Tommy McLean is to be inducted into the Motherwell FC Hall of Fame.
The last Motherwell manager to lift aloft a major trophy will be inducted at our event on Saturday 13 November. Limited tickets remain available.
When Tommy McLean switched from Greenock Morton to Motherwell in 1984, he had one major job as manager.
Help keep the club alive.
He achieved that, and so much more.
Relegation from the top division before his arrival had put a hole in the finances at Fir Park. McLean was tasked with the job of not only balancing the books, but trying to get the Steelmen back up as quickly as possible.
Fees generated by the sales of Gary McAllister and Ally Mauchlen, followed by the further sales of Andy Walker, Tom Boyd and then Phil O’Donnell after McLean departed, have left a lasting legacy at Fir Park.
The construction of the Cooper and South Stands were part-financed by the glut of cash the youth production line brought in, helping to build infrastructure which is still crucial to today’s incumbents.
While McLean’s inaugural years at Fir Park were spent trying to secure Motherwell’s very survival, the events which would follow would take even greater significance.
Winning promotion back to the top flight at the first time of asking, but still having to balance the books, the momentum started going in the Steelmen’s direction with the arrival of Davie Cooper in 1989.
By the time the 1990/91 Scottish Cup campaign started, Motherwell were on a 39-year hiatus from lifting the famous trophy.
That season, the club had a greater responsibility than ever. It was also carrying the escape for a town set to be decimated by the closure of Ravenscraig.
With optimism that run could be ended always present in fans’ minds, there was a dark cloud lingering over the town.
McLean set his men about giving the people an escape.
To get to Hampden however, an imposing path had to be navigated.
Aberdeen away in the first match yielded a 1-0 win, before a 4-2 home win over Falkirk. Morton lay in wait in the last eight, with a replay and penalties needed to separate the sides.
Celtic stood between the men in claret and amber from a place in the showpiece. A 0-0 draw in the first attempt at Hampden meant for another encounter in Mount Florida, with a famous 4-2 win sending ‘Well heading back in May.
The rest is history, of course, as Motherwell returned home with the trophy with victory over Dundee United on 18 May 1991.
Remarkably, an even greater achievement could have followed in the 1993/94 season.
The last Premier Division campaign played with a two-points-for-a-win system, ‘Well were in title contention right to the wire.
Four points, and a vastly superior Rangers goal difference, was what separated Motherwell from breaking Rangers’ eventual nine-in-a-row Championship charge and cementing a win which would have yielded a whole other set of club legends.
McLean would leave that summer. Recognition would follow in later years, where he was voted the club’s greatest-ever manager. A place in the Scottish Football Hall of Fame also was bestowed upon him.
Our Hall of Fame will welcome its new inductees in a special event in November.
Taking place at the Bothwell Bridge Hotel on Saturday 13 November, the event will induct the classes of both 2020 and 2021.
The event is priced at £60 for adults and £30 for children aged under 12. Limited tickets are available.
We will induct both the 2020 and 2021 intake at the event.
Buy your tickets online here now.
Current Hall of Famers include George Stevenson, Willie Pettigrew, Phil O’Donnell, Ally Maxwell and James McFadden.
The delayed 2020 class, who will also be inducted on the night, includes John Hunter, Andy Paton, Joe Wark, Davie Cooper and Steven Hammell.
