Steve MacLean (footballer)

Football player infobox
playername= Steve MacLean


fullname = Steven MacLean
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1982|8|23
cityofbirth = Edinburgh
countryofbirth = Scotland
height = height|m=1.78
currentclub = Plymouth Argyle
clubnumber = 9
position = Striker
years = 2002-2004
2003-2004
2004-2007
2007-2008
2008-
clubs = Rangers
→ Scunthorpe United (loan)
Sheffield Wednesday
Cardiff City
Plymouth Argyle
caps(goals) = 3 (0)
42 (23)
84 (33)
15 (1)
20 (3)
pcupdate = October 5, 2008

Steve MacLean (born August 23 1982 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Plymouth Argyle. Maclean grew up as a Hibs fan in Peebles and is related to former Easter Road midfielder Kevin Thomson, now of Rangers.

Club career

Early Days

He began his career at Rangers and had a successful loan spell at Scunthorpe United (where he was given the nickname 'The Loan Ranger') scoring 25 goals but despite this manager Alex McLeish deemed that he was not "a first team prospect" and placed him on the transfer list. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/rangers/3779531.stm "MacLean on transfer list"] BBC Sport Retrieved on 1 October, 2007]

heffield Wednesday

On 7 July 2004, MacLean joined Sheffield Wednesday for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around £125,000, and signed a three year deal. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sheff_wed/3854795.stm. "Owls complete MacLean deal"] BBC Sport Retrieved on 1 October, 2007]

MacLean was a popular figure amongst Sheffield Wednesday fans, who affectionately referred to him as "Macca". He scored 20 goals in his first season, including a hat-trick against Doncaster Rovers, Wednesday's first away hat-trick for 32 years. He was the first Sheffield Wednesday player to hit the 20 goal mark in one season since Mark Bright in 1994. He also scored a crucial penalty under pressure in the League One play-off final in 2005. These exploits lead to him picking up a couple of fan's player of the season awards.

MacLean sustained a broken leg on the eve of the club's Championship campaign in August 2005, but returned in the latter part of the season to score two penalties for Wednesday, first at home to rivals Sheffield United in a 2-1 defeat and then against league champions Reading, which earned the Owls a 1-1 draw.

MacLean sustained another injury setback in August 2006 after scoring in a 1-1 draw against Burnley, but made a comeback a month later in the defeat to Derby County.

He finished the 2006-2007 season with 13 goals from 22 first team starts and 22 substitute appearances, making him the club's joint top goal scorer for the season with Deon Burton and showing signs of returning to the form in which he played with in 2004-2005. MacLean is a clinical finisher and was a much loved player amongst Owls fans.

Cardiff City

On the 22 June 2007 it was announced that MacLean had signed for Sheffield Wednesday's Championship rivals Cardiff City, after failing to agree a new contract at Hillsborough. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/cardiff_city/6232000.stm. "Cardiff capture Rae and MacLean"] BBC Sport Retrieved on 1 October, 2007] The move was a surprise to many Owls fans as MacLean was rumoured to have declared his willingness and desire to remain at the club. Speculation arose during the prolonged contract-talks with Wednesday that MacLean was demanding a significant pay-rise from that of his previous contract. It is possible that another stumbling block which prevented Sheffield Wednesday renewing MacLean's contract, was a clause in his contract which would grant former club Rangers £50,000 if he re-signed. [http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=473259&CPID=10&clid=19&lid=&title=Laws+fears+MacLean+exit&channel=&]

MacLean began the season as Cardiff's leading striker after Robbie Fowler was deemed not fit enough to play in some of the team's opening games. Famous for having never missed a penalty in his career, he came to Cardiff to miss one on his debut, leaving his new club to lose 1-0 to Stoke City on the first game of the season. However, with Fowler soon returning and the arrival of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, MacLean found himself relegated to the bench. Things continued to get worse for him as he suffered ruptured ankle ligaments in a reserve match against Plymouth Argyle, which was expected to rule him out until December. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/cardiff_city/6981648.stm "Cardiff suffer double injury blow"] BBC Sport Retrieved on 1 October, 2007] However, he made an early return coming on as a substitute in a 1-0 loss to Southampton on 21 October, 2007. After his return, he made mostly late substitute appearances, with just three starts for Cardiff - in a 2-0 defeat against Charlton Athletic, a 2-2 draw with Watford, and a 3-1 win against Chasetown in the FA Cup.

Plymouth Argyle

After finding himself out of favour at Cardiff, since struggling to find the net at start to the season, MacLean officially signed a 3 and a half year deal with Plymouth Argyle on 18 January 2008 and reunited himself with former Sheffield Wednesday manager Paul Sturrock. The fee was £500,000, a record signing for Argyle. [cite web |url=http://www.pafc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10364~1218713,00.html |title=MacLean signs |publisher=pafc.premiumtv.co.uk] He made his debut for the club the next day in a 1-1 draw against Southampton and scored his first goal for the club on 12 February in the 6th minute against Barnsley in a 3-0 win at Home Park.

International career

He has been capped by Scotland at Under-21 level, and has been tipped to win full honours in the future.

Club stats

As of 18 May, 2008

Honours

;Rangers

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;Cardiff City

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References

External links

* [http://www.pafc.co.uk/page/ProfilesDetail/0,,10364~23301,00.html Steve MacLean player profile] at pafc.co.uk
* [http://www.cardiffcityfc.co.uk/page/ProfilesDetail/0,,10335~23301,00.html Steve MacLean player profile] at cardiffcityfc.co.uk
* [http://www.swfc.co.uk/page/ProfilesDetail/0,,10304~23301,00.html Steve MacLean player profile] at swfc.co.uk
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