David Irons

Name:David John Irons
Age: 46
Nationality: Scottish
Current Club: Gretna

Brief Playing History: His football career started in 1979 and lasted until 2005, a total of 26 incredible years. He played as midfielder and sometimes as defender. He started at Queen of the South and ended his career in 2005 at Gretna. During his 26 years of professional football, he changed 10 different clubs, and at Annan Athletic he stayed the most. Dunfermline Athletic was probably the biggest club he ever played for, and he managed, between 1988 and 1991 to play for them in 106 games.

Brief Management history: He started his manager career in 1997, at Annan-Athletic where he was player and he was appointed as manager too. Gretna was his last club from his professional footballer career and he decided to coach them when the spot was available. In 2007 he managed to win Scottish First division title and he gained promotion with Gretna.

Previous Clubs Played For:
1979-1980 – Queen of the South
1980-1984 – Kello Rovers
1984-1987 – Ayr United
1987-1988 – Clydebank
1988-1991 – Dunfermline Athletic
1991-1993 – Patrick Thristle
1993-1996 – St. Johnstone
1996-1997 – Clydebank
1997-2002 – Annan Athletic
2002-2005 - Gretna

Previous Clubs Managed:
1997-2002 – Annan Athletic (he was player manager)
2007 – Gretna (caretaker)
2007 – present - Gretna

Stephen Frail

Name: Stephen Charles Frail
Age: 38
Nationality: Scottish
Current Club: Heart of Midlothian

Brief Playing History: He started professional football in 1985 at Dundee United as a midfielder and he soon gained his place in the first-team. He helped Dundee to win the Scottish Challenge Cup in 1991 but soon after he had a bad knee injury that took him off the field for the rest of the season. In 1994 he joined Heart of Midlothian for 4 years but he hasn’t been able to play too many games because he hasn’t recovered from his knee injury. From 1998 he joined Tranmere Rovers for 2 years, then he moved to St. Johnstone and in 2002 he ended his football player career at Morton. In all his 17 years playing football, he managed to play in less than 200 games.

Brief Management history: His coaching career was started pretty recently, in 2007 when he was assistant manager at Heart of Midlothian, helping Anatoly Korobochka but during this year, Anatoly Korobochka has resigned and he is now caretaker for Heart of Midlothian.

Previous Clubs Played For:
1985-1994 – Dundee
1994-1998 – Heart of Midlothian
1998-2000 – Tranmere Rovers
2000-2001 – St. Johnstone
2001-2002 – Morton

Previous Clubs Managed:
2007-2008 – Hearth of Midlothian (with Anatoly Korobochka)
2008 – present – Heart of Midlothian (caretaker)

Gus McPherson

Name: Gus McPherson
Age: 46
Nationality: Scottish
Current Club: St. Mirren

Brief Playing History: He started his footballer career as a youth for Glasgow Rangers but he wasn’t able to break into Glasgow’s first team and he was on a loan to Exeter City. In 1991 he started playing at Kilmarnock for which he played over 350 games. 10 years later he moved to Dunfermline Athletic for 2 years and in 2003 as player and he was appointed as assistant manager too. In 2004 he retired from playing.

Brief Management history: After signing with St Mirren in 2003, he was appointed as assistant manager and in December 2003 he became manager of St. Mirren. First season they finished second below Falkirk and in the next year, 2006 he guided St. Mirren to win Scottish Second League and they gained promotion in Scottish Premier League.

Previous Clubs Played For:
1988-1991 – Rangers
1991-2001 – Kilmarnock
2001-2003 – Dunfermline Athletic
2003-2004 – St. Mirren

Previous Clubs Managed:
2003-present – St. Mirren

Jim Jefferies

Name: James Jefferies
Age: 57
Nationality: Scottish
Current Club: Kilmarnock

Brief Playing History: He heasn’t been a great football player but his football career lasted 16 years. He started to play as a defender in 1967 at Hearts where he played 14 years and sometimes his defensive skills saved the team. Between 1967 and 1969 he was on a loan at 2 small teams, and in 1983 he ended his football player career at Berwick Rangers.

