He played six seasons at Valley Parade, during which time he won the Division Three championship, a title which was overshadowed by the Bradford City stadium fire when 56 people died and in which his father Andy was injured.

[10][12][13] Mulhall's successor, Roy McFarland, gave McCall his first-team debut at Reading on 28 August 1982 – the opening day of the 1982–83 season – when he deputised for Ces Podd at right back.

[17] During the summer of 1984, Cherry made the two key signings of central defender Dave Evans and right winger John Hendrie to build on the previous season's high finish.

[21] After the fire, McCall, still in his kit, spent several hours driving from the ground to his sister's house, then to Bradford Royal Infirmary and Pinderfields Hospital trying to find his father.

Cherry and the players became a close-knit team, attending funerals of the victims and other engagements in the months that followed, and the club's 13th-place finish in Division Two in 1985–86 was hailed a major achievement.

[23] During Bradford's time away from Valley Parade, McCall also turned his back on Leeds United, the team he had supported as a child, after their fans set fire to a chip van at Odsal Stadium.

[12] Dolan brought in Paul Tomlinson, Brian Mitchell and Lee Sinnott in a bid to help McCall and Hendrie realise their dreams with City.

He was also a substitute in the 1989 FA Cup Final when he scored Everton's stoppage time equaliser in the Merseyside derby against Liverpool to take the game into extra-time.

[32] McCall made a second appearance in an Everton shirt at Valley Parade, when he was invited by former teammate Mark Ellis to bring a side for his testimonial.

[37] McCall also enjoyed European success that season when the Glasgow club narrowly missed out on an appearance in the UEFA Champions League 1992–93 final, coming second in the semi-final group stage to eventual winners Olympique de Marseille.

The following season saw Rangers win the league by their greatest margin as they finished 15 points ahead of Motherwell, but they failed to reach the final of either of the domestic cups.

[35][36] But with the club chasing an unprecedented 10th straight title in 1997–98 they had to settle for the runners-up position, with Celtic winning the league by two points on the final day of the season.

[42] Rookie manager Paul Jewell put together a squad which emerged as surprise promotion contenders after two seasons spent battling relegation, adding other new signings, including central midfield partner Gareth Whalley and striker Lee Mills, who went on to be club's top goal-scorer.

Loan signing Lee Sharpe and Dean Windass were added to the ranks and City had the chance to seal promotion in their penultimate game against relegation-threatened Oxford United.

[45] A 3–2 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux on 9 May 1999 ensured promotion to the Premier League and denied Ipswich Town – the team that had thwarted McCall and Bradford 11 years before.

[43] Jewell signed David Wetherall, Dean Saunders and Neil Redfearn, all experienced top flight performers, but City were in the bottom four teams for most of the season.

During a 6–1 defeat to West Yorkshire rivals Leeds United in the penultimate game, McCall and team-mate Andy Myers fought on the pitch.

[49] McCall stayed on for one more season before he was released by manager Nicky Law in May 2002, shortly before the club went into administration for the first time after finishing 15th in Division One.

[92] Bradford had just 13 players when McCall took over,[93] and he made a number of summer signings including defender Darren Williams, midfielders Kyle Nix, Alex Rhodes and Scott Phelan, and strikers Barry Conlon, Guylain Ndumbu-Nsungu and Peter Thorne.

After going unbeaten in January, the club were still 15th in League Two, and McCall told the Telegraph & Argus he did not regret his pre-season target but was carried away with the euphoria at the time.

[100] McCall released 13 players from his squad and replaced them with a number of signings with experience in a higher division, as well as Michael Boulding, who was one of League Two's top goalscorers during the 2007–08 campaign.

[108] City eventually missed out on promotion, but McCall decided to stay on as manager and took a voluntary pay cut in the process because of the club's budget being reduced.

[121] At the end of 2010, he was among a number of men interviewed for the managerial vacancy at Scottish Premier League club Motherwell to succeed Craig Brown, before being given the job on a two-and-a-half-year contract.

[125] McCall was partly selected as new manager because of his knowledge of the lower leagues of English football;[122] he was active in the transfer market in his early days, bringing in Steve Jones – a player he had at Bradford[126] – and Mike Grella from Leeds United, although the latter move was cancelled because of a FIFA ruling limiting the number of clubs a player can sign for in one season.

[140] After the match, Motherwell entered the Europa League play-offs to face Levante; McCall wanted to play with an "up-and-at-them approach" against the Spaniards.

[141] Once again, their opposition proved to be too strong and they lost each leg 2–0 and 1–0 respectively, ending the club's European competitions; the second game at the Estadi Ciutat de València had Motherwell playing with a youthful and inexperienced squad due to injuries.

[142] On 24 January 2013, it was announced McCall would join the backroom staff of new Scotland national football team manager Gordon Strachan.

[146] On 22 May 2013, it was reported that he was set to open talks with Sheffield United about their managerial vacancy in the next 24 hours and that he had cut short a family holiday to intend the interview.

[148] At the start of the 2013–14 season, key players Darren Randolph, Nicky Law, Chris Humphrey, Michael Higdon and Henrik Ojamaa all left the club.

McCall replaced them by signing Paul Lawson, Iain Vigurs, John Sutton, Fraser Kerr, Gunnar Nielsen and Stephen McManus.