John McClelland had the distinction of playing professional football in all four British home nations

The Whiteabbey man was a stalwart defender in 53 internationals for Northern Ireland during the 1980s and, at the peak of his career, he spent three seasons occupying the No 5 position at Ibrox Park, and for a period as captain.

Rangers paid £90,000 for John in a transfer from Mansfield Town in June 1981 and he played 153 competitive games for the club and scored eight goals.

Having previously played in Northern Ireland, Wales and England, the move to Scotland meant he significantly became the first player to play professionally in the four corners of the United Kingdom.

John had his Rangers debut on August 26, 1981 against Raith Rovers in a 3-1 victory in the League Cup, and he made 22 appearances in his first season. He was a player with considerable stature - he stood six foot two inches tall and was thirteen stone-plus.

In John’s second season at Ibrox Park, Rangers played in both the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup finals, but they lost both, to Aberdeen and Celtic respectively.

However, McClelland was the only Rangers player to play at the 1982 World Cup Finals in Spain, figuring in all five of Northern Ireland’s matches, including the memorable 1-0 victory over host nation Spain.

He missed only one Rangers match in the 1982-83 season, the penultimate League fixture against Hibernian, and scored his first goal for the club in a League Cup-tie against Clydebank in August.

When striker Derek Johnstone moved to Chelsea in the summer of 1983, manager John Greig appointed John as team captain and he led the team to glory in the League Cup in March 1984 when they beat Celtic 3-2 in the final with an Ally McCoist hat-trick.

The 1983/84 season was John’s last full term as a Ranger. He became embroiled in a bitter contractual dispute with the Rangers club and the then manager Jock Wallace in the summer of 1984 as he sought improved personal terms that reflected what he considered his status at the club.

But although at odds with the club, John remained a fixture in the team in the opening matches of the season.

John made his final appearance for Rangers in an unorthodox role in a vital UEFA Cup-tie against Inter Milan at Ibrox in November 1984.

With Rangers seeking to overturn a three-goal deficit from the first leg, manager Jock Wallace deployed John as a centre-forward alongside Iain Ferguson and Dave Mitchell.

The move worked as the bulky presence of McClelland unnerved the Italian defence, and provided an epic European night at Ibrox.

Two goals from Ferguson and one from Mitchell brought Rangers back into the tie. They trailed 3-0 after the first leg in Italy, but they lost out on a place in the next round when Inter scored a crucial away goal.

Shortly afterwards, John left Ibrox to join Watford, then managed by England manager to-be Graham Taylor in the English First Division, for a fee of £265,000.

In his time at Ibrox, John played alongside players like Davy Cooper, Bobby Russell, Robert Prytz, John Macdonald, Jim Bett, Gregor Stevens, Colin McAdam, and, of course, Ally McCoist, and his Northern Ireland team mate Jimmy Nicholl.

At international level John was the Northern Ireland captain from 1986 until he retired from international level in 1990.

He appeared in both the World Cup Finals in Spain (1982) and Mexico (1986).

John began his career with in the Irish League with Portadown, signed as a teenager by legendary Ports’ manager the late Gibby MacKenzie in the early 1960s. The astute Gibby, always with an eye to business, transferred John to Cardiff City.

His other clubs were Bangor City, Mansfield Town, Watford, Leeds United, Notts County, St Johnstone (as a player coach), Arbroath, Wycombe Wanderers, Yeovil Town, Darlington and Carrick Rangers in Northern Ireland.

In 1991-92, the season before the Premier League was formed, he helped Leeds United win the English First Division.

In professional football across the four UK countries, John played more than 600 games. He now resides with his family in Wakefield, Yorkshire and has a part-time role as a match-day ambassador at Leeds United.

* Rangers Football Club - the Ulster Connection by Billy Kennedy. Published 2019 by Books 4 publishing, Tobermore. Available at Rangers superstores Belfast and Glasgow (St Enoch’s Square) and online from Amazon