Stephen McManus

Stephen David McManus (born 10 September 1982) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player who is a first team coach at Scottish Premiership club Celtic.

Stephen McManus

McManus playing for Celtic
Personal information
Full name	Stephen David McManus[1]
Date of birth	(1982-09-10) 10 September 1982 (age 42)[2]
Place of birth	Bothwell, Scotland[2]
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2]
Position(s)	Centre-back
Team information
Current team	Celtic B (coach)
Youth career
1997–2003	Celtic
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2003–2010	Celtic	150	(17)
2010	→ Middlesbrough (loan)	16	(1)
2010–2013	Middlesbrough	54	(1)
2012	→ Bristol City (loan)	6	(0)
2012–2013	→ Bristol City (loan)	11	(1)
2013–2017	Motherwell	135	(6)
Total		372	(26)
International career
2006–2010	Scotland	26	(2)
Managerial career
2019–2021	Celtic U18
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

McManus, who played as a centre-back, was a product of Celtic's youth academy and rose through the ranks to become first team captain ahead of the 2007–08 season. He held this position until his move to Middlesbrough in 2010. After two loan spells with Bristol City, McManus finished his career with four seasons at Motherwell.

McManus also captained the Scotland national team, and made 26 international appearances between 2006 and 2010.

McManus retired from playing in 2017 and became a coach.

Club career

Celtic

McManus came through the ranks at Celtic and signed a professional contract on the same day as fellow defender John Kennedy.^[when?] He made his debut for the first team, under Martin O'Neill, in the 2003–04 season against Hibernian, and finished that season with five league appearances as Celtic won the title.^[3] He later established himself as first choice central defender at Celtic during Gordon Strachan's managerial reign.

In the 2005–06 season, McManus scored eight goals (seven of which came in the League).^[4] He was made captain for the first league game of the 2006–07 season, in the match against Kilmarnock due to regular club captain Neil Lennon being suspended.^{[citation needed]} Since that game he repeatedly deputised as Celtic captain throughout the 2006–07 season. After Lennon left Celtic to join Nottingham Forest, McManus was announced as Celtic's new captain on 31 July 2007 and signed a four-year contract. He said:^[5]

"To be given the captaincy of Celtic is a tremendous honour. It is undoubtedly one of the highlights of my career so far. I'm proud to follow in the footsteps of so many great Celtic captains from the past and I hope that I will be able to achieve as much success as they have over the years."

On 3 October 2007, McManus scored to put Celtic a goal ahead against Milan at Celtic Park in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League. The match ended 2–1 in Celtic's favour with Kaká equalising for Milan before Scott McDonald scored a late winner for Celtic.

McManus lifted his first trophy as Celtic skipper on 22 May 2008, when Celtic won the 2007–08 SPL Championship following a 1–0 win over Dundee United at Tannadice Park on the last day of the season. Before the beginning of the 2008–09 SPL Championship it was announced that McManus would wear the No.4 shirt, after its previous owner Adam Virgo left the club in July 2008.^[6]

McManus fell out of favour under new manager Tony Mowbray, however, making only 14 appearances in the first part of the 2009–10 season.^[7]

Middlesbrough

McManus was loaned by Celtic to Middlesbrough for the second half of the 2009–10 season.^[7] This meant that McManus linked up again with Gordon Strachan, who signed four other Celtic players during the January 2010 transfer window.^[7] McManus received the man of the match award in his Middlesbrough debut against Ipswich Town. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 win over Plymouth Argyle on 5 April 2010.^[8]

On 13 July 2010, McManus completed a £1.5 million move to the Teesside club signing a 3-year contract.^[9][10] McManus scored his second goal for Middlesbrough against Leicester City on 2 April 2011, his goal coming in the 94th minute to level the game at 3–3.^[11] At the end of the 2012–13 season, McManus was not offered a new contract and left the club.

