Ian Ure

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John Francombe (Ian) Ure (born December 7, 1939) is a Scottish former footballer.

A centre half, Ure started his career at Dundee, playing for the club for five seasons, during which the club won its one and only First Division title, and reached the semi-finals of the European Cup. He transferred south of the border in 1963 to play for Arsenal. A regular for Arsenal in his first few seasons, he lost his first-team place during the mid-1960s but regained his place towards the end of the decade; he played 202 times for Arsenal in total, scoring twice. Some observers considered his talents as a defender to be somewhat deficient, as noted by Nick Hornby in his book, Fever Pitch, especially after Ure's errors in the 1969 League Cup final, which led to Arsenal's shock defeat at the hands of Swindon Town.

Ure left Arsenal in August 1969 to join Manchester United, where he spent two seasons before returning to Scotland to play for St Mirren and then East Stirling. He also played eleven times for Scotland, and acquired a further degree of fame as a celebrity guest on the BBC soccer quiz game Quiz Ball. After retiring from playing, he spent some time as a coach, including a spell as manager of East Stirling, but later left the game completely. He is currently employed as a social worker in Kilmarnock.