John Martin Bokas Wallace (6 September 1935 – 24 July 1996) was a Scottish professional football player and manager. Wallace played as a goalkeeper, and has the unique distinction of being the only player ever to play in the English, Welsh and Scottish Cups in the same season; this was set during the 1966–67 season where he played in the FA Cup and Welsh Cup for Hereford United, and in the Scottish Cup when he moved to Berwick Rangers.
As manager of Rangers over two spells in the 1970s and 1980s, Wallace became one of Scottish football's best-known and most successful coaches.
Playing career
Wallyford-born Wallace's playing career began inauspiciously. A goalkeeper, he was freed by his first club, Blackpool, but rekindled his career by signing for Workington in 1952, dovetailing football with work in the local pit. National Service with the King's Own Scottish Borderers afforded Wallace the opportunity of signing for the local club, Berwick Rangers. After character-defining military service in Northern Ireland and – famously – the jungles of Malaya,
Leicester City
Wallace's subsequent career spanned an eclectic mix of clubs. His first post was as manager of Leicester City in England. Wallace steered the club to Football League Second Division title glory in 1980, and took them to the 1982 FA Cup semi-finals. In January 1981, Wallace made an audacious attempt to sign three-time European Footballer of the Year, Johan Cruyff.
Return to Scotland
Wallace returned to Scotland in 1982, taking charge of Motherwell. In November 1983 he returned to manage a Rangers side that, under John Greig, had consistently under-performed since Wallace's departure. The success of the New Firm of Aberdeen and Dundee United had seen Rangers turn to Alex Ferguson, the Aberdeen manager, who rejected the offer to take over at Ibrox. The club then approached Dundee United boss Jim McLean, who also declined, prompting Rangers to turn to Wallace again. In spite of capturing two League Cups, Wallace's second spell with Rangers was a frustrating one as the club failed to dent the dominance of the New Firm and offered only sporadic challenge to Celtic. Arguably his primary achievement in that spell was supporting a young, unsure Ally McCoist who went on to lead the forward line in the club's successes some years later.
Mark Warburton, who later went on to also manage Rangers, said of his time as a youth player at Leicester City, that he took a dislike to the training methods of Wallace, later saying "he was a Marine. We had runs on sand-dunes, running until we threw up. I learned a lot from that, never treating a player that way". However, most of Wallace's players adored him.
Managerial statistics
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
! rowspan="2!" style="width:130px;"|Team
! rowspan="2!" style="width:120px;"|From
! rowspan="2!" style="width:120px;"|To
!colspan=6|Record
|-
!!!!!!!!!
|-
|align=left|Berwick Rangers
|align=left|December 1966
|align=left|February 1969
|-
|align=left|Rangers
|align=left|31 May 1972
|align=left|23 May 1978
|-
|align=left|Leicester City
|align=left|24 May 1978
|align=left|12 July 1982
|-
|align=left|Motherwell
|align=left|August 1982
|align=left|May 1983
|-
|align=left|Rangers
|align=left|10 November 1983
|align=left|7 April 1986
|-
|align=left|Sevilla
|align=left|1986
|align=left|1987
|-
|align=left|Colchester United
|align=left|8 January 1989
|align=left|20 December 1989
|-
!colspan=3|Total
|}
- Source from soccerbase.
Honours
Rangers
- Scottish Football League: 1974–75, 1975–76, 1977–78
- Scottish Cup: 1972–73, 1975–76, 1977–78
- Scottish League Cup: 1975–76, 1977–78, 1983–84, 1984–85
Leicester City
- Football League Second Division: 1979–80