Full name Joe McLaughlin 1983–1989 Chelsea Name Joe McLaughlin | Years Team Role Footballer 1977–1983 Greenock Morton | |
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Date of birth (1960-06-02) 2 June 1960 (age 55) | ||
Place of birth Greenock, Scotland | ||
Joe McLaughlin (born 2 June 1960 in Greenock) is a retired professional footballer who played for Chelsea for six seasons in the 1980s.
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Playing career
McLaughlin started his playing career with Greenock Morton in 1977. During his time at Greenock he became a regular in the Scotland national under-21 football team, winning 10 caps. In 1983, he was transferred to Chelsea for a fee of £100,000. McLaughlin began his career at Chelsea by winning the Second Division championship in his first season. He would go on to play for Chelsea until 1989 winning another Second Division championship as well as the Full Members Cup.
He was then transferred to Charlton Athletic for £650,000 which at that time made him Charlton's record transfer. After one season at Charlton, he was sold to Watford for £300,000. He spent two seasons at Watford before returning home to Scotland to play for Falkirk
In his first season at Falkirk, the team were relegated from the Premier League. However the following season Joe would lead the team to success by securing the First Division championship. After leaving Falkirk, McLaughin was transferred to Hibernian before going on to play for Clydebank and then St Mirren.
Coaching career
In 2001 McLaughlin moved into coaching by accepting a position to work with Mark McGhee at Millwall. The club reached the play-offs in his first season, narrowly losing to Birmingham City who eventually won promotion the Premiership. After leaving Millwall, McLaughlin returned to Greenock Morton for a brief stint as youth coach and also caretaker manager.
Joe is currently Head Soccer Consultant at Soccer Icon USA, a company that specialises in scouting top young footballers to play soccer in the USA. Joe is also a scout for Bolton Wanderers.