The always jovial Brian “Choccy” McClair is a former professional footballer, who most notably played as a forward for Manchester United and Celtic. After retiring from playing, he took on a coaching role at Blackburn Rovers before returning to Manchester United, where he spent several years as Youth Academy Director. A bit of a raconteur, he also hosts his own podcast, Life With Brian: The Brian McClair Podcast.
Born and raised in Bellshill, Scotland, McClair began his playing career at Aston Villa’s Youth Academy in 1980. But he returned to Scotland a year later and signed with Motherwell, making his debut as a midfielder before being converted into a striker. He went on to score 15 goals in two seasons. In 1983 he signed with Celtic, and went on to help the side win the Scottish Cup in 1984-85, and the Scottish Premier Division in 1985-86. After 145 appearances and 45 goals he signed with Manchester United in 1987, where he spent 11 years helping the Reds to win 14 trophies, including four Premier League titles. He became their first player since George Best to score 20 league goals, and made a total of 471 appearances for the club, scoring 127 goals in all competitions. At the end of the 1997-98 season he returned to Motherwell on a free, where he spent six months before announcing his retirement in 1998. On the international stage, he earned 30 caps for Scotland between 1986 and 1993, and represented his country at the 1992 UEFA Euros. His coaching career began as assistant manager at Blackburn Rovers in 1998. He then returned to Old Trafford in 1999 as a youth team coach, and was later appointed as their Youth Academy director. In 2015 he was appointed as the national performance director of the Scottish FA, leaving the post a year later.
McClair regularly connects with his legions of followers and fans through Twitter, posting pictures and videos about his footballing life.
