Motherwell Football Club are today delighted to confirm the capture of Scotland International defender Stephen McManus.
The 30-year old joins on a one-year deal after his previous contract at Middlesbrough expired in the summer.
McManus came through the youth ranks at Celtic and made his debut in a 4-0 win at Easter Road back in March 2004.
He was eventually made captain of the club in July 2007 following Neil Lennon’s exit from Celtic Park.
All in all, he would play 202 times for the Hoops, scoring 20 goals before departing for the Riverside Stadium in the summer of 2010 for a fee of £1.5 million.
His time in the northeast didn’t go as well as ‘Mick’ would have liked, a change of manager and injuries certainly didn’t help. He did spend a brief spell on loan at Bristol City, which was cut short due to an injury crisis at his parent club.
The defender has also amassed 26 caps for Scotland, including time as captain.
[pullquote]From the minute I came in the door for the first time, there was a real family atmosphere and that is what drew me to the club. I always had an idea then that I was going to come here; even though it was a hard decision given other clubs were interested.[/pullquote]
He earned his first cap back in October 2006, coming on as a substitute in the 2–0 defeat to Ukraine at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev.
His first start in the dark blue of Scotland was against Georgia in the first match of the Alex McLeish era; a 2–1 win for Scotland with Craig Beattie hitting a dramatic late winner.
McManus scored his first goal for Scotland in a 3–1 win against Lithuania on 8 September 2007, acrobatically turning a Shaun Maloney cross into the net to put Scotland 2–1 up. He also scored a 96th minute winner to spare the blushes against minnows Liechtenstein at Hampden in 2010.
He becomes Motherwell’s sixth signing of the summer after Paul Lawson, Iain Vigurs, John Sutton, Fraser Kerr and Gunnar Nielsen.
Speaking exclusively to MFC TV, McManus, who will number 6 this season, said: “I am really glad to get it done and dusted. There was a fair bit of interest from the manager (Stuart McCall) early on so I am pleased it has now finally been finalised.
“From the minute I came in the door for the first time, there was a real family atmosphere and that is what drew me to the club. I always had an idea then that I was going to come here; even though it was a hard decision given other clubs were interested.
“I just can’t wait to get started, I will give it my best shot and we will see how it goes.
We have a really good squad and the manager will probably add some more new faces too.”
-WATCH HIS FIRST INTERVIEW EXCLUSIVELY ON MFC TV–
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