Place of birth Airdrie, Scotland Years Team Name Ian McMillan Position Inside forward | Playing position 1948–1958 Airdrieonians Role Footballer | |
Full name John Livingstone McMillan Date of birth (1931-03-18) 18 March 1931 (age 84) | ||
John Livingstone "Ian" McMillan (born 18 March 1931 in Airdrie) is a former Scottish footballer who played for Airdrieonians, Rangers and the Scotland national team.
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Playing career
Nicknamed "The Wee Prime Minister", McMillan started his career with local club Airdrieonians in 1948 where he would go on to become a club legend. He scored 102 goals in 249 appearances over ten years for the club in this spell at Airdire. McMillan played the role of scheming inside-forward (a creative midfield position in today's football parlance).
McMillan was at Rangers from 1958 until 1964, making 127 appearances. He returned to Airdrieonians in 1964 where he would remain for a further two years.
Scotland
He was capped six times by the Scotland national team between 1952 and 1961 scoring twice, both against the United States in April 1952. McMillan was in Scotland's 22 man 1954 World Cup squad. Scotland decided to take only 13 of the 22 to the finals with McMillan staying at home on reserve with the likes of Bobby Combe and Jimmy Binning. Inside forward George Hamilton was also on reserve but travelled after Bobby Johnstone withdrew through injury.
After playing
McMillan later managed Airdrieonians between 1970 and 1976, taking them to 1975 Scottish Cup Final. He is currently Honorary president of the current Airdrieonians, a club that was formed after the original Airdrieonians went out of business in 2002 and were renamed Airdrie United. He is the grandfather of modern day player, Iain Russell.