William McNeill (2 March 1940 – 22 April 2019) was a Scottish football player and manager. He had a long association with Celtic, spanning more than sixty years as a player, manager and club ambassador. McNeill captained Celtic's 'Lisbon Lions' to their European Cup victory in 1967 and later spent two spells as the club's manager. As a player and manager, he won 31 major trophies with Celtic.
A defender, McNeill played for Celtic for his entire senior career, and holds the club record for most appearances, a total of 822 games over 18 seasons. He was captain during their most successful era in the 1960s and 70s. The club won nine consecutive Scottish league championships and thirteen other major domestic trophies in this time, and in 1967 became the first British club to win the European Cup. He also played 29 times for Scotland.
McNeill managed Celtic for nine seasons, from 1978 to 1983 and 1987 to 1991, winning four Scottish league championships. This included a league and cup double in 1987–88, the club's centenary season. He also managed Clyde, Aberdeen, Manchester City and Aston Villa. In 2015, Celtic installed a statue outside Celtic Park of McNeill holding aloft the European Cup, an iconic image in their history.
Early life
McNeill was born on 2 March 1940 in Bellshill, Lanarkshire. His father was a soldier in the Black Watch and later the Army Physical Training Corps. Aged nine, McNeill moved to Hereford in England where his father was posted, and stayed for two and a half years. Although he already liked football, he enjoyed playing rugby union in his time there.
He moved to Motherwell and excelled playing football as centre-half at Our Lady's High School. His schoolboy performances led to him signing for the junior team Blantyre Victoria.
Playing career
left|thumb|250x250px|McNeill (front) leaving the tunnel of the Argentine [[El Cilindro|Racing Club stadium for the 1967 Intercontinental Cup.]]
McNeill was signed by Celtic for £250 in 1957 after then reserve team coach Jock Stein saw him playing for Scotland schoolboys against England.
In his early career, Celtic endured some of their most difficult times, and did not win a trophy for eight years. After Stein became manager in 1965, however, the club's fortunes improved. In the 1965 Scottish Cup final, Celtic defeated Dunfermline 3–2, with McNeill scoring the winning goal. In that season he was named Scottish Footballer of the Year, the first year it was awarded.
With McNeill as captain, Celtic enjoyed their most successful period, dominating Scottish football and regularly competing in the latter stages of European competitions. They won nine Scottish League championships in a row, as well as seven Scottish Cups and six Scottish League Cups.
Celtic's greatest season was in 1966–67, when they won every competition they entered; as well as a domestic treble and the Glasgow Cup, McNeill led the team to victory in the 1967 European Cup Final. The team, which became known as the 'Lisbon Lions,' defeated Inter Milan 2–1 and McNeill (whose last minute goal, a characteristic header from a set piece, had ensured progression against Vojvodina Novi Sad in the quarter-final) was the first British footballer to lift the trophy. He also became the first player to captain his side to the European Treble, and remains the only captain to win the fabled Quadruple.
Following another domestic treble in 1968–69, in which another McNeill headed goal set his team on the way to a 4–0 win over Rangers in the Scottish Cup Final, Celtic again reached the European Cup final in 1970, this time losing to Feyenoord.
McNeill retired as a player in 1975, having made a club record 822 appearances for Celtic and never being substituted. He won 29 caps for Scotland, scoring 3 goals, and also played 9 times for the Scottish League XI.
Managerial career
After retiring as a player, McNeill began coaching Celtic Boys Club's under 16 team. He began his management career at Clyde in April 1977, before moving to Aberdeen two months later. McNeill recorded four wins, three draws from eight league matches and recorded a total of 11 out of a possible 16 points at Clyde. His last match in charge was a Glasgow Cup semi-final against Celtic, in which Celtic struck two late goals to win 4–2.
Aberdeen
McNeill was appointed Aberdeen manager in June 1977, having been recommended by Jock Stein. He succeeded Ally MacLeod. In his one season in charge, 1977–78, McNeill led Aberdeen to runners-up finishes in the league and Scottish Cup, and enjoyed a positive working relationship with the club's chairman, Dick Donald.
His five years in charge saw Celtic win three League championships, in 1978–79, 1980–81 and 1981–82, the Scottish Cup in 1979–80 and the League Cup in 1982–83.
