Alistair Murdoch McCoist (; born 24 September 1962) is a Scottish former footballer who has since worked as a manager and TV pundit.
McCoist began his playing career with Scottish club St Johnstone, before moving to English side Sunderland in 1981. He returned to his homeland two years later, signing with Rangers. McCoist had a highly successful career with Rangers, becoming the club's record goalscorer and winning nine successive league championships between 1988–89 and 1996–97. He later played for Kilmarnock.
McCoist was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2007. and raised in East Kilbride, McCoist attended Maxwellton Primary and Hunter High School. His high-school team coach and chemistry teacher was former Clyde and Scotland forward Archie Robertson, who was acknowledged by McCoist for his guidance and influence, but who died in 1978 just as his protégé's career was taking off.
Playing career
St Johnstone
McCoist's first professional club was St Johnstone, having signed from Fir Park Boys Club in 1978. He had been denied a move to St Mirren because Alex Ferguson thought he was not good enough. "When I was 14, 15, Sir Alex used to pick me up from school. I used to go to Hunter High in East Kilbride, and he stayed up in Greenhills, I think it was, in East Kilbride. And he used to pick me up – myself and another lad, Stevie Cowan, who he did sign at St Mirren and went to Aberdeen with him. We'd train with the S-forms, and Sir Alex would take the training with the first team and the reserves. And then Stevie and I would wait, and Sir Alex would give us a couple of quid and we'd nip round to the chippie in Love Street. We'd go back and wait for Sir Alex finishing, and then he would drop us off at the house."
McCoist made his debut for St Johnstone on 7 April 1979 in a 3–0 win over Raith Rovers. He did not score his first goal for the club until he scored Saints' final goal in a 3–0 win against Dumbarton in August 1980.
Due to his form with both St Johnstone and the Scotland under-18 side, McCoist gained the attention of several English clubs, including Sunderland, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Middlesbrough and Tottenham Hotspur.
He started the 1981–82 season with four goals in five League Cup games, including the opening goal in a 2–0 win over Celtic at Muirton Park and the consolation in a 4–1 defeat in the corresponding fixture at Parkhead.
Sunderland
Sunderland manager Alan Durban signed McCoist in August 1981.
Three goals in three pre-season games against Dundee, Dunfermline Athletic and former team St Johnstone were followed by a goal against European champions Aston Villa on the opening day of the 1982–83 season in a 3–1 win. He followed this up with a goal against Brighton & Hove Albion, meaning he had matched his previous season's tally midway through September. On his dream move, McCoist recalled: "I met John Greig and Tommy McLean at the Crest Hotel, at the roundabout in Carlisle. I went to a payphone and phoned my wee grannie in Thornliebank. First person I phoned. I can still hear her – obviously not with us now – but I can still hear her voice down the phone. You could have given her a million pounds and it wouldn't have meant just as much." With Rangers still a team very much in the doldrums, he managed 18 goals the following season. and he was an ever-present in Rangers' title-winning side of 1987, scoring 34 goals along the way. Despite starting the next season on the bench due to further minor injuries, McCoist won both the Players' Player of the Year and the Sportswriters' awards. During this 1991–92 campaign, he scored 34 times in the league, a match he later admitted he had barely been in a condition to play, having spent the previous night drinking with students in the team hotel. He had scored the only goal of the Scottish Cup semi-final, an Old Firm meeting in which Rangers played 85 minutes with only ten men, and rounded off the season with the decisive goal in the 1992 Scottish Cup final. Regarding the Golden Boot, McCoist joked: "There was some wee Romanian guy. You know what it's like: I think he needed to score nine in the last game of the season to beat me. I think he got eight. It was one of those ones. I think he scored his seventh in the 98th minute and scored his eighth in the 114th minute. You're never sure with that mob."
As for McCoist's renowned strike partnership with Hateley, the Englishman said: "Alistair was the perfect partner for me. As a finisher, he was an unbelievable goal scorer. He linked with me. All the goal scorer does is he looks at the leader of the line and makes sure he's offset, fifteen yards away. It was a great partnership"
His appearances were limited over the next two seasons as a result of other niggling injuries (37 games and 12 goals, less than his typical output for one campaign), and also had to compete with a string of new signings between 1993 and 1995, including Gordon Durie and Brian Laudrup, for the forward positions.
