Gordon David Strachan OBE (/ˈstræxən/ or /strɔːn/; born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish football coach and former player. Strachan played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. He has since managed Coventry City, Southampton, Celtic, Middlesbrough and Scotland.
In club football, he played 635 league games, scoring a total of 138 goals, playing 21 of 25 career seasons in either the English or Scottish top-flight. In international football Strachan earned 50 caps, scoring five goals and playing in two FIFA World Cup final tournaments, Spain 82 and Mexico 86. Strachan retired from playing in 1997 at age 40, setting a Premier League record for an outfield player.
A right-sided midfielder, Strachan made his senior debut in 1974 with Dundee before moving on within Scotland, to spend seven seasons at Aberdeen. He first played for the Scotland national team in 1980. While at Aberdeen Strachan won multiple domestic league and cup honours in the early 1980s, as well as the 1982–83 European Cup Winners' Cup and 1983 European Super Cup. Moving to England, Strachan won the 1985 FA Cup Final in five seasons with Manchester United. He spending the next seven seasons as club captain at Leeds, winning the 1989–90 Second Division and 1991–92 First Division league titles. He played his last game for Scotland in 1992. He moved to Coventry in 1995 for a final three seasons, as a player-coach.