Bristol City

McManus signed for Bristol City on loan until the end of the season on 14 February 2012 and made his debut at home in the 2–2 draw against Crystal Palace the same day. He was recalled on 28 March, due to injury worries to Matthew Bates and Seb Hines following the match against Bristol City (McManus did not play against Boro).^[12] He then returned to Bristol City for a second loan spell the following season.^[13] His first and only goal for the club came in a 4–2 win over Peterborough United on 29 December 2012.^[14]

Motherwell

On 15 July 2013, McManus signed a one-year deal with Scottish Premiership side Motherwell.^[15] He made his competitive debut for Motherwell in a home Europa League match against Russian side Kuban Krasnodar. Motherwell lost the match 2–0. His first goal for the club came in a 1–0 win over Hibernian on 3 November 2013.^[16] McManus made 42 appearances for Motherwell during the 2013–14 season, after which he signed a new two-year contract with the club.^[17]

On 14 August 2017, it was announced that McManus had decided to retire from playing football.^[18]

International career

McManus earned his first cap at international level for Scotland on 11 October 2006, coming on as a substitute in the 2–0 defeat to Ukraine at the Olympic Stadium in Kyiv.^[19] McManus scored his first goal for Scotland in a 3–1 win against Lithuania on 8 September 2007,^[19] turning a Shaun Maloney cross into the net to put Scotland 2–1 up.^[20] He captained Scotland for the first time on 26 March 2008 in a friendly match against Croatia at Hampden Park,^[21] in the absence of regular captain Barry Ferguson.^[22] The game finished 1–1.^[21]

On 10 September 2008, McManus was sent off for a deliberate handball in a FIFA World Cup qualifier against Iceland at Laugardalsvöllur in Reykjavík.^[23] He used his right hand to tip the crossed ball over the crossbar to stop approaching Icelandic striker Heiðar Helguson from scoring a goal, while Scotland were leading 2–0.^[23] The penalty kick was converted to make the score 2–1, which was the final score.^[23] On 7 September 2010 McManus scored a dramatic 97th minute winning header for Scotland in their 2–1 victory over Liechtenstein.^[24] His 26th and final cap came in October 2010, in a 3–2 defeat to Spain.^[19]

Coaching career

After retiring in 2017, McManus took a coaching position with Motherwell.^[18] He returned to Celtic in January 2019 as a coach of their under-18 team.^[25]

Personal life

McManus was born in Hamilton, Lanarkshire. He attended Holy Cross RC Secondary School in Hamilton, the school which international and former club teammate Paul Hartley also attended. McManus and Hartley used to have a competition at training to see who could name the most teachers and the loser picked up all the balls.^{[citation needed]} In 2008, after a Champions League game against Barcelona, McManus swapped jerseys with Leo Messi but has since lost it.^[26]

His nickname is "Mick" because he shares his surname with 1970s professional wrestler Mick McManus.^[27] His second cousin Kris Doolan was also a footballer, mainly for Partick Thistle.^[28]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Other		Total
		Division	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Celtic	2003–04[3]	Scottish Premier League	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
	2004–05[29]	Scottish Premier League	2	0	0	0	1	1	1[lower-alpha 1]	0	4	1
	2005–06[4]	Scottish Premier League	36	7	1	0	4	0	1[lower-alpha 1]	1	42	8
	2006–07[30]	Scottish Premier League	31	2	4	0	1	0	8[lower-alpha 1]	0	44	2
	2007–08[31]	Scottish Premier League	37	4	4	0	2	0	10[lower-alpha 1]	1	53	5
	2008–09[32]	Scottish Premier League	31	4	2	0	2	0	6[lower-alpha 1]	0	41	4
	2009–10[33]	Scottish Premier League	8	0	0	0	2	0	4[lower-alpha 2]	0	14	0
	Total		150	17	11	0	12	1	30	2	203	20
Middlesbrough (loan)	2009–10[33]	Championship	16	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	16	1
Middlesbrough	2010–11[34]	Championship	24	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	25	1
	2011–12[35]	Championship	23	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	26	0
	2012–13[36]	Championship	7	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	10	0
	Total		54	1	1	0	6	0	0	0	61	1
Bristol City (loan)	2011–12[35]	Championship	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
Bristol City (loan)	2012–13[36]	Championship	11	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	1
Motherwell	2013–14[37]	Scottish Premiership	37	4	1	0	2	0	2[lower-alpha 2]	0	42	4
	2014–15[38]	Scottish Premiership	36	1	1	0	1	0	4[lower-alpha 3]	1	42	2
	2015–16[39]	Scottish Premiership	37	1	2	0	1	0	0	0	40	1
	2016–17[40]	Scottish Premiership	25	0	1	0	5	0	0	0	31	0
	2017–18[41]	Scottish Premiership	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
	Total		135	6	5	0	10	0	6	1	156	7
Career total			372	26	17	0	28	1	36	3	453	30

1. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
2. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
3. Two appearances in UEFA Europa League; two appearances, one goal in relegation play-offs

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year^[42]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Scotland	2006	1	0
	2007	10	1
	2008	6	0
	2009	5	0
	2010	4	1
Total		26	2

Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each McManus goal.