McNeill is credited with developing young players for Celtic, such as Paul McStay and Charlie Nicholas, and making signings such as Murdo MacLeod and Davie Provan who became key players for the club through the 1980s. However, McNeill found working with Desmond White, Celtic's chairman, very difficult, and felt underpaid and underappreciated. Despite Celtic's successes, by 1983 he was being paid less than the managers of Aberdeen, Dundee United, Rangers and St Mirren. When White sold Nicholas to Arsenal, against McNeill's wishes, McNeill looked for the first available way out, and took up the offer to manage Manchester City. McNeill secured promotion for City after two seasons in charge (in 1984–85), and oversaw survival in their first season back in the First Division (1985–86).
He started the 1986–87 season as manager of Manchester City, but quit in September 1986 to take charge of Aston Villa. Manchester City were also relegated that season.
Return to Celtic
He then returned to Celtic, and in his first season, 1987–88, the club won the League Championship and Scottish Cup double in their centenary year.
The following two seasons were disappointing, and Celtic did not win a trophy. They lost the 1990 Scottish Cup Final to Aberdeen on penalties. Celtic's league performance was particularly poor; after finishing in third place in 1988–89, they managed only fifth in 1989–90 and third in 1990–91. This was the beginning of a period of poor results and increasing financial instability for Celtic, which continued until the club was taken over by Fergus McCann in 1994. McNeill was sacked by Celtic on 22 May 1991 after four seasons as manager, at the age of 51. In two spells he won eight trophies as Celtic manager – four League championships, three Scottish Cups and one League Cup.
After leaving Celtic he turned down several offers to return to management, including from Dundee, and worked in the media instead. He remained bitter about the manner of his departure from Celtic, until he was asked to become a club ambassador in 2009. He was brought in as a mentor to manager Jim Duffy, McNeill took charge of the team for one game after Duffy was sacked, even though he had been out of football since leaving Celtic in 1991 and was recovering from heart surgery. He left Hibernian at the end of the 1997–98 season.
Books
McNeill wrote three autobiographies:
Awards and recognition
thumb|[[John McKenna (sculptor)|John McKenna's statue of McNeill outside Celtic Park]]
thumb|McNeill's [[One Club Award on display at Celtic Park]]
McNeill was awarded the MBE in November 1974. In 2002 he was voted Celtic's greatest ever captain, and a member of Celtic's greatest team, by the club's fans. He was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Scottish Football Hall of Fame in 2004.
In December 2015 Celtic installed a statue at the entrance to the Celtic Way outside Celtic Park, created by sculptor John McKenna. The statue, in bronze on a granite base, shows McNeill holding aloft the European Cup, an iconic image in the club's history.
In 2019, he was recognised with the "One Club Award" by Spanish club Athletic Bilbao for his achievements and loyalty to Celtic.
A short time after his death, the new sports pitch at his former school, Our Lady's High, was named in his honour.
In 2019, the Billy McNeill Commemoration Committee was created in Bellshill, and campaigned to raise funds to build a bronze sculpture of McNeill at the pedestrian area of Bellshill Cross. The statue was unveiled in November 2022.
Personal life
McNeill's maternal grandparents were from Lithuania, while his father was of Irish descent. He was Catholic.
McNeill married Liz Callaghan, a dancer on the TV variety show The White Heather Club in 1963. They had five children. In 2008, he was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Glasgow.
It was reported in February 2017 that McNeill was suffering from dementia and was very limited in his speech. He died on 22 April 2019, aged 79.
