| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Brian Rice | ||
| Date of birth | 11 October 1963 | ||
| Place of birth | Bellshill, Scotland | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1980–1985 | Hibernian | 84 | (11) |
| 1985–1991 | Nottingham Forest | 92 | (9) |
| 1986 | → Grimsby Town (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 1989 | → West Bromwich Albion (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 1991 | → Stoke City (loan) | 18 | (0) |
| 1991–1995 | Falkirk | 101 | (8) |
| 1995–1997 | Dunfermline Athletic | 10 | (0) |
| 1997–1999 | Clyde | 49 | (2) |
| 2000 | Greenock Morton | 1 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Brian Rice (born 11 October 1963 in Bellshill) is a Scottish former association football player, who played for clubs including Hibernian, Nottingham Forest and Falkirk. Rice has also held coaching positions with Greenock Morton, Airdrieonians, Falkirk and Hibernian, working for Ian McCall and John Hughes.
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Born in Glasgow, Rice's playing career started at Hibernian. He was signed by Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough for £175,000 in August 1985. During his time there, Forest won the Football League Cup twice, in 1989 and 1990. Although he was thought by some fans to lack pace,[1] he scored a memorable winning goal in the 6th round of the FA Cup against Arsenal in 1988.[1]
Rice is still fondly remembered (perhaps ironically)[2] at the City Ground, with a chant to the tune of Yellow Submarine: "Number one is Brian Rice, Number two is Brian Rice" (etc.) with a chorus of "We all live in a world of Brian Rice."[3] More recently members of the fans forum on the website LTLF [1] have taken to having Rice's name printed on the backs of their replica shirts with different squad numbers in a continuation of the chant and Rice's cult appeal.[4] Members of the website also sang the song on Soccer AM.[5]
Whilst a Forest player, he had loan spells at Grimsby, West Bromwich Albion and Stoke. In August 1991, he signed for Falkirk and played for them until the early part of the 1995–96 season. He played for Dunfermline and Clyde for two seasons each. He left Clyde at the end of the 1998–99 season.
In 2000, Rice was appointed assistant manager to Ian McCall at Greenock Morton, making one appearance as a player. Rice was then assistant manager to McCall at Airdrieonians, but the club went out of business in 2002. McCall and Rice then both moved to similar positions at Falkirk. McCall eventually moved on to Dundee United, while Rice continued at Falkirk, assisting John Hughes. He helped the club win the First Division in 2005 and reach the 2009 Scottish Cup Final.
Rice followed Hughes in returning to Hibernian when Hughes was appointed manager there in June 2009.[6][7] Rice also left the club when John Hughes departed as manager by mutual consent in October 2010.[8]