Stephen McManus
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| Stephen McManus | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Stephen McManus | |
| Date of birth | September 10, 1982 | |
| Place of birth | Lanark, Scotland | |
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | |
| Playing position | Centre back | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Celtic | |
| Number | 4 | |
| Youth career | ||
| 1997–2000 | Celtic | |
| Senior career1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 2000– | Celtic | 138 (17) |
| National team2 | ||
| 2006– | Scotland | 18 (1) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Stephen McManus (born 10 September 1982 in Lanark) is a Scottish footballer who currently plays as a centre back Celtic where he is also club captain. McManus is a product of Celtic's youth academy and has risen through the ranks to become first team captain ahead of the 2007/2008 season. Hall of Famer and former Scotland captain Colin Hendry described him as "the last of an ancient breed", in the sense that his no-nonsense defending style is hard to come by in modern football. He is currently, joint along with John Kennedy, (with whom he came through the ranks) Celtic's longest serving player with eight years at the club.
Contents |
[edit] Club career
McManus came through the ranks at Celtic and signed a professional contract on the same day as fellow defender John Kennedy. He made his debut for the first team, under Martin O'Neill, in the 2003/04 season and he has since established himself as first choice central defender at Celtic during Gordon Strachan's managerial reign.
In the 2005/06 season, McManus scored 8 goals (7 of which came in the League). He was made captain for the first league game of the 2006/07 season, in the match against Kilmarnock due to regular club captain Neil Lennon being suspended. Since that game he repeatedly deputised as Celtic captain throughout the 2006/07 season. After Lennon left Celtic to join Nottingham Forest, McManus was announced as Celtic's new captain on 31 July 2007 and signed a four-year contract. He said:
"To be given the captaincy of Celtic is a tremendous honour. It is undoubtedly one of the highlights of my career so far. I'm proud to follow in the footsteps of so many great Celtic captains from the past and I hope that I will be able to achieve as much success as they have over the years."[1]
On 3rd October 2007, McManus scored to put Celtic a goal up against A.C. Milan at Celtic Park in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League. The match ended 2-1 in Celtic's favour with Kaká equalising for Milan before Scott McDonald scored a late winner for Celtic.
McManus lifted his first trophy as Celtic skipper on May 22, 2008, when Celtic won the 2007-08 SPL Championship following a 1-0 win over Dundee United at Tannadice Park on the last day of the season. Before the beginning of the 2008-09 SPL Championship it was announced that McManus would wear the No.4 shirt, previously worn by Adam Virgo, after Virgo left the club in July 2008.[2]
[edit] International career
McManus earned his first cap at international level for Scotland on 11 October 2006, coming on as a substitute in the 2-0 defeat to Ukraine at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev. His first start in the dark blue of Scotland was against Georgia in the first match of the Alex McLeish era, which resulted in a 2-1 win for Scotland as Craig Beattie hit a dramatic late winner. McManus scored his first goal for Scotland in a 3-1 win against Lithuania on 8 September 2007, acrobatically turning a Shaun Maloney cross into the net to put Scotland 2-1 up.
He captained Scotland for the first time on 26 March 2008 in a friendly match against Croatia at Hampden Park in absence of regular captain Barry Ferguson and was the vice-captain of Scotland under George Burley. He said being selected captain of Scotland and Celtic were great honours. The game finished 1-1 with Kenny Miller scoring for Scotland and Niko Kranjčar for Croatia.
On the 10 September 2008, McManus was sent off for a deliberate handball in a FIFA World Cup qualifier against Iceland at Laugardalsvöllur in Reykjavík. He used his right hand to tip the crossed ball over the crossbar to stop approaching Icelandic striker Heiðar Helguson from scoring a certain goal, with Scotland were leading 2-0. The penalty kick was dispatched to make the score 2-1, which was the final score.
After Barry Ferguson was banned from the Scotland setup McManus was named as new captain.
[edit] International goals
- Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 8 September, 2007 | Glasgow, Scotland |  Lithuania |
2-1 | 3-1 | UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying |
[edit] Career statistics
| Club | Season | League | Scottish Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | ||
| Celtic | 2003-04 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 2004-05 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | |
| 2005-06 | 36 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 42 | 8 | |
| 2006-07 | 31 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 44 | 2 | |
| 2007-08 | 37 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 53 | 5 | |
| 2008-09 | 27 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 37 | 4 | |
| Total | 138 | 17 | 11 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 26 | 2 | 185 | 20 | |
[edit] Honours
[edit] Personal life
McManus was born in Hamilton, Lanarkshire. He attended Holy Cross RC Secondary School in Hamilton, the school which club and international team mate Paul Hartley also attended. He is a close personal friend of Rangers players Barry Ferguson and Kris Boyd. McManus is the current captain of Scotland.
[edit] References
- ^ McManus named new Celtic captain, BBC Sport, 31 July 2007
- ^ New squad numbers for title heroes, Celtic FC Official Site, 8 July 2008
[edit] External links
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Neil Lennon |
Celtic F.C. captain 2007-Present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
|
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