|-
!rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season
!colspan="3"|League
!colspan="2"|Scottish Cup
!colspan="2"|Scottish League Cup
!colspan="2"|Europe
!colspan="2"|Other
!colspan="2"|Total
|-
!Division!!width="40"|Apps!!width="40"|Goals!!width="40"|Apps!!width="40"|Goals!!width="40"|Apps!!width="40"|Goals!!width="40"|Apps!!width="40"|Goals!!width="40"|Apps!!width="40"|Goals!!width="40"|Apps!!width="40"|Goals
|-
|rowspan="18"|Celtic
|1957–58
|rowspan="18"|Division One
|0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||0||0
|-
|1958–59
|17||0||0||0||6||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||23||0
|-
|1959–60
|19||0||7||0||6||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||32||0
|-
|1960–61
|31||1||8||0||4||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||43||1
|-
|1961–62
|29||1||6||0||6||0||0||0||colspan="2"|–||41||1
|-
|1962–63
|28||1||7||0||6||0||1||0||colspan="2"|–||42||1
|-
|1963–64
|28||0||4||0||6||0||8||0||colspan="2"|–||46||0
|-
|1964–65
|22||0||6||1||6||0||2||0||colspan="2"|–||36||1
|-
|1965–66
|25||0||7||0||10||0||7||1||colspan="2"|–||49||1
|-
|1966–67
|33||0||6||0||10||2||9||1||colspan="2"|–||58||3
|-
|1967–68
|34||5||1||0||10||0||2||0||3||1||50||6
|-
|1968–69
|34||3||7||3||9||0||6||0||colspan="2"|–||56||6
|-
|1969–70
|31||5||5||0||10||2||9||0||colspan="2"|–||55||7
|-
|1970–71
|31||1||8||1||10||0||5||1||colspan="2"|–||54||3
|-
|1971–72
|34||3||6||1||8||0||7||0||colspan="2"|–||55||4
|-
|1972–73
|30||1||7||1||10||0||4||0||colspan="2"|–||51||2
|-
|1973–74
|30||0||5||0||11||0||7||0||colspan="2"|–||53||0
|-
|1974–75
|30||1||4||0||9||0||2||0||colspan="2"|–||45||1
|-
!colspan="3"|Career total
!486!!22!!94!!7!!137!!4!!69!!3!!3!!1!!789!!37
|}
NB These totals do not include appearances in the Glasgow Cup, which at the time was a senior trophy.
International
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by national team and year
|-
!scope="col"|No.
!scope="col"|Date
!scope="col"|Venue
!scope="col"|Opponent
!scope="col"|Score
!scope="col"|Result
!scope="col"|Competition
|-
| style="text-align:center"|1 || 13 October 1965 || Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland || || style="text-align:center"|1–0 || style="text-align:center"|1–2 || 1966 FIFA World Cup qualification
|-
| style="text-align:center"|2 || 3 May 1969 || Racecourse Ground, Wrexham, Wales || || style="text-align:center"|1–0 || style="text-align:center"|5–3 || 1968–69 British Home Championship
|-
| style="text-align:center"|3 || 17 May 1969 || Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland || || style="text-align:center"|2–0 || style="text-align:center"|8–0 || 1970 FIFA World Cup qualification
|}
Managerial statistics
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
! rowspan="2!" style="width:130px;"|Team
! rowspan="2!" style="width:50px;"|Nat
! rowspan="2!" style="width:120px;"|From
! rowspan="2!" style="width:120px;"|To
!colspan=6|Record
|-
!width=40|G
!width=40|W
!width=40|D
!width=40|L
!width=50|Win %
|-
|align=left|Clyde
|
|align=left|April 1977
|align=left|June 1977
|-
|align=left|Aberdeen
|
|align=left|June 1977
|align=left|August 1978
|-
|align=left|Celtic
|
|align=left|August 1978
|align=left|May 1983
|-
|align=left|Manchester City
|
|align=left|June 1983
|align=left|September 1986
|-
|align=left|Aston Villa
|
|align=left|September 1986
|align=left|May 1987
|-
|align=left|Celtic
- European Cup: 1966–67
- Scottish League champions (9): 1965–66, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1973–74
- Scottish Cup (7): 1964–65, 1966–67, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1973–74, 1974–75
- Scottish League Cup (6): 1965–66, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1974–75
- Drybrough Cup: 1974–75
- Glasgow Cup: 1961–62, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1967–68
Scotland
- British Home Championship: 1961–62, 1963–64 (shared), 1971–72
Manager
Celtic
- Scottish League champions: 1978–79, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1987–88
- Scottish Cup: 1979–80, 1987–88, 1988–89
- Scottish League Cup: 1982–83
- Glasgow Cup: 1981–82
Aberdeen
Individual
- SFWA Footballer of the Year: 1964–65
- Scottish Football Personality of the Year: 1977–78
- SFWA Manager of the Year: 1987–88
- Glasgow Sportman of the Millenium: 1999
- Scottish Football Hall of Fame: 2004
- 2017 (as part of the Lisbon Lions)
- Scottish Sports Hall of Fame: 2002
- One Club Award: 2019