Full name Ian Ferguson Years Team Height 1.78 m | Playing position Role Footballer Name Ian Ferguson | |
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Date of birth (1967-03-15) 15 March 1967 (age 48) | ||
Ian Ferguson (born 15 March 1967) is a Scottish professional football player and coach.
Contents
- St Mirren
- Rangers
- Dunfermline Athletic
- International career
- North Queensland Fury FC
- Perth Glory FC
- Northern Fury FC NPL Queensland
- Statistics
- References
Ferguson started his career with Clyde, then moved to St Mirren in 1986. Ferguson scored the winning goal as St Mirren won the 1987 Scottish Cup Final. He moved to Rangers in 1988 and stayed with the Ibrox club for 12 years, during which time he helped them win nine consecutive Scottish league championships. He has since been inducted to the club's Hall of Fame. He played for Dunfermline Athletic for two seasons, before emigrating to Australia. Ferguson played for Northern Spirit and Central Coast Mariners.
Since retiring as a player, he has managed North Queensland Fury, Perth Glory and Northern Fury. During his playing career, Ferguson appeared in nine full international matches for Scotland.
St Mirren
Ferguson started his career with Clyde, but was transferred to St Mirren in 1986. He scored the winning goal in the 1987 Scottish Cup Final, as St Mirren won 1–0 against Dundee United.
Rangers
Nine months after winning the Scottish Cup, he transferred to Rangers for £850,000 - still the record fee received by St Mirren. He is remembered as a key Rangers player, appearing 337 times and scoring 42 goals. Ferguson's total of ten Scottish League titles is a record second only to Bobby Lennox of Celtic (who won eleven). Along with Ally McCoist and Richard Gough, he played a part in every season of Rangers' historic run of nine titles in a row between 1988–89 and 1996–97 under managers Graeme Souness and Walter Smith, and also featured in the first title win with manager Dick Advocaat in 1998–99 (a campaign in which the club won a treble, Ferguson appearing as a subsititute in the finals of the League Cup and Scottish Cup). The following season he found his playing time increasingly limited under Advocaat, however, and moved on to Dunfermline Athletic in 2000.
Dunfermline Athletic
Ferguson spent two seasons in Fife, during which he helped newly-promoted Dunfermline to keep their place in the top division (9th in 2000–01) and then improve it (6th in 2001–02). He then moved to Australia to see out the final years as a player and begin his managerial career.
International career
Ferguson won nine Scotland caps, achieved at irregular intervals over a period of nine years.
North Queensland Fury FC
On 15 September 2008, Ferguson was confirmed as the new manager of North Queensland FC leaving his post as assistant manager at Central Coast Mariners. He took up the post straight away in order to give the team the best preparation possible for their inaugural season in Australia's Hyundai A League. Ferguson lasted only one year with the Fury, when the club folded due to financial instability.
Perth Glory FC
In 2010 Ferguson moved to become the assistant to David Mitchell at the Perth Glory at the end of the 2009–10 season and becoming the coach on 12 October 2010 after David Mitchell resigned. On 27 March 2012 he signed a two-year contract extension with the club.
Ferguson successfully guided Perth Glory to their first A-League Grand Final in April 2012, after beating Minor A-League Premiers Central Coast Mariners in a penalty shootout at the Mariner's home ground in Gosford. However they lost the subsequent Grand Final 2–1 following a late comeback from Brisbane Roar who were awarded a controversial injury time penalty.
Ferguson's contract was mutually terminated on 11 February 2013 as Perth Glory manager, after five straight losses and six hours of game time without a goal scored.
Northern Fury FC (NPL Queensland)
In 2013, Ferguson was announced as the Director of Football and Coaching at the Townsville NPL Queensland franchise Northern Fury FC
On 16 February 2017, Ferguson resigned as Northern Fury manager, less than a fortnight from the beginning of the Fury's season. He was replaced by Paul Roncato.