Ken McNaught

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Ken McNaught
Personnel
Surname Kenneth McNaught
birthday January 11, 1955
place of birth Kirkcaldy ,  Scotland
position Central defender
Juniors
Years station
1971-1972 Everton FC
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1972-1977 Everton FC 66 (3)
1977-1983 Aston Villa 207 (8)
1983-1985 West Bromwich Albion 42 (1)
1984-1985 →  Manchester City  (loan) 7 (0)
1985-1986 Sheffield United 34 (5)
1 Only league games are given.

Kenneth "Ken" McNaught (born January 11, 1955 in Kirkcaldy ) is a former Scottish football player and son of former national player Willie McNaught . The central defender was after first professional years for Everton especially as a member of the successful beginning of the 1980s team of Aston Villa known. Mostly at the side of defense partner Allan Evans , he won the English championship in 1981 and a year later the European Cup and the Super Cup .

Athletic career

Everton FC (1972–1977)

After joining Everton FC in 1971 following a successful audition, McNaught made his first two competitive appearances in the FA Cup against FC Altrincham (1-1; replay: 2-0) shortly before his 20th birthday . Shortly thereafter, four league games followed in the First Division , but the breakthrough of the talented central defender, who knew how to use his size and robustness both intelligently and “hard but fair”, came about a year later from the end of February 1976. In the 1976/77 season he acted mostly on the side of Mick Lyons and he was the only Everton player who completed all 58 compulsory games. This also included the “marathon” in the league cup final against Aston Villa , which was only lost after two replays (0-0, 1-1, 2-3). On the opposing side, coach Ron Saunders had taken note of McNaught's performance with great interest and after the end of the season McNaught moved to Liverpool for a transfer fee of £ 200,000. Since he had become a crowd favorite with Everton fans, the decision was met with disappointment. The reason for the change was that his former sponsor Billy Bingham had left the club and his successor Gordon Lee wanted to use the cash injection to buy a new goalkeeper ( George Wood ) and winger ( Dave Thomas ).

Aston Villa (1977-1983)

Although McNaught immediately found his regular place in the new team, the vote in the defense center initially left something to be desired. With his first defensive partner Leighton Phillips he did not harmonize optimally and when he was replaced by John Gregory , this only brought slight improvements. The fact that he was expected to replace the popular Chris Nicholl who had migrated to Southampton FC didn't make things any easier. Finally, he recommended the tall Allan Evans to his coach Saunders , who was characterized by a certain speed and knew how to defend on the right central defensive side. This in turn suited McNaught, as he preferred the left of the two center-back positions.

Ken McNaught (2nd from left) in the final of the European Cup against FC Bayern Munich , 1982
Ken McNaught jumps over Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and his teammate Nigel Spink in the final of the European Cup, 1982

The foundation for future success was thus laid and the defense led by McNaught-Evans allowed the league- wide few goals against in the 1980/81 season . At the same time Aston Villa won the English championship and McNaught had again played all 42 league games. Due to a knee operation and a resulting vein thrombosis, McNaught paused for long stretches of the 1981/82 season, but then returned to the crucial games on the way to winning the 1982 European Cup . In particular, his goal in the quarter-final second leg to 2-0 against Dynamo Kiev (first leg: 0-0) and the "defensive battle" in the final against FC Bayern Munich (1-0) in Rotterdam earned him great recognition. The next highlight was winning the Super Cup against FC Barcelona in January 1983 , when McNaught, after a 1-0 defeat in the second leg with a flying header in extra time, marked the 3-0 and thus the decision.

Due to the consequences of his injury, McNaught no longer played at the highest level. The clot had remained in his calf despite his injury hiatus, causing McNaught's musculoskeletal system to be restricted. He constantly struggled to eliminate the recurring swellings and in August 1983 he moved to the first division competitor West Bromwich Albion .

Final career stations (1983–1986)

McNaught was "permanently present" again in the 1983/84 season with 42 league appearances, but the physical problems came more and more to the fore. In "WBA" he no longer played a role and in his second year he helped out at the turn of the year at the second division and later promoted Manchester City . His last stop was in the 1985/86 season with Sheffield United , another second division club, before retiring in the summer of 1986. With the continuation of his career, after consulting doctors, he would have seriously risked his health and possibly a leg amputation.

After football

Released from football and into unemployment, McNaught initially had difficulties gaining a foothold in a civil profession. Since the mortgage payments could no longer be made, McNaught had to sell his house in Solihull and he returned to his Scottish homeland. After three years he found a new job in the golf industry and he became the property manager at the Crieff Hydro Hotel , located in Perthshire .

His former Villa team-mate Jimmy Rimmer then enabled him to return to football by recommending him a position as academy director of the Chinese club Dalian Shide . His stay there was short-lived, and after two months' failure to pay, McNaught returned to Scotland one more time. In the elegant Gleneagles he worked again in the golf courses there for the next ten years.

In 2002 he emigrated to Australia with his wife and in Perth he (coincidentally) lived near his former teammate and European Cup winner Peter Withe . McNaught started a catering business and was active in the mining industry, which he mostly served. At the end of the decade, independence proved to be increasingly burdensome for the mid-fifties, and when Aston Villa made him an offer to work in the club and lead the association of ex-players, he accepted it and returned to Birmingham.

Title / Awards

literature

Rob Bishop / Frank Holt: Aston Villa - The Complete Record . DB Publishing, Derby, 2010, ISBN 978-1-85983-805-1 , pp. 245 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "Where Are They Now: Aston Villa's Ken McNaught"  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Sunday Mercury)@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.sundaymercury.net  
personal data
SURNAME McNaught, Ken
ALTERNATIVE NAMES McNaught, Kenneth (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION scottish soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH January 11, 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH Kirkcaldy