After recovering his fitness, he played more regularly in the 1995–96 season, scoring 16 league goals and in an Old Firm Scottish Cup semi-final victory (as he had done in 1992 and would again in 1998), though he again missed the resulting final. A tenth Premier Division winner's medal (the completion of nine-in-a-row) and a ninth League Cup win (scoring twice)
At Rangers, McCoist became the club's record goalscorer, netting 355 goals in all competitions. He was denied a cameo appearance from the bench at Ibrox by his manager Bobby Williamson a few weeks later as Kilmarnock were already losing heavily – instead he received an ovation from supporters on the field after the final whistle.
His final game at the age of 38 was at home to Celtic on the last day of the SPL campaign on 20 May 2001, a 1–0 win which enabled Kilmarnock 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; he too went on to be become the club's joint-second league goalscorer of all time, level with Eddie Morrison on 121 goals.
He started one game at the 1990 World Cup in Italy (coming on as a late substitute in the other group games)
He made his last two appearances for Scotland after moving from Rangers to Kilmarnock in summer 1998, with his final outing a 3–2 victory over Estonia in October of that year. McCoist is Scotland's fifth-highest scorer, with 19 goals from his 61 caps.
Rangers
Smith's assistant (2007–11)
McCoist returned to Rangers as an assistant manager to Walter Smith in January 2007. After Rangers' victory over Queen of the South in the 2008 Scottish Cup final, Smith revealed that McCoist had been in charge of the team for the entire cup campaign. "Obviously, Walter had me in mind for the manager's position when he stepped down, and for a couple of the Scottish Cup runs he let me take the team. I'd do the preparation and the training, but obviously he'd be there. I'd do the team talk, all that kind of stuff."
2011–12 season
Businessman Craig Whyte bought out Sir David Murray as Rangers' majority shareholder in May 2011. Whyte said he was proud to be the owner of Rangers and pledged to invest £25 million into transfers, over five years.
McCoist's first competitive game in charge of Rangers came on 23 July 2011, a 1–1 draw at home to Hearts on the opening day of the 2011–12 SPL. After the game McCoist complained to BBC Scotland about a report that he argued misrepresented his view on violence after Old Firm derbies and the cost of policing the matches. The BBC stood by the report but upheld the complaint about the way the piece had been edited. On Tuesday 26 July 2011, the BBC issued an apology to McCoist and he, in turn, dropped his ban on speaking to them. In April 2011, McCoist had called for Rangers supporters who sung offensive chants to be arrested.
McCoist took charge of his first European game on 26 July 2011 at home to Swedish side Malmö FF in the first leg of a UEFA Champions League third round qualifier, losing 1–0 to suffer his first defeat as Rangers manager. His first win came on 30 July, away to St Johnstone with a 2–0 scoreline, goals coming from Nikica Jelavić and Steven Naismith. McCoist's first Champions League campaign ended at the first hurdle after drawing 1–1 away to Malmo in the Third qualifying round second leg, losing 2–1 on aggregate and having Madjid Bougherra and Steven Whittaker sent off. Despite dropping into the Europa League, McCoist's first European campaign as Rangers manager ended early after another defeat over two legs in the play-off round by NK Maribor.
McCoist made a promising start to his first SPL campaign as manager, with Rangers topping the SPL after the first five fixtures and conceding only one goal. His first Old Firm match as manager was a 4–2 win over Celtic at Ibrox, but his side were shocked by First Division side Falkirk in the League Cup a few days later. McCoist suffered a fourth cup competition exit of the season on 5 February 2012, in a 2–0 defeat at home to Dundee United in the Scottish Cup fifth round.
Despite being within four points of Celtic at the top of the table in February, having been fifteen points clear of their arch rivals at one stage, Rangers' SPL title challenge was virtually ended after the club entered administration on 14 February 2012 and was docked ten points as a consequence. McCoist was able to see out the season with Rangers finishing in second place despite the points deduction.
2012–13 season
Following the rejection of a company voluntary arrangement by HM Revenue & Customs, the business and assets of the company running Rangers were sold to a consortium led by Charles Green. McCoist decided to stay after talks with Green. McCoist then worked alongside Green as the club were placed in the Scottish Third Division.
