Gordon Strachan

Footballer Gordon Strachan calls on his illustrious career to give hilarious, clever and inspiring  after dinner  speeches.

As a player, Strachan was a hard-working midfielder. He had an ability to thread his way through defences and was a master of the long sweeping pass. He had an illustrious career in Scotland as one of the key players in Aberdeen's success under Alex Ferguson in the 1980's winning Scottish Premier League titles in 1980 and 1984, Scottish Cup medals in 1982, 1983 and 1984 and a European Cup Winners Cup medal in 1983 when the Dons beat Real Madrid.

Ron Atkinson brought Gordon to Old Trafford in 1984 where he won an FA Cup Winners medal and played again under Ferguson before moving to Leeds United. He captained Leeds to the Division Two title in 1990 and two years later, at the age of 35, led them to the Division One Championship in its last year before the inception of the Premier League.  Gordon also turned out for Dundee and Coventry.

He was voted Scottish Footballer of the Year in 1980 and in 1992 he won the English Footballer of the Year award becoming the only man to win the award on both sides of the border. He won his first Scottish cap in 1980 against Northern Ireland, was a member of the World Cup squads in both 1982 and 1986, and won his 50th and final cap against Finland in 1992.

Gordon became full time manager of Coventry when the incumbent Ron Atkinson was appointed as Director of Football. After five years in the job he moved on in 2001, when Coventry were relegated. He immediately returned to the Premier League with Southampton and guided that club to the 2003 FA Cup Final – losing 1–0 to Arsenal. Gordon then resigned from Southampton in 2004 and took a 16 month break from management before returning to Scotland to become manager of Celtic in the Scottish Premier League. With Celtic he achieved three successive league titles and other domestic cup wins, before resigning in May 2009 after failing to win a fourth title.

A man with a footballing brain and a deadpan sense of humour, he’s popular with the media and as a speaker. Gordon has analysed football matches for the media, including alongside Adrian Chiles on BBC Sport's Match of the Day 2. He has worked as a regular pundit for ITV's coverage of the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League. During the 2014 World Cup, he worked as a pundit for ITV. For the 2006 World Cup, Gordonn was appointed as the official FIFA Ambassador for Scotland, joining 50 others in fundraising for SOS Children's Villages, the official charity of the tournament.

Former professional footballer Gordon Strachan calls on his illustrious career to give deadpan, hilarious, clever and inspiring after dinner speeches. Both able to motivate through stories of teamwork and leadership, or recount tales of his time on the pitch, Gordon is a class act.