Gary McAllister (born 25 December 1964) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player.
McAllister played primarily as a midfielder in a career spanning over nineteen years. He started his career at local side Motherwell before moving south of the border to Leicester City at the age of 20. He then went on to play for Leeds United, where he won the English league championship in 1991–92. McAllister later had spells at Premier League sides Coventry City, where he was credited with his role in helping the club avoid relegation repeatedly, and Liverpool, where he won a cup treble in 2000–01 at the age of 36.
McAllister also represented his national side for nine years, winning 57 caps and scoring five goals. His leadership qualities were noticed, and he spent four years as Scotland captain in addition to two seasons as Leeds United captain. He was awarded an MBE in the 2001 New Year Honours in recognition of his contribution to football and was inducted to the Scottish Football Hall of Fame in 2016.
He was appointed player-manager of Coventry City in April 2002. He resigned from this position in January 2004 and did not enter management again until he returned to Elland Road in January 2008, to replace Dennis Wise as manager. McAllister guided Leeds to the promotion playoffs, but was dismissed in December 2008. In April 2011, while working as assistant to manager Gérard Houllier at Aston Villa, he became caretaker manager at the Premier League club for a few months due to Houllier's ill health. He also had coaching roles at Middlesbrough and Liverpool, returning to Scotland with Rangers in 2018. He joined Steven Gerrard in leaving Rangers making a return to Aston Villa as Assistant Manager again.
McAllister began his playing career at his local side Motherwell; he stated he supported the club as a child, but also had an affection for Manchester United as his family were acquainted with that of Matt Busby. His senior debut was away to Queen of the South on 1 May 1982. McAllister scored eight goals in 70 appearances, culminating in a fine performance in the 1985 Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic. With Motherwell he was more often a striker than a midfielder.
McAllister's performances in the cup caught the eye of Leicester City manager Gordon Milne. He signed for the English club, along with Motherwell teammate Ally Mauchlen, for a combined fee of £350,000 in August 1985. Although Mauchlen's greater experience cast McAllister as the 'make-weight' in the deal, he soon rose to prominence as an attacking force in Leicester midfield, impressing manager and fans alike with his accurate passing to feet, and confident range of skills on the ball. During his first season at Filbert Street he adapted well to regular First Division football, and began to rise to prominence in creating chances for a team that included Steve Lynex and Alan Smith.
During Leicester's ultimately unsuccessful campaign to stave off relegation to Second Division that season under Milne's successor Bryan Hamilton, McAllister found himself employed in a variety of midfield and forward roles, which affected his form. After Hamilton was replaced by David Pleat, however, his stylish playmaking abilities began to flourish.
Over the following three seasons his reputation quickly grew into being one of the best players in the Second Division, boosted by a respectable goal tally from midfield that included an uncommon number of well-executed strikes from unfavourable positions. He was named in the Second Division PFA Team of the Year in both 1988–89 and 1989–90 and was the subject of constant transfer speculation and interest by several First Division sides throughout the following term. He turned down a heavily mooted £1.15 million move to Nottingham Forest to see out his contract with Leicester after Brian Clough apparently failed to impress him during an interview.
In five seasons with Leicester, McAllister played 225 games in total, scoring 52 goals.
McAllister arrived at Leeds United on 2 July 1990 for a tribunal-determined fee of £1,000,000, and replaced the role vacated by Vinnie Jones when he left for Sheffield United. The club had just achieved promotion to Division One, the top tier of English football at the time. In McAllister's first season at Elland Road, Leeds finished fourth in the table and reached the League Cup semi-finals. He formed a midfield quartet that season with fellow Scottish international Gordon Strachan and relative youngsters David Batty and Gary Speed. In the 1991–92 season Leeds United were crowned League Champions.
In the rest of McAllister's time at Leeds, the highest the club finished was fifth in the 1993–94 and 1994–95 seasons. The lowest was 17th in the 1992–93 Premier League – one of the lowest-placed finishes of a defending league champion in English football history. He captained the side for two seasons. During the 1992–93 season, McAllister made his debut in the UEFA Champions League. He scored in matches against VfB Stuttgart and Rangers, but Leeds were knocked out by the latter in a match hyped as the Battle of Britain. In McAllister's final season Leeds finished 13th. He captained the team at Wembley Stadium in the 1996 League Cup Final, where they were beaten 3–0 by Aston Villa.
In his six seasons with Leeds United, McAllister played 294 games in total, scoring 45 goals.
Aged 31, McAllister left Leeds for Coventry City on 26 July 1996, for a fee of £3million. His move to the Midlands club came less than a year after he had scored a hat-trick against them for Leeds. He stayed there for four seasons and played firstly under Ron Atkinson and then former Leeds teammate Gordon Strachan. The side including Noel Whelan, John Salako and Darren Huckerby were in a relegation battle. Atkinson went upstairs to become 'Director of Football' in late 1996 in order to make way for Strachan. Strachan's team continued to struggle until a late season recovery. With McAllister captaining the side, the Sky Blues secured an away draw against Arsenal and wins against Chelsea, Liverpool (away) and Tottenham Hotspur (away) to secure salvation.
In Strachan's first full season as manager in 1997–98, McAllister played alongside George Boateng in midfield behind Darren Huckerby and Dion Dublin in attack finishing 11th and reaching the FA Cup quarter-finals in 1998. His final Coventry season they had a poor start including defeat by Tranmere Rovers in the League Cup and finished 15th in the league. The line-up included the likes of Robbie Keane, Mustapha Hadji, Carlton Palmer, Mo Konjić and Youssef Chippo.
During his initial time at the Sky Blues he played 140 games and scored 26 goals.
Aged 35, on 1 July 2000, McAllister moved to Liverpool in a Bosman transfer. Though serving for a relatively short time at Anfield, he played an integral role in the team that won a treble of cups in the 2000–01 season. Gerard Houllier described McAllister as his "most inspirational signing".
He scored a penalty winner against Barcelona in the UEFA Cup semi-final and a 44-yard free-kick that won the Merseyside derby against local rivals Everton in the fourth minute of stoppage time. He scored in the run-in against Coventry City and Bradford City. helping Liverpool to qualify for the Champions League.
Liverpool's first trophy of the season came in the League Cup final. After replacing Steven Gerrard as a 78th minute substitute, McAllister scored the team's opening penalty kick in a 5–4 shootout win over Birmingham City. He again came on as a substitute in the FA Cup final, as Liverpool came from behind to win 2–1 against Arsenal. Four days later, he was named in the starting line-up in the UEFA Cup Final against Alavés. McAllister scored one, and had a hand in three, of the five Liverpool goals in a memorable 5–4 victory. In the 117th minute, McAllister's free-kick was deflected by Alaves' Delfi Geli into his own net for the winning golden goal. He was awarded the man of the match award for his efforts, with BBC pundit and former Liverpool defender Alan Hansen stating, "Gary McAllister was outstanding. At 36, to keep going the way he did, keep taking those free-kicks and producing it when it counted, was sensational. He fully deserved his man of the match award."