Murdo Davidson MacLeod is a Scottish former professional football player and manager. MacLeod, who played as a midfielder, made 20 appearances for Scotland and played in the 1990 World Cup Finals. He had a successful club career, mainly with Dumbarton, Celtic, Borussia Dortmund and Hibernian. He then became a manager during the mid-1990s, serving both Dumbarton and Partick Thistle. MacLeod then returned to Celtic as assistant manager, enjoying a successful season in tandem with Wim Jansen. Since leaving Celtic as a result of Jansen's departure from Celtic Park in 1998, MacLeod has worked as a football pundit for newspapers, radio and television.
Playing career
MacLeod made his name with Dumbarton in the mid-1970s. He earned selection by the Scottish League in 1978, playing in a 1–1 draw against the Italian League. MacLeod moved to Celtic later that year for a £100,000 transfer fee. During his nine years at Celtic Park, MacLeod won five league titles, two Scottish Cups and one League Cup. MacLeod has the distinction of being awarded with scoring the greatest ever Old Firm goal, in a vote by Celtic supporters in 2000. The goal helped Celtic win the league championship in 1979, in a decisive match against Rangers. MacLeod rejected a contract offer from Celtic in May 1987 and moved to German club Borussia Dortmund a month later. MacLeod played in 103 Bundesliga games during four years at the Westfalenstadion. He won the German Cup and Super Cup. He returned to Scotland with Hibernian, where he captained the club to a victory in the 1991 Scottish League Cup Final. MacLeod had to wait until late in his career before becoming a Scotland regular. He made his debut appearance as a substitute against England in the 1985 Rous Cup. He made his first starting appearance for Scotland in October 1986, aged 28. MacLeod went on to win a total of 20 caps, playing in the 1990 FIFA World Cup tournament.
Coaching career
After a successful playing career, he returned to Dumbarton as player-coach. He guided the club to promotion from Division 2 with a last day win over Stirling Albion in 1995. In the summer of 1995, MacLeod left the Sons to manage Premier League club Partick Thistle. MacLeod's tenure at Firhill was unsuccessful, as the club were relegated at the end of the 1995–96 season. He re-joined Celtic as assistant coach under Wim Jansen, where he helped the club win a league and league cup double in their only season in charge.
Media work
MacLeod has written for the Daily Record and commentated on football for BBC Scotland and BBC Radio Scotland. MacLeod has also worked as a Scottish football analyst on Newstalk radio in Ireland. In 2012, he starred on the CBeebies show "My Story" with his 2 grandsons, Murdo Jr. and Ross.
