About Danny McGrain
Daniel Fergus McGrain (born 1 May 1950) is a Scottish former professional footballer, who played for Celtic, Hamilton Academical and the Scotland national team as a right back. McGrain is regarded as one of Scotland's greatest players and throughout the 1970s and 80s was one of the best full backs in world football; sports writer Hugh McIlvanney commented, "Anybody who saw him at his best had the unmistakable impression of watching a great player, probably one who had no superior anywhere in the world." McGrain began his career at Celtic and was one of the "Quality Street Gang", a group of young players that emerged in the late 1960s. He progressed to the first team and went on to play 659 competitive games for Celtic between 1970 and 1987, winning seven League Championships, five Scottish Cups and two Scottish League Cups. He spent the final season of his career with Hamilton, where he helped win them promotion to the Premier Division. McGrain played in the 1974 and 1982 World Cups for Scotland. His 62 caps earned him a place in the Scotland national football team roll of honour and he was inducted to the Scottish Football Hall of Fame in 2004. After retiring from playing, McGrain had a spell as manager of Arbroath in the early 1990s, and is now currently part of the coaching staff at Celtic. At first, McGrain was regarded as a midfielder but was utilised in a variety of roles in the reserve side before becoming established as a right-back. McGrain was used sparingly by manager Jock Stein in his first couple of seasons in the first team, but the young full-back played well in these games. Having been chosen to accompany the main squad to the 1970 European Cup Final along with Dalglish, McGrain made his first-team debut for Celtic as a substitute in a Scottish League Cup tie against Dundee United at Tannadice on 26 August 1970.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.