Billy Stark is a Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 football former player and coach. He is currently head coach of the Scotland national under-21 football team

Scotland national under-21 football team

The Scotland national under-21 football team, controlled by the Scottish Football Association, is Scotland's national under 21 football team and is considered to be a feeder team for the Scotland national football team....

.

Player

Born in Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, Stark made his professional debut in 1975 in nearby Paisley

Paisley

Paisley is the largest town in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland and serves as the administrative centre for the Renfrewshire council area...

 for St. Mirren. Two years later he won his first honour, a First Division

Scottish Football League First Division

The Irn-Bru Scottish Football League First Division Championship is the highest division of the Scottish Football League and the second highest in the Scottish football league system....

 winners medal. After 255 games for St. Mirren, scoring 60 goals, he was signed by Aberdeen

Aberdeen F.C.

Aberdeen Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen...

 for £80,000. During a period of success for the side, he helped Aberdeen to win a European Super Cup

European Super Cup

The UEFA Super Cup is an annual football game between the reigning champions of the two cup competitions organized by UEFA: the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League...

 in 1983, a Premier Division

Scottish Football League Premier Division

The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system...

 and Scottish Cup

Scottish Cup

The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,, commonly known as the Scottish Cup or the William Hill Scottish Cup for sponsorship purposes, is the main national cup competition in Scottish football. It is a knockout cup competition run by and named after the Scottish Football Association.The...

 double

The Double

The Double is a term in association football which refers to winning a country's top tier division and its primary cup competition in the same season...

 in 1984, another league title the following year and a League Cup

Scottish League Cup

The Scottish League Cup is a football competition open to all Scottish Football League and Scottish Premier League clubs. At present it is also known as the Scottish Communities League Cup owing to the sponsorship deal in place with the Scottish Government. In the past it has been sponsored by...

 and Scottish Cup double in 1986.

In 1987 Billy McNeill

Billy McNeill

William "Billy" McNeill MBE is a former Scottish footballer and manager. He is best known for captaining Celtic to the European Cup triumph in 1967 and he later went on to manage the club. He is now the official Club Ambassador at Celtic....

 signed Stark to play in Celtic's

Celtic F.C.

Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...

 midfield for a £100,000 fee. In three seasons with the club he won two further Scottish Cups and a League Championship, before leaving for Kilmarnock

Kilmarnock F.C.

Kilmarnock Football Club is a Scottish football team based in the town of Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. Founded in 1869, "Killie" is the oldest club currently in the Scottish Premier League. Home matches are played at Rugby Park...

 for two seasons. In 1992 he transferred to Hamilton Academical

Hamilton Academical F.C.

Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Academical, or Accies, are a Scottish football club from Hamilton in South Lanarkshire. They were established in 1874 from the school football team at Hamilton Academy. They remain the only professional club in British football to have...

 as a player/coach, but returned to Kilmarnock the following year under manager and former Celtic colleague Tommy Burns. Stark retired from playing in 1994, having scored over 100 league goals.

Coach

After retiring as a player, Stark became Burns' assistant at Celtic

Celtic F.C.

Celtic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Premier League. The club was established in 1887, and played its first game in 1888. Celtic have won the Scottish League Championship on 42 occasions, most recently in the...

. When Burns left Celtic in 1997, Stark managed the side for three matches in a caretaker capacity before leaving himself. Stark then had spells managing Greenock Morton

Greenock Morton F.C.

Greenock Morton Football Club are a Scottish professional football club, who currently play in the Scottish Football League First Division. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs....

 and St Johnstone

St Johnstone F.C.

St. Johnstone F.C. is a professional football club based in Perth, Scotland. Although it is officially recorded as being formed in 1884, the club did not play its first game until February 1885. The club's home since 1989 has been McDiarmid Park....

 before becoming Queen's Park

Queen's Park F.C.

Queen's Park Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland. The club are currently the only amateur club in the Scottish League; their amateur status is reflected by their motto, Ludere Causa Ludendi – to play for the sake of playing.Queen's Park are the oldest...

 manager in 2004.

Stark led Queen's to one of their greatest results of modern times in August 2006 at Firhill Stadium

Firhill Stadium

Firhill Stadium or Firhill Arena is a football, rugby union and rugby league stadium located in the Maryhill area of Glasgow, Scotland. As of 2010 it is the home ground of football club Partick Thistle F.C...

, when Queen's Park beat Scottish Premier League

Scottish Premier League

The Scottish Premier League , also known as the SPL , is a professional league competition for association football clubs in Scotland...

 side Aberdeen on penalty kick

Penalty kick

A penalty kick is a type of direct free kick in association football, taken from twelve yards out from goal and with only the goalkeeper of the defending team between the penalty taker and the goal.Penalty kicks are performed during normal play...

s after a 0-0 draw in the CIS Insurance League Cup

Scottish League Cup 2005-06

The 2005–06 Scottish League Cup was the 60th staging of the Scotland's second most prestigious football knockout competition, also known for sponsorship reasons as the CIS Insurance Cup....

. Stark also lead the Glasgow club to promotion from the Scottish Third Division and later hailed the achievement as the highlight of his football career.

Stark left Queen's Park on 1 January 2008 to oversee the Scottish national youth teams, a role that involves managing the Scotland national under-21 football team

Scotland national under-21 football team

The Scotland national under-21 football team, controlled by the Scottish Football Association, is Scotland's national under 21 football team and is considered to be a feeder team for the Scotland national football team....

. Stark's under-21 side reached the qualification playoffs for the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship

2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship

UEFA U-21 Championship 2011 was the 18th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Football Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Denmark between 11 and 25 June 2011....

, but they lost out to Iceland. David Goodwillie

David Goodwillie

David Goodwillie is a Scottish footballer who plays as a striker for Blackburn Rovers and the Scotland national football team.-Early career:...

, Danny Wilson

Danny Wilson (Scottish footballer)

Daniel "Danny" Wilson is a Scottish footballer who currently plays as a centre back or left back for Premier League club Liverpool and the Scottish national side.-Rangers:...

 and Barry Bannan

Barry Bannan

Barry Bannan is a Scottish professional footballer who plays for English Premier League club Aston Villa. He plays as a midfielder and is a Scotland full international, and also represented under-21 and B levels...

 were promoted from the under-21s to the full national team

Scotland national football team

The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...

 selected by Craig Levein

Craig Levein

Craig William Levein is a Scottish former professional footballer and manager of the Scotland national team. During his playing career he played for Cowdenbeath and Heart of Midlothian...

in November 2010.