David McLean (footballer born 1883)

David McLean (1883 or 1884 – 14 February 1951) was a Scottish association footballer and manager. McLean played as a winger.

He played for Buckhaven United, Cambuslang Rangers, Celtic, Ayr United and Cowdenbeath. He first joined East Fife in 1911 as player-manager.

After joining East Fife as player manager he led them to victory in the Scottish Qualifying Cup Final in 1920-21. East Fife were admitted to the Scottish Football League in 1921 and reached the 1927 Scottish Cup Final.

McLean was appointed manager of Bristol Rovers in 1929. He left after just over a year.

He and returned to East Fife in 1931. McLean led them to victory over Kilmarnock in the 1938 Scottish Cup Final.

Hearts appointed McLean manager on a five-year contract in June 1941. He played a significant role in rebuilding the club during the Second World War, assembling the Terrible Trio forward line of Alfie Conn, Willie Bauld and Jimmy Wardhaugh.

The first seeds of the Tommy Walker managerial success at Hearts were sown by Davie McLean. On 9 October 1948, after a mediocre start to the 1948–49 season Hearts' manager McLean combined three young forwards, Jimmy Wardhaugh, Willie Bauld and Alfie Conn Sr., for the first time. They became dubbed the Terrible Trio and scored over 900 Hearts goals between them (Wardhaugh 376, Bauld 355, Conn 221). The combination of Wardhaugh's dribbling skills and non-stop running, Bauld's cerebral play and prodigious aerial ability, and Conn's energetic, tenacious style and powerful shooting complemented each other well. Their first match as a forward combination ended in a 6–1 defeat of Scot Symon's impressive East Fife team of the era. This was notable as Symon's team had defeated the Maroons 4–0 three weeks earlier. As a unit they played 242 games together.

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