Roy Aitken

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Robert Sime "Roy" Aitken (born 24 November 1958) is a former footballer who went on to become a coach with Leeds United and Aston Villa. His position as a player was midfield.

Born in Irvine, Ayrshire, he grew up in Ardrossan, where most of his family still live today. Roy was educated at the town's St Peter's Primary School, 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 national football team.

On 28 November 2007, he followed McLeish, newly appointed as manager of Birmingham City, to the club as first-team coach alongside Andy Watson.

[edit] References

• The Scottish Football Association

v • d • e Scotland squad – 1986 FIFA World Cup 1 Leighton • 2 Gough • 3 Malpas • 4 Souness • 5 McLeish • 6 Miller • 7 Strachan • 8 Aitken • 9 Bannon • 10 Bett • 11 McStay • 12 Goram • 13 Nicol • 14 Narey • 15 Albiston • 16 McAvennie • 17 Archibald • 18 Sharp • 19 Nicholas • 20 Sturrock • 21 Cooper • 22 Rough • Coach: Ferguson

v • d • e Scotland squad – 1990 FIFA World Cup 1 Leighton • 2 McLeish • 3 Aitken • 4 Gough • 5 McStay • 6 Malpas • 7 Johnston • 8 Bett • 9 McCoist • 10 MacLeod • 11 Gillespie • 12 Goram • 13 Durie • 14 McInally • 15 Levein • 16 McCall • 17 McKimmie • 18 Collins • 19 McPherson • 20 McAllister • 21 Fleck • 22 Gunn • Coach: Roxburgh