Ian McKechnie

Ian Hector McKechnie (4 October 1941 – 11 June 2015) was a Scottish footballer, who played as a goalkeeper.

Ian McKechnie was born at a maternity unit in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire but was raised in the village of Lenzie in Dunbartonshire and later in Chryston in Lanarkshire, near Glasgow. McKechnie signed for Arsenal in September 1958 after being invited to play for a Glasgow amateur side Letham Thistle (a Glasgow club with associations with the Arsenal scouting system). He was signed as an outside-left, but George Swindin, the then Arsenal manager, saw his potential as a goalkeeper. McKechnie went on to make 25 appearances between 1961 and 1964 for Arsenal.

He was the first Scot to be chosen to play for the London Youth XI, playing in the same team as Terry Venables. His first game in goal for Arsenal was a closed-door match against England prior to their Home International Championship campaign. He then played a friendly in Gothenburg against a Swedish Select XI in 1961, in which he pulled off a succession of acrobatic saves, and he was known henceforth as 'Yuri', after the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin.

McKechnie made his competitive debut against Blackburn Rovers on 14 October 1961

He never played for the Arsenal first team again, and was given a free transfer in March 1964.

During his time at Hull, McKechnie was the first goalkeeper ever to save a penalty in a competitive penalty shootout, against Manchester United in the semi-finals of the Watney Cup in August 1970; he saved from Denis Law. He subsequently took the deciding kick to take the penalty shootout to further five kicks from each side, but his kick flew over the bar and put Hull City out of the competition. He therefore was the first goalkeeper to concede a kick in a shootout (to George Best), the first goalkeeper to save a kick in a shootout (from Denis Law), the first goalkeeper to take a kick in a shootout, and the first player to miss the deciding kick.

McKechnie then signed for the Boston Minutemen in the North American Soccer League in May 1974, where he was rated one of the top goalkeepers for that season. There was a suggestion of him signing for a season as a goal kicker for an American football team, but due to a strike this did not take place. Returning to England, he played for Goole Town and Scarborough, before retiring in 1977. Occasionally in friendly and testimonial games, McKechnie would play in the outside left position and indeed scored in such matches.

After retiring McKechnie had a spell in charge of Sligo Rovers in the Republic of Ireland. He lived in Brantingham near Brough and worked in Corporate Hospitality at the KC Stadium, the new home of Hull City, on matchdays.

McKechnie died on 11 June 2015.