The SFA has appointed Brian McClair as Performance Director taking over from Marc Wotte. McClair joins the SFA after a 25-year career at Manchester United, where he served as a player, youth coach and, most recently, Director of their respected Youth Academy. He was identified unanimously as preferred candidate during a recruitment process which involved the current Scotland national coach, Gordon Strachan, previous national coaches Walter Smith and Andy Roxburgh, as well as the SFA’s Chief Executive, Stewart Regan.
McClair, who earned 30 international caps for Scotland, will officially begin his duties on Monday, 1st June, 2015, and has overall responsibility for the implementation of the Performance Strategy, a key pillar of Scotland United: A 2020 Vision. As well as overseeing all National Youth Team programmes, he will also work closely with Gordon and Anna Signeul, the Women’s A Squad national coach, to ensure a co-ordinated approach to elite talent development. He will also assume control of the seven Regional Performance Schools, where more than 300 of the country’s most talented boys and girls benefit from an additional eight hours of individual skills development per week as part of their curriculum.
McClair: "I am extremely proud to have been given the responsibility to help Scottish football move forward as Performance Director of the Scottish FA. I am sure my experiences can be of benefit to Scottish football and having spent the majority of the last 30 years in England with Manchester United I am looking forward to coming home, working with the coaching team at the Scottish FA and the clubs, and sharing the knowledge I have built up in that time to take on this new, exciting challenge."
Stewart Regan, SFA Chief Executive: "The process of identifying a new Performance Director was thorough and hugely uplifting when we considered the quality of candidates. Brian very quickly became a stand-out with his blend of experiences not just from his trophy-laden career as a player at Manchester United, and his international contribution, but the depth of his coaching experiences with one of the biggest and most successful teams in the world. He has been at the cutting edge of coaching evolution, analysis and performance management at Manchester United and the recruitment panel were convinced he was the ideal person to lead the Performance Strategy into an exciting new era, enhancing the current provision while demonstrating the benefits of the investment so far to the future of Scottish football. I would like to thank Gordon, Walter and Andy for their invaluable input."
McClair made 471 appearances for Manchester United between 1987 and 1998, scoring 127 goals and winning four Premier League titles, one European Cup-winners’ Cup, European Super Cup, three FA Cups and one League Cup. Previously, he won a Scottish league championship and Scottish Cup with Celtic and scored 126 goals in 204 matches, joining the club from Motherwell in 1983. He returned to Fir Park in 1998 in the twilight of his playing career, became assistant manager at Blackburn Rovers later that year. He returned to Old Trafford as reserve team manager in 2001, winning the league in his first season. He also earned 30 international caps for Scotland, scoring in a 3-0 win against the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) at Euro 92 and in a 3-1 win against Estonia at Pittodrie in 1993.