JD#1
Sports
Jimmy Delaney
1914–1989Scottish footballer and manager (1914-1989)
11 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
Famous people · Cleland, North Lanarkshire
Of the 17 famous people born in Cleland, an unusual share are athletes
At the top of the list is the Scottish footballer and manager Jimmy Delaney, covered in 11 languages. Billy McEwan is second and Jock McNab third. The largest group, 11, was born in the 20th century. The list comes to 55.9 for every 10,000 residents, against 13.2 in the typical town in North Lanarkshire.
Born here
17
notable people
Best known
Jimmy Delaney
in 11 Wikipedia languages
First
1886
Robert Ferguson
Youngest
1951
Billy McEwan
Most common field
Sports
13 people
What stands out about Cleland’s famous people
★ What stands out · Known for
What Cleland is known for
Compared with the usual town, athletes are the most over-represented field, at 1.6 times.
The usual town: the share across everyone listed across UK towns. Tap a field to see its people.
The best known
Born in Cleland
The three are covered in 11, 7 and 6 languages: Jimmy Delaney, Billy McEwan and Jock McNab.
#2Sports
Billy McEwan
1951–2022Scottish association football player and manager
7 Wikipedia languagesRead more ↗
JM#3
Through the years
When Cleland’s famous people were born
More were born in the 1910s than in any other decade: 4.
SportsPolitics & LawFilm, TV & StageMusicWriting & Arts
Each dot is a person, stacked by the decade they were born.
Everyone
Everyone else born in Cleland
14 more, 10 of them athletes.
No one matches both filters.
Next door
Famous people from the towns next door
The longest list nearby is Bellshill’s, with 261.
DMBellshill · 4 miDavid MacMillan & 260 more
Motherwell · 3 miGary McAllister & 137 more
Airdrie · 5 miBarry Bannan & 86 more
Wishaw · 2 miJohn Higgins & 67 more
Shotts · 5 miMatthew Baillie & 27 more
Holytown · 3 miRobert Crosser & 11 moreAWNewmains · 2 miAndrew Wilson & 10 moreJCChapelhall · 3 miJohn Clark & 7 more
Motherwell · 3 miGary McAllister & 137 moreAirdrie · 5 miBarry Bannan & 86 moreWishaw · 2 miJohn Higgins & 67 moreShotts · 5 miMatthew Baillie & 27 moreHolytown · 3 miRobert Crosser & 11 moreAWNewmains · 2 miAndrew Wilson & 10 moreJCChapelhall · 3 miJohn Clark & 7 moreQuestions about famous people from Cleland
Who is the most famous person from Cleland?
Jimmy Delaney (Scottish footballer and manager (1914-1989)) is the best known by our measure: Wikipedia has an article about them in 11 languages. Next come Billy McEwan and Jock McNab.
How many famous people were born in Cleland?
17 people born in Cleland have an English Wikipedia article that confirms the town as their birthplace.
What is Cleland known for?
Among its famous people, athletes: 13 of the 17. That is 76% of the town’s list, against 49% across UK towns.
Who is the earliest-born famous person from Cleland?
Robert Ferguson, born in 1886. The youngest on the list was born in 1951.
Who counts as from Cleland?
People Wikidata records as born in a place inside Cleland’s locality (the NRS 2022 locality boundary), a hospital or district within it included, whose English Wikipedia article agrees. People who only lived here, adult performers and people known mainly for crimes aren’t listed.
Why is someone missing?
Their Wikidata birthplace may be a bigger area (“London”), another town, or missing, or their article may give no birthplace. We only list people both sources agree on; editing Wikidata or Wikipedia changes this page at the next refresh.
From Wikidata (CC0: birthplaces, descriptions, years, occupations) and English Wikipedia (each person’s article confirms the birthplace; linked, not quoted). Birthplaces are placed in the town by National Records of Scotland’s Census 2022 locality boundaries (Open Government Licence v3.0). Ranked by how many Wikipedia languages cover each person. Fields are read from Wikidata’s description and occupations. “The usual town”: everyone listed across UK towns. Portraits: each person’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Photo credits (8)
- Billy McEwan: Original uploader was Dashwortley at en.wikipedia, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- John Colville, 1st Baron Clydesmuir: Cecil Beaton, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Sydney Devine: Standing up for Sydney, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Gary McAllister: Pangalau, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Barry Bannan: Timmy96, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
- John Higgins: Benwmbc at English Wikipedia, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Matthew Baillie: William Owen, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
- Robert Crosser: Harris & Ewing, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.