Billy McNeill

William " Billy" McNeill MBE ( born March 2, 1940) is a Scottish former football player and coach.

McNeill, who answered to the nickname Cesar, is probably the best captain in the club's Celtic Glasgow. His nickname goes back to the actor Cesar Romero, who played the driver of the getaway car in the movie Frankie and his cronies. McNeill was one of the few Celtic players who at that time owned a car.

McNeill grew up in a Catholic environment in Bell Hill ( North Lanarkshire ), his ancestors came from Ireland and Lithuania.

He joined in 1957 as a defender of Blantyre Victoria to Glasgow Celtic. The Celtic captain won seven Scottish Cups, seven times the Scottish Cup and the Scottish League Cup six times.

He also led the Celtic team that in 1967 won the European Champions Cup, and consequently became one of the Lisbon Lions and could stretch the European Cup in the sky as the first British footballer. In 1975 he ended his playing career after he played over 800 times for Celtic. In the Scottish national team, he had 29 missions.

In April 1977, he began his coaching career at FC Clyde, but moved in June to FC Aberdeen. In 1978 he returned to Celtic, this time as a coach.

In the five years under McNeill Celtic won three league titles and one time the Scottish Cup and the Scottish League Cup. In 1983 he moved to England and became manager of Manchester City.

In the 1986/87 season he was one of the few trainers who had trained two relegated in the same season. He started the season with Manchester City, but moved in September 1986 to Aston Villa. Both clubs were relegated this year.

In May 1987, he vacated the chair of Aston Villa manager Graham Taylor, after the team arrived in the basement of the First Division table. McNeill returned to Celtic.

In his first year back in Glasgow, the club celebrated its centenary and won the Double, so the Scottish Premier League and Scottish Cup. In the following season he was able to defend the trophy.

In 1991 he left after four years on the bench at Celtic Park the club. He worked again as interim coach at Hibernian Edinburgh.

In 2003, he ran unsuccessfully for the Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party in the elections for the Scottish Parliament.

McNeill lives in Newton Mearns. Most recently, he recovered well from a conditional operation by an injury to the leg.

Achievements

As a player

• Scottish champion: 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974 ( 9 times)
• Scottish Cup Winners: 1965, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975 (8 times)
• Scottish League Cup: 1958, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1975 ( 7 times)
• European Cup of Champions 1966/67,
• Scotland's Player of the Year: 1965

As a coach

• Scottish champion: 1979, 1981, 1982, 1988 ( 4 times)
• Scottish Cup Winners: 1980, 1988, 1989 (3 times)
• Scottish League Cup: 1983 (1 times)

• National football team (Scotland )
• Football coach (Scotland )
• Member of the Order of the British Empire
• Person ( Bellshill )
• Scotsman
• UEFA Champions League winners
• Born in 1940
• Man