Queensland Roar coach Miron Bleiberg signed McLaren on a short-term contract in early November 2005.
He was then signed as a permanent player and regularly played in the starting eleven, occasionally captaining the Queensland Roar.
McLaren left Australia in early 2011 returning to the United Kingdom to be nearer his place of birth with his family.
McLaren was appointed manager of Stirling Albion in November 2014,[1][2] but the Binos were relegated from Scottish League One at the end of the 2014–15 season.
[5] He remained in the role until the appointment of permanent manager Pedro Martinez Losa,[6] and left the SFA at the end of 2021.