Brian McLean

Brian Stuart McLean[2] (born 28 February 1985) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Greenock Morton in the Scottish Championship. He began his career in Scotland as a youth and reserve player with Rangers before joining Motherwell in 2005, initially on loan. He then joined Falkirk in 2009 before joining Preston North End in England two years later. After returning to Scotland with Dundee United and then Ross County, he moved to DPMM FC in 2015 and won the S.League title in his first season. He then had a short spell at Hibernian and played in Iceland for ÍBV before returning for a second spell at DPMM FC in 2018. He returned to Scottish football at Dumbarton, where he spent the 2018-19 season, then signed for Greenock Morton in July 2019.

This article is about the footballer. For other uses, see Brian McLean (disambiguation).

Brian McLean

McLean playing for Motherwell
Personal information
Full name	Brian Stuart McLean
Date of birth	(1985-02-28) 28 February 1985
Place of birth	Rutherglen, Scotland
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position(s)	Centre back, Right back
Club information
Current team	Greenock Morton
Number	4
Youth career
	Rangers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2001–2006	Rangers	0	(0)
2005–2006	→ Motherwell (loan)	30	(3)
2006–2009	Motherwell	25	(2)
2009–2011	Falkirk	67	(3)
2011–2012	Preston North End	16	(1)
2012–2013	Dundee United	29	(0)
2013–2014	Ross County	26	(0)
2015–2016	DPMM FC	46	(5)
2017	Hibernian	2	(0)
2017	ÍBV	10	(1)
2018	DPMM FC	22	(2)
2019	Dumbarton	7	(0)
2019–	Greenock Morton	10	(1)
National team
	Scotland U17	1	(0)
2005	Northern Ireland U21	1	(0)
2006	Northern Ireland[1]	1	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:48, 8 February 2020 (UTC)

McLean played for the Scotland under-17 team before choosing to represent Northern Ireland, for whom he made one full international appearance in 2006. Due to an administrative error, however, he was subsequently declared ineligible to have switched his nationality, thus ending his international career.

Club career

McLean is primarily a centre back, but he can also play at right back or left back.[3] Born in Rutherglen, he started his career as a youth player with Rangers. However, a lack of first team opportunities led to him joining Motherwell on loan during the 2005–06 season.[4] During his loan spell, he won the Scottish Premier League Young Player of the Month award for March 2006.[5] Motherwell signed him on a permanent basis in April 2006 after he impressed during his loan spell.[6]

On 18 July 2008 he suffered significant damage to his knee in a tackle by Argentinian striker Diego Ruiz during a pre-season friendly against CFR Cluj.[7] He resumed a first team place on 28 March 2009, in a 2–1 win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

On 1 July 2009 he signed a two-year contract with Scottish Premier League side Falkirk.[8] He became Eddie May's first signing, but Falkirk were relegated to the First Division in 2010. McLean left Falkirk at the end of the 2010–11 season.[3]

McLean was signed by Football League One club Preston North End on a two-year contract, after a trial period, on 2 August 2011.[3] McLean scored his first goal for Preston North End against Notts County from a Paul Parry corner, heading in from about six yards out. He was transfer listed by the club in May 2012.[9]

He signed a two-year deal with Dundee United on 14 June 2012.[10] On 25 July 2013, it was announced McLean had left Dundee United by mutual consent; he later signed for Ross County on 30 July 2013.[11] He left Ross County at the end of the 2013–14 season.[12]

On 16 February 2015, McLean signed for DPMM FC, a Bruneian football team playing in Singapore's S.League.[13] He scored his first goal for the club against Hougang United on 4 April.[14] He won the S.League title in his first season, scoring in every competition that he played in.[15] He was released at the end of the 2016 season.

On 1 March 2017, McLean signed for Hibernian on a short-term contract.[16] He left the club when it expired at the end of the season two months later.[17]

After a spell in Iceland with ÍBV where he won the Icelandic Cup,[18] he made a return to DPMM FC of Brunei in February 2018.[19] He left the team once again after the season ended[20] and signed a short-term deal with Scottish League One side Dumbarton in March 2019.[21] He turned down the offer of a new deal with the club in May 2019.[22]

McLean signed a one-year contract with Greenock Morton in July 2019.[23]

International career

Despite being born in Scotland, McLean was eligible to play for Northern Ireland through his family. However, he had previously appeared for Scotland U17's in a UEFA competition in 2002, and was required to state his change of allegiance prior to his 21st birthday. Unfortunately, due to an administration error[24] McLean was not registered before this deadline and is now ineligible to represent Northern Ireland,[25] effectively ending his international career. During his short international career McLean did not appear in any competitive games, although he was due to play in the European Under-21 Championship qualifying game against Liechtenstein before being ruled ineligible.

