View source for Ian Ure

{{short description|Scottish footballer and manager}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2012}}
{{BLP sources|date=March 2011}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name     = Ian Ure
| image          =
| fullname       = John Francombe Ure<ref>{{Hugman|20059|access-date=25 March 2017}}</ref>
| birth_date    = {{birth date and age|1939|12|7|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Ayr]], Scotland
| height         =
| position       = [[defender (association football)|Centre half]]
| youthyears1    = |youthclubs1 = Ayr Albion
| years1         = 1958–1963 |clubs1 = [[Dundee F.C.|Dundee]]                       |caps1 = 107 |goals1 = 0
| years2         = 1963–1969 |clubs2 = [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]]                     |caps2 = 168 |goals2 = 2
| years3         = 1969–1971 |clubs3 = [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]] |caps3 = 47  |goals3 = 1
| years4         = 1971–1973 |clubs4 = [[St Mirren F.C.|St Mirren]]                 |caps4 = 3   |goals4 = 0
| totalcaps = 325
| totalgoals = 3
| nationalyears1 = 1961<ref>[http://www.fitbastats.com/scotlandu23/player.php?playerid=73 Scotland U23 player Ure, Ian], FitbaStats</ref>
| nationalteam1 = [[Scotland national under-23 football team|Scotland U23]]
| nationalcaps1 = 1
| nationalgoals1 = 0
| nationalyears2 = 1961–1962<ref>[https://www.londonhearts.com/SFL/players/johnfrancombe(ian)ure.html SFL player John Francombe (Ian) Ure], London Hearts Supporters Club</ref> |nationalteam2 = [[Scottish League XI]] |nationalcaps2 = 4 |nationalgoals2 = 0
| nationalyears3 = 1961–1967<ref>[https://www.londonhearts.com/scotland/players/johnfrancombe(ian)ure.html Scotland player Ian Ure], London Hearts Supporters Club</ref> |nationalteam3 = [[Scotland national football team|Scotland]] |nationalcaps3 = 12 |nationalgoals3 = 0
| nationalyears4 = 1962<ref name=scot60s>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lITgDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT215|title=Scotland in the 60s: The Definitive Account of the Scottish National Football Side During the 1960s|author=Ronnie McDevitt|year=2016|publisher=Pitch Publishing|isbn=9781785312458}}{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
| nationalteam4 = [[List of Scottish Football League representative players#Scotland trial matches / SFL Centenary players|SFA trial v SFL]]
| nationalcaps4 = 1
| nationalgoals4 = 0
| manageryears1  = 1974–1975 |managerclubs1 = [[East Stirlingshire F.C.|East Stirlingshire]]
}}
'''John Francombe''' "'''Ian'''" '''Ure''' (born 7 December 1939) is a Scottish former [[association football|football]] player and manager.

Ure started his career with [[Dundee F.C.|Dundee]], before moving to England to play for [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]] and [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]]. After eight years in England, Ure returned to Scotland to play for [[St Mirren F.C.|St Mirren]], however, after two seasons with the club and only three league appearances, Ure went into football management with [[East Stirlingshire F.C.|East Stirlingshire]].

During his time with Dundee and Arsenal, Ure played on 12 occasions for the [[Scotland national football team|Scotland national team]].

== Club career ==
Ure started his career as a [[defender (association football)|centre-half]] with [[Ayr Albion]]. In 1958, after being scouted by the [[Dens Park]] club, Ure signed for [[Dundee F.C.|Dundee]] where he remained for five seasons. During that time, the club won its one and only [[Scottish Football League First Division|First Division]] title in [[1961–62 in Scottish football|1961–62]], and reached the semi-finals of the [[UEFA Champions League|European Cup]] in [[1962–63 European Cup|1962–63]], losing 5–2 on aggregate to eventual champions [[A.C. Milan|Milan]].

He moved south of the border in 1963 for a transfer fee of £62,500 to play for [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]]. He only missed one match for Arsenal in his first season, but injury and a loss of form restricted his appearances in [[1964–65 in English football|1964–65]] and [[1965–66 in English football|1965–66]], although he still managed more than 20 matches each season. Ure was restored to the Arsenal line-up by [[Bertie Mee]], however, and played 44 matches in [[1966–67 in English football|1966–67]]. Ure continued to feature regularly for Arsenal as the 1960s went on, but during this time made a couple of errors in big matches, exemplified by his mistake in the [[1969 Football League Cup Final|1969 League Cup Final]] against [[Swindon Town F.C.|Swindon Town]], which allowed [[Roger Smart]] to score Swindon's opening goal; Swindon went on to win 3–1 after [[extra time]].

Ure played 202 matches for Arsenal in defence over the course of six years, scoring two goals, and picking up two League Cup runners-up medals ([[1968 Football League Cup Final|1968]] and 1969). He was famously involved in a number of clashes with [[Denis Law]] in the game against Manchester United in October 1967, that saw both players being sent off and subsequently receiving six-match bans.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Classic Match: 1967 - Manchester United 1-0 Arsenal|url=https://www.theunitedstand.com/articles/single/classic-match-1967-manchester-united-1-0-arsenal}}</ref> However, with [[Frank McLintock]] and [[Terry Neill]] competing for the centre half position, Ure found himself being squeezed out towards the end of that decade, and he left Arsenal in August 1969 to join [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]]. The only major signing made by manager [[Wilf McGuinness]], Ure spent two seasons at Manchester United before returning to Scotland to play for [[St Mirren F.C.|St Mirren]].

After retiring from playing, he spent some time as a coach, including a spell as manager of East Stirlingshire, but later left the game completely, and was employed as a [[social worker]] in [[Kilmarnock]].

