Billy McNeill - Definition and Overview

Billy McNeill (born 1941) was a Scottish footballer. McNeill, known as "Caesar", was arguably the greatest captain of Celtic. He led the team to victory in the European Cup in 1967, as part of the "Lisbon Lions", and managed the club in the 1980s. He also had spells managing Aberdeen, Aston Villa and Manchester City and served as an interim manager of Hibernian.

In 1986-87, he became one of the few managers to manage two relegated teams in the same season. He started the season as manager of Manchester City but quit in September to take charge of fellow strugglers Aston Villa. But when Villa were relegated after finishing bottom of the First Division in May 1987, he stood down to make way for Graham Taylor and moved to Glasgow Celtic in the Scottish Premier Division. In his first season Celtic won the league title but he quit in 1991 after four years as manager.

McNeill was also a Scottish international, playing 26 times for his country.

He also unsuccessfully stood as a candidate for the Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party in the 2003 election to the Scottish Parliament.