Gordon David Strachan, born Edinburgh, Scotland, February 9, 1957. Gordon Strachan appeared for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United, and Coventry City during a career stretching over two decades.
Edinburgh born and bred, Gordon Strachan began his professional football career at Scottish Premier Division club Dundee and quickly established himself in the first team at Dens Park. After clocking up 13 goals in 69 Scottish League appearances for The Dee, he joined Aberdeen for a fee of £50,000 plus experienced midfielder Jim Shirra in November 1977. At Pittodrie Stadium, The Edinburgher eventually came to prominence in the fine Aberdeen team of the 1980s who won two Scottish League titles, three Scottish FA Cups, the European Cup Winners’ Cup, and the European Super Cup under Alex Ferguson. A self motivated performer, Gordon Strachan was capable of dragging himself through a football match by his moral bootstraps and, as his fame spread, the midfielder was eventually lured to Manchester United by Ron Atkinson who splashed out a transfer fee of £600,000 for his services at the beginning of the 1984–85 season. Strachan was given his First Division debut for United in a 1-1 draw against Watford at Old Trafford on the 25th of August 1984, scoring from the penalty spot in the 22nd minute of the game. What the former Dundee and Aberdeen favourite may have lacked in height he more than made up for in other areas, being remarkably quick and extremely powerful in the tackle. He was reunited with Alex Ferguson when the lattter was appointed as successor to Atkinson on the 6th of November 1986, and scored his first goal for Manchester United under the former Aberdeen manager in a 2–0 Division One victory over George Graham´s Arsenal at Old Trafford on the 24th of January 1987. Ironically, he was allowed to join Second Division team Leeds United for a bargain transfer fee of only £300,000 in the spring of 1989 at a time when the playmaker was enjoying one of his best spells ever with Manchester United.
Gordon Strachan made his debut for Leeds in a 1-0 Second Division triumph over Portsmouth at Elland Road on the 25th of March 1989, and the club´s supporters immediately took the midfield dynamo to their hearts and he went on to spend six unforgettable seasons with the West Yorkshire club. The Scot helped Leeds gain promotion back to the First Division in 1990, and was named Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year in 1992 after skippering The Peacocks to their first Football League Championship for eighteen years. But at the end of the day, he left Elland Road to rejoin his former manager Ron Atkinson at Coventry City at the back end of the 1994-95 campaign, and debuted for The Sky Blues in a 2-0 First Division victory against Sheffield Wednesday at Highfield Road on the 15th of April 1995, at the age of 38. A Scotland international, Strachan was handed his senior debut for his native country by Jock Stein in a 1-0 British Home Championship defeat to Northern Ireland at Windsor Park on the 16th of May 1980, and represented his nation in the FIFA World Cup in Spain in 1982, and in Mexico in 1986. During his international career, the wee man accumulated a fine total of 50 full caps for his native country, and he is a member of the Scotland Football Hall of Fame. After retiring as a player, Strachan became a manager, taking charge of Coventry City, Southampton, Glasgow Celtic, and Middlesbrough before he was appointed manager of the Scotland National Football Team on the 15th of January 2013. Gordon Strachan Playing Career: Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United, Coventry City.