Born in
Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, Played youth team football with Y.M.C.A of St Anne's and then he progressed through the youth ranks at
Oldham Athletic in the
Football League where he eventually went on to make 222 appearances, before leaving in 2002 after ten years at the club. He then joined
Oxford United where he stayed for two years making 85 appearances, before in 2004, he left the club and went on to play for
Mansfield Town and then
Chester City, but he was released by Chester in 2006 and was unable to find a new club. After his release from Chester McNiven spent time with
Morecambe,
Fleetwood Town and
Guiseley respectively. McNiven joined
Conference National newcomers
Farsley Celtic ahead of the
2007–08 season. His debut on 11 August 2007 saw him come up against his twin brother who was playing for
Stafford Rangers. It was Scott who came out on top, as Farsley clinched a 1–0 win. In July 2008 Scott joined
AFC Fylde on a Free Transfer from
Farsley Celtic. At the start of the 2009–10 season he joined up with his twin brother
David at
Hyde. Scott made his debut against
Stafford Rangers which Scott's
Hyde won 1–0. On 17 October 2010, he scored his first goal for Hyde in a 3–1 defeat to
Corby Town. He scored once more that season in a 4–3 defeat to the hands of
Blyth Spatrans. He finished the 2009–2010 season with Hyde having played 42 games in all competitions scoring 2 goals. On 3 October 2010, McNiven was made assistant manager to
Neil Tolson at
Hyde following the departure of former assistant manager
Glynn Hurst to
FC United of Manchester. He took over as joint player-manager with
Steve Halford after the sacking of
Neil Tolson on 4 April 2011. He was replaced as the joint-manager of Hyde before the start of the 2011–12 season by Gary Lowe. In May 2012, he was appointed as full-time manager when Gary Lowe resigned after just a year with the club. He was relieved of his duties on 2 January 2015 following a 7–1 defeat to Stalybridge Celtic. ==Personal life==