Bob McNab

Infobox Football biography
playername = Bob McNab


fullname = Robert McNab
dateofbirth = 20 July 1943
cityofbirth = Huddersfield, Yorkshire
countryofbirth = England
dateofdeath =
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
height =
position = Defender
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1963-1966 1966-1975 1975-1976 1976 1977-1979 1979
clubs = Huddersfield Town Arsenal Wolverhampton Wanderers San Antonio Thunder Barnet Vancouver Whitecaps
caps(goals) = 068 (0) 278 (4) 013 (0)
012 (1)
002 (0)
nationalyears = 1968-1969
nationalteam = England
nationalcaps(goals) = 004 (0)
manageryears = 1980 1999-2000
managerclubs = Vancouver Whitecaps Portsmouth (caretaker)

Robert "Bob" McNab (born 20 July 1943 in Huddersfield, Yorkshire) is an English former football player.

McNab started out at his local club, Huddersfield Town, playing nearly seventy times in three seasons. He was signed by Bertie Mee for Arsenal in October 1966, and immediately won a place in the Arsenal side, making his debut against Leeds United October 15 1968 and 1969 League Cup finals (both of which Arsenal lost, to Leeds United and Swindon Town respectively).

McNab made his debut for England on November 6 1968 against Romania; McNab made four appearances in all for England, but never became a regular. However, he certainly had success domestically, winning the 1969-70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and then the Double in 1970-71. A stalwart in the back line alongside Pat Rice and Frank McLintock, McNab played 62 matches in Arsenal's double-winning season, missing just two games.

McNab continued to play through much of the early 1970s for Arsenal, including the FA Cup final loss to Leeds United in 1972; however he missed much of the 1971-72 season due to injury (with Sammy Nelson deputising), but returned to play over 50 matches the following season. However, in 1973-74 he again got injured and shared the left back position with Nelson for the next two seasons. With Nelson six years his junior, by 1975 the 32-year-old McNab was told he was no longer needed at the club, and he was released on a free transfer in the summer of 1975. In total he played 365 matches for Arsenal, scoring six goals.

After leaving Arsenal, he played first for Wolves before trying his luck in the NASL in the United States with San Antonio Thunder. He then returned to England and played for Barnet, before moving back across the Atlantic to Canada to first play for, then coach the Vancouver Whitecaps, before retiring from the game completely.

McNab later emigrated to Los Angeles, California, where he still lives today, working as a property developer. In 1999 he was part of a consortium led by Milan Mandaric that took over Portsmouth in 1999, [cite web | url=http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,1563,49488,00.html | title=Florida millionaire set to buy Pompey | work=The Guardian ] and briefly came out of retirement and took over as caretaker manager of the side after the sacking of Alan Ball in December 1999, until the appointment of Tony Pulis the following month. [cite web | url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19991212/ai_n14264381 | title=Football Transfers: On The Move | work=The Independent ]

As well as being a footballer, Bob McNab was a media personality in the 1970s, appearing on the panel for ITV's coverage of the 1970 World Cup, [cite web | url=http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/brian-viner-on-saturday-455294.html | title=Dougan and Allison, the World Cup panel beaters, boldly went where no footballers had gone before | work=The Independent ] and he had a cameo role in the 1973 "On The Buses" episode "The Football Match". [cite web | url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0665469/ | title="On the Buses" - The Football Match (1973) | work=IMdB ] His daughter, Mercedes McNab is a notable actress. [cite web | url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/news/buffy/2003/01/20/1668.shtml | title=Harmony in Huddersfield | work=BBC ]

Footnotes

References

* [http://nasljerseys.com/Players/M/McNab.Bob.htm NASL stats]
*cite book
author=Harris, Jeff & Hogg, Tony (ed.)
title=Arsenal Who's Who
publisher=Independent UK Sports
year=1995
id=ISBN 1-899429-03-4