'Daniel Fergus "Danny" McGrain' (born in
Glasgow May 1,
1950) is a Scottish former professional
footballer who played for
Celtic F.C. in defence. He made 657 appearances scoring 8 goals. He was also a
Scotland international.
McGrain, a talented
fullback described as a "footballing legend"
[1], was selected for Celtic's all-time greatest XI. He is a member of the
Scotland Football Hall of Fame, having won 62 caps.
In 1974, he was diagnosed as suffering from
diabetes but was able to continue playing top-level football. He played for Scotland in the
1974 World Cup, missed the
1978 World Cup because of injury, and was captain of Scotland at the
1982 World Cup.
McGrain supported
Rangers (Celtic's
Glasgow rivals) as a boy. He wrote two
autobiographies, one when his career was at its peak and another shortly after he retired. In both, McGrain (a
Protestant) told how he had been spotted by someone doing some scouting for Rangers when he was still a boy but the scout did not recommend him to Rangers, wrongly assuming from his name that he was a
Catholic and that Rangers would not sign him because of this. In the first, he made some comments on Scotland's erratic performance in the 1978 World Cup, but said it could not all be blamed on the controversial manager
Ally McLeod.
McGrain is currently assistant coach of the Celtic reserve team.
References
★ ''Celtic: My Team'', Danny McGrain 1978, ISBN 0-285-62369-9
★ ''In Sunshine And In Shadow'', Danny McGrain and Hugh Keevins, 1987, ISBN 0-85976-191-6