Personal life

He is the son of former Kilmarnock player Stuart McLean[26] and the brother of SFA referee Steven McLean.[27]

Career statistics

As of 8 February 2020

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Other^[A]		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Rangers	2004–05[28]	Scottish Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2005–06[29]		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Motherwell (loan)	2005–06[29]	Scottish Premier League	30	3	1	0	3	0	0	0	34	3
Motherwell	2006–07[30]		4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
	2007–08[31]		9	0	1	0	1	1	0	0	11	1
	2008–09[32]		12	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	12	2
	Total		25	2	1	0	1	1	0	0	27	3
Falkirk	2009–10[33]	Scottish Premier League	36	1	1	0	1	0	2[lower-alpha 1]	0	40	1
	2010–11[34]	Scottish First Division	31	2	2	0	3	0	0	0	36	2
	Total		67	3	3	0	4	0	2	0	76	3
Preston North End	2011–12[35]	Football League One	16	1	0	0	1	0	1[lower-alpha 2]	1	18	2
Dundee United	2012–13[36]	Scottish Premier League	29	0	2	1	2	0	1[lower-alpha 1]	0	34	1
Ross County	2013–14[37]	Scottish Premiership	26	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	28	0
DPMM FC	2015[38]	S.League	24	2	5	1	3	1	0	0	32	4
	2016[38]		22	3	2	1	5	0	0	0	29	4
	Total		46	5	7	2	8	1	0	0	61	8
Hibernian	2016–17[39]	Scottish Championship	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
ÍBV	2017[38]	Úrvalsdeild	10	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	12	1
DPMM FC	2018[38]	Singapore Premier League	22	2	5	1	0	0	0	0	27	3
Dumbarton	2018–19[40]	Scottish League One	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
Greenock Morton	2019–20[41]	Scottish Championship	10	1	1	0	3	0	1[lower-alpha 3]	0	15	1
Career total			290	18	22	4	23	2	5	1	341	25

1. Appearances in the UEFA Europa League
2. Appearance in the Football League Trophy
3. Appearance in the Scottish Challenge Cup

Honours

Club

DPMM FC

• Singaporean S.League: 2015

ÍBV

• Icelandic Cup: 2017

Individual

• Scottish Premier League Young Player of the Month: March 2006[5]

References

1. "Northern Ireland v Estonia, 01 March 2006".
2. Scottish Football League (October 2004). The Bell's Scottish Football League Review 2004/05. CRE8. ISBN 0-9548556-0-4.
3. "Preston sign ex-Falkirk defender Brian McLean". BBC Sport. BBC. 2 August 2011. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
4. "Motherwell snap up two defenders". BBC Sport. 31 August 2005. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
5. "Motherwell pair scoop monthly awards". spfl.co.uk. 6 April 2006. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
6. "Motherwell agree deal for McLean". BBC Sport. 21 April 2006. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
7. "Mark McGhee blasts friendly opposition after Brian McLean left with serious knee injury following tackle". Daily Record (Glasgow). 21 July 2008.
8. "Defender McLean signs for Falkirk". BBC Sport. 1 July 2009.
9. "Graham Westley wields the axe at Preston North End". BBC Sport. 10 May 2012. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
10. "McLean makes Terrors move". Sky Sports. 14 June 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
11. "Ross County sign up Brian McLean and Graham Carey". BBC Sport. 30 July 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
12. Parks, Gordon (14 July 2014). "Personality clash with Ross County boss Derek Adams to blame for Brian McLean's departure from Dingwall". Daily Record. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
13. "DPMM FC players, sponsors sign contracts for new season". The Brunei Times. 17 February 2015. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
14. "Debutant Sergio fires DPMM to victory". S.League.com. 4 April 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
15. "Sergio Stars To Help Wasps Clinch First-Ever Title". S.League. 22 November 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
16. "Efe Ambrose and Brian McLean join Hibernian". Hibernian FC. 1 March 2017. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
17. "Hibernian: No new deals for Grant Holt, Alex Harris and four other players". BBC Sport. 12 May 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
18. "ÍBV Borgunarbikarmeistari karla árið 2017". Football Association of Iceland. 12 August 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
19. "McLean set for DPMM FC return". Borneo Bulletin. 25 February 2018. Archived from the original on 25 February 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
20. "DPMM FC name new foreign imports for 2019 season". Borneo Bulletin. 30 December 2018. Archived from the original on 31 December 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
21. Galloway, Andy (6 March 2019). "SIGNING NEWS: McLEAN JOINS". Dumbarton Football Club.
22. Galloway, Andy (11 May 2019). "SQUAD MOVEMENTS". Dumbarton Football Club.
23. Steele, Russell (15 July 2019). "Morton snap up Brian McLean on one year deal". Greenock Telegraph. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
24. Blunder ends NI career for McLean, BBC Sport, 13 April 2006.
25. "Mclean". Archived from the original on 18 January 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-24., Irish Football Association 13 April 2006
26. "No rub of the green for unlucky Killie". Daily Record. 21 September 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
27. Hanlon, Nick (14 December 2012). "Referee Steven McLean: I booked my brother and threatened to tell our mum". Daily Record. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
28. "Games played by Brian McLean in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
29. "Games played by Brian McLean in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
30. "Games played by Brian McLean in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
31. "Games played by Brian McLean in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
32. "Games played by Brian McLean in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
33. "Games played by Brian McLean in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
34. "Games played by Brian McLean in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
35. "Games played by Brian McLean in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
36. "Games played by Brian McLean in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
37. "Games played by Brian McLean in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
38. Brian McLean at Soccerway. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
39. "Games played by Brian McLean in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
40. "Games played by Brian McLean in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
41. "Games played by Brian McLean in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 July 2019.

External links

• Brian McLean at Soccerbase