Allan Preston (born 16 August 1969) is a retired Scottish professional footballer and manager. He is currently a radio sports pundit for BBC Scotland.

Allan Preston
Personal information
Date of birth (1969-08-16) 16 August 1969 (age 55)
Place of birth Leith, Scotland
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
1985–1987 Dundee United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987–1992 Dundee United 24 (1)
1992–1993 Heart of Midlothian 21 (2)
1993–1994 Dunfermline Athletic 26 (5)
1994–2000 St Johnstone 144 (7)
2000 Queen of the South 8 (1)
Total 223 (16)
Managerial career
2004 Livingston
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

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Preston, who predominantly played at left-back, began his career as a 15-year-old with Dundee United in 1985. He made his league debut in the 1987/88 season. After spending several years at Tannadice, he signed for Hearts, the team he supported as a boy. After brief spells with Hearts and Dunfermline Athletic he joined St Johnstone in 1994. It was in Perth that he played the most consistent football of his career.

Management and coaching

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In June 2000, after a hip injury ended his playing career, Preston became assistant to Macclesfield Town manager Peter Davenport, whom he had played with at St Johnstone. Preston left Macclesfield within a year[1] to return to Scotland with Livingston as a coach, and in June 2004 he became the club's manager.[2] He brought in another former St Johnstone teammate, Alan Kernaghan, as his assistant,[3] Kernagahan had been player/manager at Clyde. In November 2004, after just fifteen games in charge, Preston and Kernaghan were sacked after the team's seventh successive defeat.[4]

Preston was unsuccessful in his application to be St Johnstone manager in April 2005.[5]

Other professional interests

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Preston works as a football agent for ICM Stellar Sports.[6][7]

Preston has been a pundit on BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound since 2008 and is nicknamed Biscuits.[8]

References

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  1. ^ "Macclesfield 1-0 Kidderminster". BBC Sport. 7 April 2001. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  2. ^ "New chief appoints Preston". BBC Sport. 4 June 2004. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  3. ^ "Kernaghan is Livi assistant". BBC Sport. 17 June 2004. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  4. ^ "Livingston sack manager Preston". BBC Sport. 25 November 2004. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  5. ^ "Three in frame for Saints vacancy". BBC Sport. 4 April 2005. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  6. ^ Lindsay, Matthew (27 January 2018). "My Sporting Saturday with Allan Preston: Kieran Tierney is living the dream at Celtic, he's very low maintenance". Herald Scotland. Herald & Times Group. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  7. ^ "Agents & Scouts". ICM Stellar Sports. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  8. ^ "Monday's football as it happened". BBC Sport. 25 April 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
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