Brief Management history: In his manager career he has done really well. He started in 1983 at one of the teams where he was on a loan a couple of years ealier and in 1988 he was appointed as the main coach for Berwick Rangers. Then he took over Falkirk and helped them win the Scottish Second Division title and gained promotion to Scottish premiership. In 1995 he was appointed as coach at Hearts and guided them to win the Scottish Cup in 1998. In 2000 he tried his luck in England at struggling team Bradford City and from 2002 he’s coaching Kilmarnock

Previous Clubs Played For:
1967-1981 – Hearts
1967-1968 – Haddington Athletic (on loan)
1968-1969 – Gala Fairydean (on loan)
1981-1983 – Berwick Rangers

Previous Clubs Managed:
1983-1988 – Gala Fairydean
1988-1990 – Berwick Rangers
1990-1995 – Falkirk
1995-2000 – Hearts
2000-2001 – Bradford City
2002-present – Kilmarnock

Mixu Paatelainen

Name: Mika-Matti Paatelainen
Age: 40
Nationality: Finnish
Current Club: Hibernian

Brief Playing History: Born in Finland, he started his professional football career in 1985 at the finnish club FC Haka as a striker and in 1987, even though he was virtually unknown he was signed by Dundee United for £100,000. He played 5 years for Dundee and he became Dundee’s top scorer twice before leaving for Aberdeen in 1992. It 1994 he tried his footballer abilities in England when he moved at Bolton Wanderers. He also played in England for Wolves, and ’97 he returned in Scotland to play for Hibernian where he played for almost 5 years, with a short 1 year break when he played in France for Strasbourg. He ended his career in 2005 at St. Mirren after playing at 9 different clubs.

Brief Management history: In 2005 he began his manager career at Cowdenbeath, a team that was in the 3rd Scottish division back then. He took the team to promotion winning their first league title after 67 years. In 2006 he return to his native land to coach TPS. In December 2007 he was apponted as Hibernian’s coach.

Previous Clubs Played For:
1985-1987 – FC Haka
1987-1992 – Dundee United
1992-1994 – Aberdeen
1994-1997 – Bolton Wanderers
1997-1998 – Wolves
1998-2001 – Hibernian
2001-2002 – Strasbourg
2002-2003 – Hibernian
2003-2004 – St. Johnstone
2004-2005 – St. Mirren

Previous Clubs Managed:
2005-2006 – Cowdenbeath
2006-2008 – TPS
2008-present – Hibernian

Craig Brewster

Name: Craig James Brewster
Age: 41
Nationality: Scottish
Current Club: Inverness CT

Brief Playing History: Brewster started his football career in 1985 when he began playing for the small team Forfar Athletic. At this team he used to play as a midfielder but later he found he has great abilities as striker, and he signed Raith Rovers where he helped them to win the First Division title in 1993. In the same year, he joined Dundee United, the club from it’s place of birth. Probably his biggest success as a player was with Dundee, when he scored the winner against Rangers and helped Dundee with Scottish Cup. In 1996 he moved to Greece where he played almost 5 years for Ionikos and scored 45 goals in 144 games. He came back in Scotland in 2001 and played for many teams until today when he still hasn’t retired from his footballer career.

Brief Management history: He started managing teams in 2004 when he was appointed as a manager at Inverness. After 2 years where he showed he’s got managing abilities he returned to the town where he was born, managing Dundee United. But, this only lasted 1 year, and in 2007 he returned at Inverness as a manager.

Previous Clubs Played For:
1985-1991 – Forfar Athletic
1991-1993 – Raith Rovers
1993-1996 – Dundee United
1996-2001 – Ionikos
2001-2002 – Hibernian
2002-2005 – Dunfermline Athletic
2005-2006 – Inverness CT
2006 – Dundee United
2007 – Aberdeen
2007 – Inverness CT

Previous Clubs Managed:
2004-2006 – Inverness CT
2006 – Dundee United
2007 – Inverness CT