "cried his eyes out" and considered it the biggest disappointment of his career, a sentiment later echoed by manager Craig Brown.

He made his last two appearances for Scotland after transferring from Rangers to Kilmarnock in the summer of 1998, with his final outing being a 3-2 victory over Estonia in October of that year. With 19 goals from his 61 caps, McCoist stands as Scotland's fifth-highest goalscorer.

3.1.1. Assistant Manager (2007-2011)

McCoist returned to Rangers as an assistant manager to Walter Smith in January 2007. Smith later revealed that McCoist had been fully in charge of the team for the entire 2008 Scottish Cup campaign, which Rangers won against Queen of the South F.C.. McCoist confirmed that Smith had groomed him for the manager's position, allowing him to handle preparation, training, and team talks during cup runs. The duo also guided Rangers to the final of the UEFA Cup in 2008, where they were defeated 2-0 by Zenit Saint Petersburg. On 22 February 2011, it was announced that McCoist would succeed Smith as the new Rangers manager, effective from June 2011.

3.1.2. Manager (2011-2014)

McCoist's managerial spell as head coach of Rangers began with promise but was swiftly overshadowed by severe financial difficulties that led to the club's administration and eventual liquidation, forcing them to restart in the lowest tier of Scottish football.

7.1.1. Club

7.1.2. International

Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each McCoist goal.