Rangers won the Third Division championship and promotion to the third tier. They exited the Scottish Challenge Cup by losing to Queen of the South in a penalty shoot-out. They defeated Motherwell in the League Cup, but lost 3–0 to Inverness in the quarter-finals at Ibrox. Rangers also suffered a 3–0 defeat in the Scottish Cup, against Dundee United at Tannadice.
2013–14 season
Rangers won the Scottish League One championship and promotion to the second tier, as they became the first Rangers side in 115 years to go an entire league season unbeaten. They also progressed to the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup, but lost 3–1 to Dundee United at Ibrox. Rangers reached the 2014 Scottish Challenge Cup final, but lost 1–0 after extra time to Raith Rovers at Easter Road. They suffered a first-round defeat in the Scottish League Cup at Forfar Athletic.
2014–15 season
Rangers fell behind Hearts in the 2014–15 Scottish Championship as they lost 2–1 at home and 2–0 away to the Edinburgh club. Rangers progressed to the semi-finals of the 2014–15 Scottish League Cup, but suffered a defeat in the 2014–15 Scottish Challenge Cup against Alloa Athletic. McCoist submitted formal notice of his intention to resign as manager in December 2014 and began serving a 12-month notice period. Later in December, McCoist left his position with Rangers and was placed on gardening leave. This continued until September 2015, when McCoist and Rangers agreed to terminate his contract.
Media career
McCoist is also known for his television work. He was a team captain on the BBC's A Question of Sport from 1996 to 2007 with his rival captains being John Parrott, Frankie Dettori and Matt Dawson, making a record 363 appearances on the show. Having been passed over for Scotland's 1998 World Cup squad, McCoist was recruited to the BBC's punditry team for the tournament, where he proved a popular addition.
He also co-presented a late night chat show McCoist and MacAulay for BBC Scotland from 1998 to 1999 alongside comedian Fred MacAulay. In 2001, McCoist won Sports Presenter of the Year at the TRIC Awards.
In 2000, McCoist also starred in the film A Shot at Glory alongside Robert Duvall, playing Jackie McQuillan, a fictional legendary ex-Celtic player. McCoist wore a Rangers jersey under his Celtic one to keep the material off his skin. McCoist worked for ITV during the 2018 World Cup, and his partnership with main commentator Jon Champion was praised by various media sources.
From the start of the 2017–18 season McCoist worked as a studio pundit for BT Sport's coverage of the SPFL and the Scottish League Cup, appearing regularly on their coverage alongside Darrell Currie, Chris Sutton and Stephen Craigan. From the 2020–21 season, Sky Sports earned exclusive rights to the SPFL, and McCoist continued to feature as a pundit on their coverage.
Since the 2019–20 season he has also been a pundit and commentator for Amazon Prime Video's coverage of English Premier League matches.
Awards
On 10 June 1994, McCoist was awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to football. He was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2007 and is also a member of the Scottish Football Hall of Fame. McCoist was inducted into the Scotland national football team roll of honour in March 1996, when he was awarded his 50th international cap. McCoist was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2024 Birthday Honours for services to association football and to broadcasting.
Personal life
A lifelong Rangers fan, McCoist attended his first Old Firm fixture as a ten-year-old on 5 May 1973. It was Rangers' 3–2 Scottish Cup final victory in front of 122,714 spectators at Hampden Park. One of his children, Argyll, is a semi-professional footballer who (as of 2025) plays for Drumchapel United.
In September 1987, McCoist was convicted of assault and fined £150 at Hamilton Sheriff Court. This followed an attack on a 19-year-old outside an East Kilbride nightclub in the early hours of 5 December 1986. A verdict of not proven was returned against Rangers teammates Ted McMinn and Iain Durrant in relation to the incident. McCoist and Durrant were each fined £1,500 by Rangers.
During the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, McCoist was a supporter of the Better Together campaign against Scottish independence.
McCoist had an extramarital affair with the actress Patsy Kensit which was cited in divorce proceedings from his first wife. It is said the affair developed from a pre-existing friendship when McCoist was in London filming ITV's The Premiership football highlights show.
