Jock Stein

For Jock Stein, playing football was his escape from the coalmines of his native South Lanarkshire. In 1942, he began his career with Albion Rovers, playing on Saturdays and working down the pits during the week. He gradually established a reputation as a hard, no-nonsense centre-half, and in 1950 he got his first professional contract with Llanelli in the Welsh League, earning £12 a week.

Twelve months later, he returned to Scotland, having missed his wife and daughter during his time in South Wales. He joined Celtic, where he was initially pencilled in for the reserves, but injuries to senior players gave him his opportunity, and once he had broken into the first team, he stayed there.

In no time, he was appointed captain, and in 1953 he led the Bhoys to victory in the Coronation Cup, beating Arsenal and Manchester United to become unofficial champions of Britain, before inspiring them to the double of Scottish League and Cup the following season. He was forced to retire in 1956 due to a persistent ankle injury, but by then, he had already begun laying plans for a coaching career.

Stein began preparing for his glorious managerial career in 1954 when he followed Scotland as an observer at the World Cup, learning from the national team's shambolic preparation and the more sophisticated tactics of their opponents. On hanging up his boots, he became reserve team coach at Celtic, quickly building up a reputation for success.

In 1960, he got his big break at Dunfermline, guiding them to their first Scottish Cup in 1961. He moved on to Hibernian, before returning to Parkhead as manager in 1965. The club hadn't won a trophy in eight years, but he soon assembled a formidable team from in and around Glasgow that became champions of Europe in 1967, when the Lisbon Lions beat mighty Inter Milan.

He guided them to another European Cup final in 1970 while maintaining an unprecedented level of success on the home front. Celtic won the Scottish League nine seasons in a row between 1966 and 1974 under Stein, and he won another 14 domestic cups for good measure.

But a car crash put him out of commission for much of the 1975/76 season, and he was persuaded to step down in 1978. Stein wasn't finished with football yet, though, and he took the job as manager of Leeds United. He lasted just 45 days at Elland Road, however, before his loyalty to his homeland saw him take the job of Scotland manager in the aftermath of the disastrous 1978 World Cup campaign. He took them to the 1982 tournament, and was on the brink of doing so again when the big man died of a heart attack on September 10, 1985 at the climax of a World Cup qualifier against Wales. Football had lost one of its greatest warriors.