Roy Aitken
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Roy Aitken | ||
Personal information | ||
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Full name | Robert Sime Aitken | |
Date of birth | November 24, 1958 | |
Place of birth | Irvine, Scotland | |
Playing position | Midfielder (Retired) | |
Club information | ||
Current club | Birmingham City (Assistant Coach) | |
Youth clubs | ||
1973-1976 | Celtic Boys Club | |
Senior clubs1 | ||
Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
1976-1990 1990-1991 1991-1992 1992-1995 |
Celtic Newcastle United St Mirren Aberdeen |
483 (40) 54 (1) 34 (1) 29 (2) |
National team | ||
1980-1991 | Scotland | 57 (1) |
Teams managed | ||
1995-1997 | Aberdeen | |
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
Robert Sime 'Roy' Aitken (born 24 November 1958, in Irvine, Ayrshire) is a former football player who went on to become a coach with Leeds United and Aston Villa. His position as a player was midfield.
He started his life in Ardrossan, where most of his family still live today. Roy was educated at St Peter's Primary School in the town, a place which fuelled his love of the game; before going on to St Andrews Academy of Saltcoats when he was twelve. He was an astute pupil, certainly able to go on to higher education but having also furthered his keen interest in football, decided to sign an S-Form with his boyhood Heroes Celtic. During his time at the school he not only excelled at football but also rugby and track & field, winning both the schools title of Junior Sports Champion, and then following that by winning the Senior Sports Champion title the next year, whilst still only in 4th year.
He then had a glowing playing career with Celtic where he was nicknamed 'The Bear' by the supporters due to his large frame and commanding presence. The chant 'Feed the Bear' could be heard on a weekly basis from the terraces of Celtic Park. The supporters took to Roy right from the start of his career and he is still regularly voted in All Time XI's by the fans who still consider him a club legend. He also proudly played 57 games for the Scotland national football team, scoring once. He later went on to play for Newcastle United, St. Mirren and Aberdeen. After his playing career he had a short spell in management with Scottish Premier League team Aberdeen, and won the Scottish League Cup in 1995 before turning his attention to coaching.
He went on to become a highly respected coach with Leeds United before rejoining former Leeds coach David O'Leary at Aston Villa. On 20 July 2006, he was named caretaker manager of Aston Villa after O'Leary's exit by mutual consent the previous evening. Aitken managed Villa to 3 pre-season victories before being replaced by the new Villa manager, Martin O'Neill.
In January 2007, he was appointed as one of Alex McLeish's assistants with the Scotland.
On 28 November 2007, he followed McLeish to former club Aston Villa's arch rivals Birmingham City, where McLeish took over the reigns as Manager at St. Andrews and Aitken as one of his assistants, alongside Andy Watson.
[edit] References
Sporting positions | ||
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Preceded by Danny McGrain |
Celtic F.C. captain 1987-1990 |
Succeeded by Paul McStay |
Sporting positions | ||
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Preceded by ' |
Newcastle United F.C. Captain 1990–1991 |
Succeeded by Kevin Scott |
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