McCoist's mother died in September 2022, aged 95. When he and his sister were clearing out her house, he discovered his first pair of football boots, from his time at Calderwood Star.
In November 2024, McCoist revealed he has Dupuytren's contracture, a genetic disorder that causes a person's fingers to bend towards their palm.
Career statistics
Playing
Club
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
|-
!rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season
!colspan="3"|League
!colspan="2"|National cup
!colspan="2"|League cup
!colspan="2"|Continental
!colspan="2"|Total
|-
!Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals
|-
|rowspan="5"|St Johnstone
|1978–79
|rowspan="4"|Scottish First Division
|4||0||0||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||4||0
|-
|1979–80
|15||0||1||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||16||0
|-
|1980–81
|38||22||3||1||2||0||colspan="2"|–||43||23
|-
|1981–82
|0||0||0||0||5||4||colspan="2"|–||5||4
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!57||22||4||1||7||4||0||0||68||27
|-
|rowspan="3"|Sunderland
|1981–82
|rowspan="2"|First Division
|28||2||3||0||1||0||colspan="2"|–||32||2
|-
|1982–83
|28||6||1||0||4||1||colspan="2"|–||33||7
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!56||8||4||0||5||1||0!!0!!65||9
|-
|rowspan="16"|Rangers
|1983–84
|rowspan="15"|Scottish Premier Division
|30||8||4||3||10||9||3||0||47||20
|-
|1984–85
|25||12||3||0||6||5||4||1||38||18
|-
|1985–86
|33||25||1||1||4||1||2||0||40||27
|-
|1986–87
|44||34||1||0||5||2||6||2||56||38
|-
|1987–88
|40||31||2||1||5||6||6||4||53||42
|-
|1988–89
|19||9||8||5||4||4||2||0||33||18
|-
|1989–90
|34||14||2||0||4||4||colspan="2"|–||40||18
|-
|1990–91
|26||11||2||1||4||3||4||3||36||18
|-
|1991–92
|38||34||5||4||4||1||2||0||49||39
|-
|1992–93
|34||34||4||5||5||8||9||2||52||49
|-
|1993–94
|21||7||6||3||1||1||colspan="2"|–||28||11
|-
|1994–95
|9||1||0||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||9||1
|-
|1995–96
|25||16||2||1||4||3||6||0||37||20
|-
|1996–97
|25||10||3||1||3||3||6||6||37||20
|-
|1997–98
|15||5||4||4||3||4||4||3||26||16
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!418||251||47||29||62||54||54||21||581||355
|-
|rowspan="4"|Kilmarnock
|1998–99
|rowspan="3"|Scottish Premier League
|26||7||1||0||2||1||colspan="2"|–||29||8
|-
|1999–2000
|9||1||0||0||1||2||2||0||12||3
|-
|2000–01
|18||1||2||0||2||2||colspan="2"|–||22||3
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!53||9||3||0||5||5||2||0||63||14
|-
!colspan="3"|Career total
!584||290||58||30||79||64||56||21||777||405
|}
International
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by national team and year
|-
!National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals
|-
|rowspan="13"|Scotland
|1986||2||0
|-
|1987||6||3
|-
|1988||5||0
|-
|1989||6||2
|-
|1990||10||3
|-
|1991||4||2
|-
|1992||11||3
|-
|1993||2||2
|-
|1994||colspan="2"|—
|-
|1995||3||2
|-
|1996||7||2
|-
|1997||3||0
|-
|1998||2||0
|-
!colspan="2"|Total!!61!!19
|}
:Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each McCoist goal.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of international goals scored by Ally McCoist
|-
!scope="col"|No.
