Many players have pulled on the Claret and Sky Blue to play for the ‘Nauld while others have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to keep the club running over the past 50 years. Here, we celebrate the few of the famous names to proud to be involved with United.

Sir Kenny Dalglish

Arguably Scotland’s most famous player, Sir Kenny Dalglish openly attributes some of his success to the opportunity that he was given at Cumbernauld United.

Born in Glasgow in 1951, Dalglish played with Drumchapel Amateurs and Glasgow United, his talent clear from the start. It was Celtic who signed him up, but Jock Stein decided that Dalglish wasn’t quite ready yet, and he was farmed out to United, where he combined playing with working as an apprentice joiner.

It didn’t take long for him to make an impact, as he scored four goals in a 5-1 thumping of Yoker, in only his second game for the ‘Nauld. Dalglish went on to score 37 goals that season, and although Stein was keen for him to remain with United for another season, Dalglish wanted to return to Parkhead to take his chance there.

It proved to be the right move, and after knocking in the goals for the reserves, he made his competitive first-team debut as a sub in a League Cup Quarter Final against HamiltonAccies. He established himself as a first-team regular shortly afterwards and went on to win four Scottish Cup medals and a Scottish League Cup medal, scoring 112 goals and captaining the side in 1975/76.

He moved onto Liverpool in August 1977 and was a hit there, before coming Player Manager. The move into management was a natural one for Dalglish and trophies soon arrived. The Hillsborough Disaster in1989 took its toll on him so personally and professionally that he left Anfield in early 1991.

Never out of the game he loved, he returned to management later that year with Blackburn Rovers, leading them to the Premier League title in 1995. Dalglish also managed Newcastle, had a spell at Celtic as Director of Football, and returning to his beloved Liverpool for a spell between 2011 and 2012.

On the international front, Dalglish won 102 caps for Scotland having made his debut as a sub against Belgium at Pittodrie in 1971. Recalling his time at the club, Dalglish said. ‘They were a great team to play for and I enjoyed my season with them’. ‘At that time, I had no idea that I was to become such a big name in football and owe a lot to Cumbernauld United’.

Johnny Hamilton

In July 1967, Cumbernauld United travelled to play Dunipace Juniors at Carronbank, their first ever competitive game after being reformed. In their ranks, that night was a 17-year-old by the name of Johnny Hamilton, who had previously played for Glasgow Perthshire but chose to move to the newly reformed United.

The ‘Nauld went on to win the game 6-2, with Hamilton instrumental. After only two games for United, Hibs decided to sign him, making him the first ever Cumbernauld player to go professional and won a League Cup and Drybrough Cup medal in his four years at Easter Road, before signing for Rangers in 1973.

‘Dingy’, as he was known to his teammates, completed the set by winning Scottish Cup, League Cup and League Championship medals in his time at Ibrox before going on to play for Millwall and St Johnstone.

Jackie McNamara

Midfielder Jackie McNamara was a footballing great who very nearly didn’t grace the Claret and Sky Blue! As a trialist in a friendly against Leicester City to mark the opening of the Ravenswood enclosure. United wanted to sign him, but he had other ideas and unsure of whether he would get a game every week.

At the time he was every week. At the time he was playing with amateur side Eastercraigs in Glasgow and wasn’t planning to move. However, he was finally persuaded and signed with United. His career with the club was short but successful, resulting in a move to Celtic only two months later.

Jackie was farmed back out to United until the end of the season and was part of the side which went on to win the Central League Division ‘A’. He spent three years at Celtic before moving to Hibs, where he spent nine years. He finished his playing career at Morton and had a spell as Assistant Manager to Jim Duffy at Easter Road in the late 1990s.

Jackie said of his time at Cumbernauld: ‘I have very fond memories of playing for United. The 1970/71 League winning team was a great side with a lot of very talented players’.

Lee McCulloch

A past captain of Rangers, Lee McCulloch was another who had a spell at the ‘Nauld early in his career.

Starting out at Rangers Boys Club, Lee was snapped up by Motherwell, managed at that point by Alex McLeish. He made his debut at 17, coming off the bench in a UEFA Cup tie, and was only denied the winner as his shot hit the post. McLeish farmed him out to Cumbernauld in 1995, where he scored frequently before breaking his leg.

Lee returned to Motherwell, and fought his way back into the team, forging a reputation as one of Scotland’s bright young prospects. Hearts tried to sign him for £1 million in 1999, but he stayed at Fir Park until 2001, when he moved to Wigan Athletic for £700,000. He stayed there for six years, earning a call-up to the Scotland squad along the way (winning 18 caps across his career), and then a move back to Ibrox, where it had all begun

Following a successful spell at Ibrox, he ended his career as a player with Kilmarnock and became their Manager between 2016 and 2017.

As an international, Lee made 19 appearances in the Dark Blue of Scotland scoring in a memorable Euro 2008 qualifying win over Ukraine at Hampden Park in 2007.

Bobby Russell

Unlike the other players listed here, Bobby spent his time at Cumbernauld towards the end of his career.

He started out at Shettleston Juniors, before moving to Rangers in 1977, making his first-team debut against Aberdeen that year. That first season was a memorable one, as Rangers went on to win the treble, with Bobby playing well on the right of midfield.

He stayed at Ibrox for ten years, playing 370 games, scoring 46 goals and winning seven medals. He then moved onto Motherwell and was there when they won the Scottish Cup 4-3 against Dundee United, a match which pitted the McLean brothers, Tommy and Jim, against each other in the dugout.

As his Senior career began to draw to a close, he had short spells at Ayr United, Arbroath and Cowdenbeath, before signing for Cumbernauld United, staying just over a year.

He had a final spell at Albion Rovers before going into coaching.