| Neil McNab was a skilful midfield player born in Greenock, Scotland,
who made his professional debut for local club Morton in 1972 when only
fifteen years of age, the club's youngest ever player. By the time
Manchester City manager Billy McNeill bought him from Brighton for just
£35, 000 in 1983 the much-travelled McNab had already numbered
Tottenham, Bolton Wanderers, Leeds (loan) and Portsmouth (loan) amongst
his previous clubs. Nevertheless, after the money wasted in previous
years he would go on to become one of the club's best-ever bargains.
McNab's
debut for newly-relegated City came on August 27th 1983 in the opening
game of the Second Division season, a 2-0 win at Crystal Palace, and his
tough-tackling and competitive style soon established him as a firm
favourite with the crowd. He had to wait until the following March to
make his mark on the scoresheet, however, getting the consolation goal
in a 5-1 thrashing at Fulham, and although he clocked up 33 league
appearances the team missed out on promotion with a disappointing fourth
place finish. The 1984/85 season was to prove more successful. Although
McNab only made 18 league appearances, through a combination of
injuries and suspensions, he did play in the last game of the season at
Maine Road when City needed a win against Charlton to guarantee
promotion. A 5-1 victory ensured Neil returned to the top-flight where
he had already spent eight seasons during his spells with former clubs.
1985/86
would be a season of consolidation for City with a respectable
fifteenth place finish, McNab scoring 4 goals in his 37 appearances,
including two in three games over the Christmas period against Sheffield
Wednesday (2-3) and Birmingham City (1-1). Despite failures in both the
FA and League Cups, to Watford and Arsenal respectively, Neil did
manage to play at Wembley in March when the Blues lost 5-4 to Chelsea in
the inaugural Full Members Cup final.
The following two years
would turn out to be a period of struggle for cash-strapped City and
1986/87 saw them relegated once again after winning only eight league
games the whole season, manager McNeill having resigned in September.
The ever-present McNab had been far and away City's most impressive
player and he was rightly voted the club's Player of the Year. At the
start of the 1987/88 campaign the club decided to go with a blend of
youth and experience, promoting several of the FA Youth Cup winning side
from the previous year, but an eventual ninth place league position
showed up the team's inconsistency. Even so the season was not without
it's highlights. Impressive runs in the cups were only halted at the
quarter-final stages by Liverpool in the FA Cup (0-4) and Everton in the
League Cup (0-2), whilst McNab had opened the scoring in the famous
10-1 trouncing of Huddersfield in November when three City players
(White, Adcock and Stewart) went on to score hat-tricks.
Although
City were winless in the first four games of the 1988/89 season, Neil
scoring penalties in draws with both Walsall and Leeds, by mid-December
they had recovered to go top of the table. With 3-1 fourth round losses
at both Brentford and Luton putting paid to any cup ambitions the good
league form continued into March, McNab once again chipping in with
goals in 2-0 victories over Birmingham City and Plymouth Argyle, but a
late-season stutter saw them needing a point at Bradford on the last day
to secure promotion. When Trevor Morley equalised with four minutes
remaining it was enough to earn a 1-1 draw and the Blues were promoted
as runners-up to runaway winners Chelsea, the inspirational McNab having
made 42 league starts with a best-ever return of 5 goals and once again
being named the club's Player of the Year.
1983–1990 Manchester City 221 (16)
1990–1992 Tranmere Rovers 105 (6)
1992 Huddersfield Town (loan) 11 (0)
1992–1993 Ayr United 4 (0)
1993 Darlington 4 (0)
1993 Derry City 13 (0)
1994 Witton Albion 12 (0)
Back in Division One
the first half-dozen games resulted in only one win to leave the team
joint-bottom of the table. Things did improve with a memorable 5-1
thrashing of Manchester United in September, but a series of poor
results culminated with the sacking of manager Mel Machin after a 1-1
home draw with Charlton in November. This would prove to be McNab's last
game for City as he was never selected again, either by caretaker boss
Tony Book or Howard Kendall when he took over in early December, and he
was eventually sold to Tranmere Rovers for £125, 000 in January 1990. He
had made a total of 261 league and cup appearances for City (plus 5 as a
substitute) with 19 goals, playing a key role at a time when the club's
fortunes were at low ebb, and during his career Neil had won Scottish
honours at under-15, under-18 and under-21 levels.
He later had
playing spells at Huddersfield Town, Ayr United, Darlington, Derry City
and Witton Albion before returning to Maine Road in 1994 as a coach, but
left in 1997 as part of the club's managerial changes. He then went on
to manage Exeter City for a short spell in 2002 and also coached in the
USA. (David Redshaw)
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