!scope="col" data-sort-type="date"|Date
!scope="col"|Venue
!scope="col"|Cap
!scope="col"|Opponent
!scope="col"|Score
!scope="col"|Result
!scope="col"|Competition
|-
|align="center"|1
|rowspan="2"|9 September 1987||rowspan="2"|Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland||rowspan="2" style="text-align:center"|7||rowspan="2"|||align="center"|1–0||rowspan="2" style="text-align:center"|2–0||rowspan="2"|Friendly
|-
|align="center"|2
|align="center"|2–0
|-
|align="center"|3
|14 October 1987||Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland||align="center"|8||||align="center"|1–0||align="center"|2–0||UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying
|-
|align="center"|4
|26 April 1989||Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland||align="center"|15||||align="center"|2–1||align="center"|2–1||1990 FIFA World Cup qualification
|-
|align="center"|5
|15 November 1989||Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland||align="center"|19||||align="center"|1–0||align="center"|1–1||1990 FIFA World Cup qualification
|-
|align="center"|6
|16 May 1990||Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen, Scotland||align="center"|21||||align="center"|1–2||align="center"|1–3||Friendly
|-
|align="center"|7
|12 September 1990||Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland||align="center"|27||||align="center"|2–1||align="center"|2–1||UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying
|-
|align="center"|8
|14 November 1990||Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria||align="center"|29||||align="center"|1–0||align="center"|1–1||UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying
|-
|align="center"|9
|11 September 1991||Wankdorf Stadion, Bern, Switzerland||align="center"|32||||align="center"|2–2||align="center"|2–2||UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying
|-
|align="center"|10
|13 November 1991||Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland||align="center"|33||||align="center"|4–0||align="center"|4–0||UEFA Euro 1992 qualifying
|-
|align="center"|11
|19 February 1992||Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland||align="center"|34||||align="center"|1–0||align="center"|1–0||Friendly
|-
|align="center"|12
|20 May 1992||Varsity Stadium, Toronto, Ontario, Canada||align="center"|37||||align="center"|2–1||align="center"|3–1||Friendly
|-
|align="center"|13
|9 September 1992||Wankdorf Stadion, Bern, Switzerland||align="center"|42||||align="center"|1–1||align="center"|1–3||1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
|-
|align="center"|14
|rowspan="2"|17 February 1993||rowspan="2"|Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow, Scotland||rowspan="2" style="text-align:center"|45||rowspan="2"|||align="center"|1–0||rowspan="2" style="text-align:center"|3–0||rowspan="2"|1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
|-
|align="center"|15
|align="center"|2–0
|-
|align="center"|16
|16 August 1995||Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland||align="center"|47||||align="center"|1–0||align="center"|1–0||UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
|-
|align="center"|17
|15 November 1995||Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland||align="center"|49||||align="center"|3–0||align="center"|5–0||UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
|-
|align="center"|18
|27 March 1996||Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland||align="center"|50||||align="center"|1–0||align="center"|1–0||Friendly
|-
|align="center"|19
|18 June 1996||Villa Park, Birmingham, England||align="center"|54||||align="center"|1–0||align="center"|1–0||UEFA Euro 1996
|}
Managerial record
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|+ Managerial record by team and tenure
|-
! rowspan="2" |Team
! rowspan="2" |Nat
! rowspan="2" |From
! rowspan="2"|To
! colspan="5" |Record
!rowspan=2|
|-
!
!
!
!
!
|-
|align="left"|Rangers
|align="center"|
|align="center"|1 June 2011
|align="center"|21 December 2014
|
|-
| colspan=4 | Career Total
!—
|}
Honours
Player
;Rangers
- Scottish Premier Division (10): 1986–87, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97
- Scottish Cup: 1991–92 1987–88, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1992–93, 1993–94,
- European Cup top scorer: 1987–88
- Ballon d'Or: 1987 (21st place)
- SFWA Footballer of the Year: 1991–92
- SPFA Players' Player of the Year: 1991–92
- BBC Scotland Sports Personality of the Year: 1992
- Daily Record Golden Shot: 1991–92, 1992–93
- Scotland national football team roll of honour: 1996
Notes
Manager
;Rangers
- Scottish League One: 2013–14 (third tier)
- Scottish Third Division: 2012–13 (fourth tier)
Individual
- Scottish Premier League Manager of the Month: September 2011
- Scottish League Two Manager of the Month: December 2012
- Scottish League One Manager of the Month (2): September 2013, January 2014
See also
- List of footballers in Scotland by number of league appearances (500+)
- List of footballers in Scotland by number of league goals (200+)
- List of Scotland national football team captains
References
External links
- Rangers F.C. Hall Of Fame profile
- Rangers F.C. manager profile