List of international goals scored by Stephen McManus

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	8 September 2007	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland	Lithuania	2–1	3–1	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
2	7 September 2010	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland	Liechtenstein	2–1	2–1	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying

Honours

Celtic

• Scottish Premier League: 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08
• Scottish Cup: 2004–05, 2006–07
• Scottish League Cup: 2005–06, 2008–09

Scotland U16

• Victory Shield: 1997–98^[43]

See also

• List of Scotland national football team captains

References

1. "Stephen McManus". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
2. "Stephen McManus profile". Motherwell FC. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
3. 2003 at Soccerbase
4. 2005 at Soccerbase
5. "McManus named new Celtic captain". BBC Sport. 31 July 2007.
6. New squad numbers for title heroes Archived 17 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine, Celtic FC, 8 July 2008
7. "Stephen McManus joins Middlesbrough on loan from Celtic". BBC Sport. 28 January 2010.
8. "Plymouth 0 – 2 Middlesbrough". BBC Sport. 5 April 2010. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
9. "Stephen McManus makes £1.5m switch from Celtic to Boro". BBC Sport. 13 July 2010.
10. McManus bows out after a decade Archived 16 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine Celtic FC, 13 July 2010
11. "Middlesbrough 3 – 3 Leicester". BBC Sport. 2 April 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
12. Stephen McManus Back From Loan Archived 1 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine MFC, 28 March 2012
13. "Bristol City sign Stephen McManus from Middlesbrough on loan". BBC Sport. 17 October 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
14. "Bristol City 4 – 2 Peterborough". BBC Sport. 29 December 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
15. "Defender Stephen McManus joins Motherwell". BBC Sport. 15 July 2013.
16. "Motherwell 1 – 0 Hibernian". BBC Sport. 3 November 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
17. "Motherwell: Defender Stephen McManus signs new two-year deal". BBC Sport. 13 May 2014. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
18. "McManus retires to take up coaching role". Motherwell FC. 14 August 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
19. Stephen McManus at the Scottish Football Association
20. Moffat, Colin (8 September 2007). "Scotland 3-1 Lithuania". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
21. "Big interview Stephen McManus". Sunday Post. DC Thomson. 15 June 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
22. "McManus glad he played". Yorkshire Evening Post. Johnston Publishing. 27 March 2008. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
23. Moffat, Colin (10 September 2008). "Iceland 1-2 Scotland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
24. "Scotland 2-1 Liechtenstein". BBC Sport. 7 September 2010. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
25. "Celtic: Damien Duff and Stephen McManus join coaching staff". BBC Sport. 14 January 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
26. Smith, Rory (17 December 2022). "It's the World Cup Souvenir Everyone Wants. Getting One Is the Hard Part". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
27. TEN THINGS: Stephen McManus Archived 2 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine Middlesbrough F.C.
28. Off the Ball Podcast | Saturday 30th July 22 – The Eves and Kris Doolan [audio file – from 1:01:45], BBC Sounds
29. 2004 at Soccerbase
30. 2006 at Soccerbase
31. 2007 at Soccerbase
32. 2008 at Soccerbase
33. 2009 at Soccerbase
34. 2010 at Soccerbase
35. 2011 at Soccerbase
36. 2012 at Soccerbase
37. 2013 at Soccerbase
38. 2014 at Soccerbase
39. 2015 at Soccerbase
40. 2016 at Soccerbase
41. 2017 at Soccerbase
42. Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Stephen McManus". National Football Teams.
43. "INCH BY INCH IN EVERY MINUTE OF SKY SPORTS VICTORY SHIELD FOR YOUNG CELT HIGGINS". SPFL. 6 December 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2022.

External links

• Stephen McManus at Soccerbase

Sporting positions
Preceded by Neil Lennon	Celtic F.C captain 2007–2010	Succeeded by Scott Brown