Motherwell His first venture into football management was when he took over the reins at
Motherwell in 1981 following
Ally MacLeod. He led Well to the
Scottish First Division title and promotion to the
Scottish Premier Division. He left at the end of the 1981–82 season.
Celtic Hay succeeded
Billy McNeill as Celtic manager in 1983, winning the
Scottish Cup in
1985 and the
Premier Division in dramatic fashion in
1986. Celtic won their final game 5–0 against
St Mirren at Love Street but needed
Hearts, who were league leaders and favourites to lift the trophy, to lose to
Dundee at
Dens Park.
Albert Kidd secured the victory for Dundee with two goals and Celtic were crowned champions. After Celtic failed to win a trophy in
1986–87, Hay left Celtic. He was asked to resign, but refused, so he was sacked and was replaced by McNeill.
Lillestrom SK In 1989, Hay ventured to Norway and led
Lillestrom SK to the
Norwegian Premier League championship.
St Mirren In 1991, Hay took on Paisley club
St Mirren but left a year later.
Return to Celtic Hay became chief scout at Celtic in 1994, and was responsible for identifying players such as
Jorge Cadete,
Paolo di Canio and
Pierre van Hooijdonk who signed for the club. He became assistant general manager to
Jock Brown in 1997, but left in 1998 in acrimonious circumstances.
Livingston Hay teamed up with
Jim Leishman in 2000 as co-managers of
Livingston, and led the club to the
Scottish First Division title at the end of 2000–01, and the club's first promotion to the
Scottish Premier League. Their debut season in the top flight in 2001-02 earned them their first qualification into Europe with a
UEFA Cup place. The 2002–03 season was less impressive and they both stepped down from the management position, although they both stayed at the club. Brazilian
Marcio Maximo Barcellos took over. Hay returned to the manager's job shortly into 2003–04 season, this time in sole charge, taking over from Marcio Maximo after just 9 games of the season. Hay went on to win the
Scottish League Cup while the club was in administration, beating heavy favourites
Hibernian (who beat
Celtic and
Rangers en route to the final). Despite this success, the veteran boss was released at the end of the season to be replaced by
Allan Preston, one of his first team coaches, by new chairman,
Pearse Flynn of the Lionheart Consortium.
Dunfermline Athletic Hay was then appointed manager of
Dunfermline Athletic, succeeding
Jimmy Calderwood. He rejoined with
Jim Leishman who was the Fife club's
Director of Football. He was sacked near the end of the season with the club struggling in the
Scottish Premier League. ==After management==