Like several of the squad who failed to clinch a 10th successive league title during the 1997-98 season, Alec Cleland decided to seek pastures new. The former Dundee United defender had options, but the lure of following former boss Walter Smith to Everton proved too hard to turn down. It would be a switch that would fail to live up to expectation. Cleland would play in just half the Toffees' fixtures during his first year as they finished in 14th position in the Premier League, before injuries restricted him to just 17 matches across the next three seasons. At the age of 32, and just four years after moving to Goodison Park, Cleland made the decision to retire from professional football.
A degree-educated, dart-throwing, non-smelling sports journalist based in a small Staffordshire town that has just become Floyd Mayweather's answer to the question: "What's the strangest place you have ever visited?"
