Ian MacFarlane: 1933-2019

Ian, who was born in Lanark, Scotland, is best remembered in Leicester as the assistant manager to Frank McLintock (1977-78) and to Jock Wallace (1978-82).

He was also the Club’s caretaker manager in 1978.

A full-back in his playing days, Ian arrived at Filbert Street from Chelsea in May 1958 for a fee of £9,000. He was signed by David Halliday, who had also been his manager at Aberdeen.

After 14 months at Filbert Street, Ian moved to Bath, where he played over 300 games.

At Bath, one of his managers was Malcolm Allison and his full-back partner was Tony Book. These two, as manager and captain of Manchester City, faced Leicester City in the 1969 FA Cup Final.  

When his playing career came to an end, Ian managed Carlisle United from 1970 to 1972, signing the future First Division star and England international Stanley Bowles in 1971.

He was also assistant manager at Middlesbrough, Manchester City (when they won the League Cup in 1976) and Sunderland.

In 1977, he returned to Filbert Street as assistant manager to the newly-appointed Frank McLintock. When McLintock left the Club in 1978, relegation to the Second Division was considered a certainty.

Ian took over as caretaker manager for the remaining five games of the season.

Jock Wallace was appointed as Leicester City’s manager in June 1978 and Ian stayed on as his assistant, a post he held until Wallace’s departure in 1982.

In this role he played a key part in the Club winning the Second Division title in 1980 and in reaching an FA Cup Semi-Final in 1982.

At Filbert Street, Ian was also instrumental in developing the careers of several promising Leicester City youngsters.

These included John O’Neill, Larry May, Gary Lineker, Andy Peake, Dave Buchanan, Tommy Williams, Paul Ramsey and Kevin MacDonald.

Later in his career, Ian managed Yeovil Town, coached at Burnley and was chief scout at Leeds United. In later life he regularly attended Leicester City’s home matches.

The Club’s thoughts are with Ian’s wife, family and friends at this sad time.