Nottingham Forest wanted Gary McAllister but he told Brian Clough he was joining Leeds in abrupt phone call
Alexis Mac Allister was one of this summer’s eye-catching transfers, but he’s not the first Mac Allister to have caused a stir whilst moving clubs.
Well, technically the other Mac Allister’s surname is spelt McAllister – but you get the picture.
In five seasons at Leicester City between 1985 and 1990, Gary McAllister played 225 games in total, scoring 52 goals and cementing his reputation as one of the best players in the Second Division.
It’s no surprise, then, that he attracted interest from the First Division in 1990, including newly-promoted Leeds United.
Leeds’ initial £850,000 bid for the midfielder was rejected by the Foxes, though.
That put Brian Clough – who had previously managed Leeds for just 44 days in 1974 – and Leicester’s rivals Nottingham Forest at the front of the queue to bring McAllister to the top flight.
But unfortunately for the legendary manager, who won consecutive European Cups with Forest in 1979 and 1980, McAllister opted for a club Clough had a famous falling out with.
They met, though, with the player turning up wearing cowboy boots and Cloughie asking if he was related to John Wayne, the Hollywood legend known for making Westerns.
Years later, the manager suggested he’d taken offence to what was, in his eyes, a light hearted barb.
Speaking to Four Four Two in 2016, McAllister recalled: “It was bad timing. Looking back, I’d have loved to play under Clough in his pomp, but I had options and just felt Leeds were a better fit.
“Brian wasn’t impressed when I said I was going to Leeds.”
Leeds United chairman Bill Fotherby was so keen to sign McAllister, he followed him to a golf course in Leicester to convince him to sign on the spot.
But the midfielder then had to inform the Forest boss of his decision – and it’s fair to say he didn’t take it too well.
Explaining his phone conversation with Clough, McAllister said: ““Leeds?!” he said, then the phone went down quite abruptly.”
Despite wishing he’d played for one of the game’s greatest, luckily for McAllister his move to Elland Road paid off.
Within two seasons, he was First Division champion, winning the league with Leeds in 1992 in the last season before the league’s Premier League rebrand.
Playing alongside Gordon Strachan and academy products Gary Speed and David Batty, Howard Wilkinson’s midfield was the envy of top flight sides across the country.
And so the decision to choose Wilkinson over Cloughie had been vindicated.
“I came to Leeds with the expectation of winning things,” he said after winning the league.
“And to win the league championship in my second season – I’m ahead of schedule.”
After six years at Elland Road and 37 goals in 259 appearances, McAllister played for Liverpool and had two spells at Coventry City either side of his Anfield career.
The Sky Blues were the first side he managed following his retirement in 2003, before also taking the reins at Leeds in 2008.
His experience has been called upon by a number of managers since a Aston Villa under Gerard Houllier in 2010 and in 2021 under Steven Gerrard.
He was also Gerrard’s assistant at Rangers and worked for Liverpool under Brendan Rodgers.
And his namesake at Anfield has caught his attention.
“He is somebody who can play in two or three positions,” he told liverpoolfc.com.
“But the big thing for me with Mac Allister when you watch him, he’s a very good player when his team is in possession of the football, but more importantly, when you look at the other side of the game when you don’t have the ball. I think that’s where Mac Allister has caught my eye as well.”