== International career ==
During his time with [[Dundee F.C.|Dundee]], Ure won eight caps for [[Scotland national football team|Scotland]]. He made his debut international debut on 8 November 1961, in a 2–0 win against [[Wales national football team|Wales]]. He made 12 appearances in total, with his last cap coming against [[Northern Ireland national football team|Northern Ireland]] on 21 October 1967. One of his appearances was during a 1967 overseas tour that the [[Scottish Football Association]] decided in October 2021 to reclassify as a full international,<ref name = "1967 reclassified">{{cite web |url=https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/news/former-scotland-players-to-be-recognised-with-international-caps-including-sir-alex-ferguson/?rid=14258 |title=Former Scotland players to be recognised with international caps including Sir Alex Ferguson |website=www.scottishfa.co.uk |publisher=Scottish Football Association |date=9 October 2021 |accessdate=10 October 2021}}</ref> which increased Ure's cap tally from 11 to 12.

== Career statistics ==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Career statistics<ref>{{NFT player|id=20336|name=Ian Ure|accessdate= }}</ref>
! rowspan="2"| Club
! rowspan="2"| Season
! colspan="3"| League
! colspan="2"| Cup
! colspan="2"| League cup
! colspan="2"| Continental
! colspan="2"| Other
! colspan="2"| Total
|-
! Division !! Apps !! Goals !! Apps !! Goals !! Apps !! Goals !! Apps !! Goals !! Apps !! Goals !! Apps !! Goals
|-
|rowspan="6"|[[Dundee F.C.|Dundee]]
|[[1958–59 Dundee F.C. season|1958–59]]
|rowspan="5"|[[Scottish Football League Division One|Division One]]
|2||0|| || || || || || || || || ||
|-
|[[1959–60 Dundee F.C. season|1959–60]]
|7||0|| || || || || || || || || ||
|-
|[[1960–61 Dundee F.C. season|1960–61]]
|32||0|| || || || || || || || || ||
|-
|[[1961–62 Dundee F.C. season|1961–62]]
|34||0|| || || || || || || || || ||
|-
|[[1962–63 Dundee F.C. season|1962–63]]
|32||0|| || || || || || || || || ||
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!107!!0!! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !!
|-
|rowspan="8"|[[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]]
|[[1963–64 Arsenal F.C. season|1963–64]]
|rowspan="7"|[[Football League First Division|First Division]]
|41||1||4||0||colspan="2"|—||4||0||colspan="2"|—||49||1
|-
|[[1964–65 Arsenal F.C. season|1964–65]]
|22||1||2||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||24||1
|-
|[[1965–66 Arsenal F.C. season|1965–66]]
|21||0||0||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||1||0||22||0
|-
|[[1966–67 Arsenal F.C. season|1966–67]]
|37||0||3||0||4||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||44||0
|-
|[[1967–68 Arsenal F.C. season|1967–68]]
|21||0||3||0||5||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||29||0
|-
|[[1968–69 Arsenal F.C. season|1968–69]]
|23||0||4||0||5||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||32||0
|-
|[[1969–70 Arsenal F.C. season|1969–70]]
|3||0||0||0||0||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||3||0
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!168!!2!!16!!0!!14!!0!!4!!0!!1!!0!!203!!2
|-
|rowspan="4"|[[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]]
|[[1969–70 Manchester United F.C. season|1969–70]]
|rowspan="3"|[[Football League First Division|First Division]]
|34||1||7||0||7||0||0||0||0||0||48||1
|-
|[[1970–71 Manchester United F.C. season|1970–71]]
|13||0||1||0||3||0||0||0||3||0||20||0
|-
|[[1971–72 Manchester United F.C. season|1971–72]]
|0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||0
|-
! colspan="2" | Total
! 47 !! 1 !! 8 !! 0 !! 10 !! 0 !! 0 !! 0 !! 3 !! 0 !! 68 !! 1
|-
| rowspan="3" | [[St Mirren F.C.|St Mirren]]
| [[1972–73 St Mirren F.C. season|1972–73]]
| rowspan="2" | [[Scottish Football League Division Two|Division Two]]
| 3|| 0 || || || || || || || || || ||
|-
| [[1973–74 St Mirren F.C. season|1973–74]]
| 0 || 0 || || || || || || || || || ||
|-
! colspan="2"|Total
! 3 !! 0 !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !!
|-
! colspan="3"|Career total
! 325 !! 3 !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !!
|}

== See also ==
* [[List of Scotland national football team captains]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}
* {{ cite book |editor1-first=Jeff |editor1-last=Harris |editor2-first=Tony |editor2-last=Hogg |title=Arsenal Who's Who |publisher=Independent UK Sports |year=1995 |isbn=1-899429-03-4 }}

== External links ==
* {{NeilBrownPlayers|player/ianure}}

{{East Stirlingshire F.C. managers}}
{{Dundee F.C. Hall of Fame}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ure, Ian}}
[[Category:1939 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Scottish men's footballers]]
[[Category:Men's association football central defenders]]
[[Category:Scotland men's international footballers]]
[[Category:Arsenal F.C. players]]
[[Category:Manchester United F.C. players]]
[[Category:Dundee F.C. players]]
[[Category:St Mirren F.C. players]]
[[Category:Scottish football managers]]
[[Category:East Stirlingshire F.C. managers]]
[[Category:People educated at Ayr Academy]]
[[Category:Scottish Football League players]]
[[Category:English Football League players]]
[[Category:Scottish Football League representative players]]
[[Category:Scotland men's under-23 international footballers]]
[[Category:Scottish Football League managers]]