Rangers FC Legends - Ally McCoist

Alistair Murdoch McCoist OBE was born on 24th September 1962 in Bellshill, Scotland. He played his early football at Fir Park Boys Club before joining his first professional football club, St Johnstone, in 1978.

During his time in Perth, McCoist scored 27 goals in 68 total appearances for the club, having made his debut in April 1979.

Move Down South to England

In August 1981, Sunderland manager Alan Durban made McCoist the club’s record purchase at the time, spending £400,000 to sign him.

However, McCoist failed to truly find his feet with the Black Cats. He managed to score just nine goals in 65 appearances across all competitions for the club. Sunderland’s troubles in the league did not help him, of course, with their two First Division finishes of 19th [1981-82] and 16th [1982-83] in his time there.

Return to Scotland and the Stuff of Legends

One day in early 1983, McCoist was invited into Durban’s office, and asked if he was interested in joining Rangers Football Club. ‘The Greatest Ever Ranger’ John Greig had called to gauge interest, and McCoist—lifelong fan of the club—agreed to the move.

Rangers signed McCoist in the summer of 1983, and the rest is legend. Greig resigned in October, just months after the signing, but McCoist had just begun his journey with the Light Blues.

“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,” said McCoist of his dream move.

In 15 years playing for Rangers, McCoist scored 355 goals in 581 appearances across all competitions to become the club’s record goal scorer.

He helped the Gers win nine successive league titles between 1988-89 and 1996-97, and was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2007. He has also been included in both the Rangers FC Hall of Fame and the Scotland Football Hall of Fame.

McCoist won ten league titles, nine League Cups, and one Scottish Cup with the Light Blues. He was named SFWA Footballer of the Year and SPFA Players' Player of the Year in 1991-92, and won the European Golden Shoe in 1991-92 and 1992-93.

“My extended family was those boys that I worked with and played with and coached and managed and worked under. It was the greatest experience of my life and I was very, very privileged to play there, coach there and manage there. It was a dream come true,” said McCoist in 2018, reflecting on his time at Rangers FC.

Kilmarnock, Scotland, and Rangers Once More

McCoist moved to Kilmarnock in the summer of 1998, and played there for three seasons before announcing his retirement in 2001. He scored 14 goals in 63 total appearances for the club.

In January 2007, McCoist returned to Rangers as assistant manager to Walter Smith, and was announced as first team manager in 2011. He took charge of 167 matches between June 2011 and December 2014—helping the club move back up through the Scottish football pyramid by winning the Third Division in 2012-13 and League One in 2013-14.

McCoist scored 19 goals in 61 matches for Scotland, and was inducted into the Scotland national football team roll of honour when he won his 50th cap in March 1996.

In June 1994. McCoist received the Member of the Order of the British Empire[MBE] for services to football. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire [OBE] in 2024 for services to association football and broadcasting.

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