Ian Muir

For the Scottish footballer, see Ian Muir (footballer born 1929).
Ian Muir
Personal information
Full name Ian James Muir
Date of birth (1963-05-05) 5 May 1963
Place of birth Coventry, England
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Playing position Striker
Youth career
1979–1980 Queens Park Rangers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1980–1983 Queens Park Rangers 2 (2)
1982 → Burnley (loan) 2 (1)
1983–1984 Birmingham City 1 (0)
1984–1985 Brighton & Hove Albion 4 (0)
1985 → Swindon Town (loan) 2 (0)
1985–1995 Tranmere Rovers 314 (142)
1995 Birmingham City 1 (0)
1995 Darlington 4 (1)
1996–1997 Sing Tao ? (9)
1997–1998 Happy Valley ? (1)
1998–2000 Nuneaton Borough
2000–20xx Stratford Town

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Ian James Muir[1] (born 5 May 1963) is an English former professional football striker who scored 146 goals from 330 appearances in the Football League playing for Queens Park Rangers, Burnley, Birmingham City, Brighton & Hove Albion, Swindon Town, Tranmere Rovers and Darlington.[2] He also played in the Hong Kong First Division League for Sing Tao[3][4] and Happy Valley,[5][6] before returning to non-league football in England with Nuneaton Borough and Stratford Town.[7] He is Tranmere's all-time record goalscorer, with 180 goals in all competitions.[8]

Tranmere Rovers

Muir's playing style could be likened to that of Kenny Dalglish, albeit operating at the lower tier. He had fine ball control with his relatively low centre of gravity and demonstrated excellent awareneness of his team-mates' positioning. He was also a ruthless finisher. Muir was signed to Tranmere Rovers by player-manager, Frank Worthington, who was his striking partner in his first season at the club. Despite his evident promise, he spent his early career at Rovers immersed in struggle, as the club languished in the basement of the league and Muir was part of the side that beat Exeter City 1-0 to save Rovers from automatic relegation from Division Four in 1987. He set up the crucial goal, headed in by Gary Williams in the 77th minute of the last game of that season. Muir prospered when new manager, John King, signed a big target-man, Jim Steel, as his strike partner in late 1987. Within four years, Rovers had been promoted twice and appeared at Wembley five times, with Muir scoring in the FA's centenary celebrations in 1988 and in Tranmere's Leyland DAF Trophy victory over Bristol Rovers in 1990. Injury prevented Muir partaking in the final strait of Rovers' promotion run in 1991 when they reached the second tier of English football for only the second time in their history. That summer, the signing of John Aldridge at Tranmere led to the marginalisation of Ian Muir, who remained a regular goalscorer when called upon for the remainder of his Tranmere career. To a generation of Tranmere Rovers fans, Ian Muir is remembered as a legendary player, who played the starring role in the greatest period of the club's history and also the finest centre forward not to have played in the top tier of English football.

References

  1. ↑ Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 113. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
  2. ↑ "Ian Muir". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. Retrieved 29 April 2009.
  3. ↑ Chow, Aries (23 September 1996). "Muir makes magic start as Tigers sink claws into Golden". The Standard. Hong Kong. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  4. ↑ Passos, Edward (22 January 1997). "Paulic bids a five-goal farewell as Rangers rout Valley". The Standard. Hong Kong. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  5. ↑ Passos, Edward (23 November 1997). "Valley ready for Golden opportunity to close gap". The Standard. Hong Kong. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  6. ↑ Hui, Jessie; Woollard, Rob (29 May 1998). "Clubs continue cull of expats". The Standard. Hong Kong. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  7. ↑ Hilton, Nick (3 December 2008). "Record scorer Ian Muir still ready to talk a good game". Liverpool Daily Post. Retrieved 29 April 2009.
  8. ↑ "Rovers' Records". Tranmere Rovers F.C. 10 July 2007. Retrieved 29 April 2009.
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