KEY FACTS

Born: Glasgow, August 13, 1961

Playing career: Clydebank, Rangers, West Bromwich, Rotherham United, Kilmarnock

Coach: Kilmarnock 1993-1996

Manager: Kilmarnock 1996-2002

Played 242 Won 89 Drawn 67 Lost 86
Honours: 1997 - won Scottish Cup, finished fourth in league, qualified for Europe; 1998 -finished fourth in league, League Cup runners-up, qualified for Europe; 1999 - finished fourth in league, qualified for Europe via FairPlay; 2001 - finished fourth in league, Scottish Cup finalists, qualified for Europe.

Manager: Hibernian: 2002-2004
Played 93 Won 34 Drawn 21 Lost 38

Honours: 2004 - CIS Cup finalists

Bobby Williamson was born on August 13, 1961 and grew up in  the Easterhouse area of Glasgow.

He started his playing career as a striker with local side Clydebank, and, after 35 goals in 85 games, he moved to Rangers in 1984 for £100,000.

His spell at Ibrox was blighted by injury, however, and, after a certain John Blackley had tried and failed to sign him for Hibernian, he decided to try his luck over the border, enjoying more successful spells at West Brom and Rotherham, before returning to his homeland with Kilmarnock.

It was while he was with West Brom that Bobby made his first visit to Home Park, playing for the Baggies in a dramatic 3-3 draw in which some chap called Andy Gray scored a couple of goals and Carlton Palmer netted a late equaliser, and the goal he scored for Rotherham against Birmingham is still talked about by Millers' fans as one of the best in the club's history.

In November 1990, Bobby left South Yorkshire for Rugby Park in another £100,000 transfer and proceeded to make 173 appearances over five seasons for Kilmarnock, scoring 44 goals, including a hat-trick against Clydebank. Probably the most famous of those goals came in 1993, when he scored against Rangers in injury-time to give Killie their first league win at Ibrox for 33 years.

He retired as a player the following season - making his last appearance in a 5-1 defeat by South Korea in Seoul - and, within two years, was promoted from reserve-team coach to succeed Alex Totten as Kilmarnock manager. It preceded a golden era for the Ayrshire club. Over five years at Rugby Park, Bobby steered Kilmarnock to three top-four finishes; to a Scottish Cup win - after just six months in the job -in their first final appearance for 37 years; and to a first League Cup final for 39 years - all this before he was 40 years old.

That success - a phenomenal achievement, given the limited resources available to him - meant that Kilmarnock played in Europe for four of the five seasons Bobby was in charge. It enabled Kilmarnock to attract the likes of Scottish internationals Ian Durrant, Ally McCoist, Gary Holt and Andy McLaren. At the same time, Bobby brought through some of the finest young talent in the country.

By February 2002, he was the Scottish Premier League's longest serving manager, and the man Hibernian turned to after they ended the tenure of the shortest-serving boss Franck Sauzee. He shrugged off supporters' claims that, as a former Rangers player and Glaswegian, he wasn't the right man for the job and staved off relegation in his first season in charge.

Despite financial constraints and misfortune of injuries to key personnel, such as club captain Ian Murray, Grant Brebner and Stephen Glass, Bobby then managed to guide his side of young starlets into the final of this year's CIS Cup, defeating both halves of the Old Firm on the way.

Described by those who have worked with him as quick-witted and thick-skinned, Bobby apparently enjoys a good relationship with the media, but has been known to give short shrift to reporters who ask the wrong questions!

(Text and photo from a document made public at Home Park, and thanks to PAFC)