Bruce Cleland began his footballing career with amateur outfit Glasgow United, the Striker then moved onto the juniors with Maryhill, his goalscoring prowess wouldn’t go unnoticed and in 1977 he finally broke into the senior game with Albion Rovers. During the 1978/79 season, Bruce managed to get on the scoresheet an impressive 33 times and had many suitors taking a keen interest in him. In the summer of 1979 Motherwell parted with around £45,000 for his signature, a fee which is still the highest transfer fee the Cliftonhill club have received for a player.
His early career at Fir Park was rather forgettable, under the guidance Ally MacLeod, Cleland struggled for any real form, perhaps moving from part time football to full time was too much and after making his debut against Clydebank in a 1-1 draw on the opening day of the 1979/80 and then making a further 13 straight appearances in the league he would quickly vanish and not resurface until a year later. Bruce enjoyed some success when Davie Hay was manager, he would get an extended run in the side and goals would start to come as he helped Motherwell gain promotion to the Premier League in 1981/82. He struggled to make any real impact in the Premier League where he would only make the nine appearances before being loaned out to Ayr United.
| Name: | Bruce Cleland |
| Height: | |
| Weight: | |
| Date of Birth: | 26th September 1958 |
| Place of Birth: | Paisley |
| Position: | Forward |
| Nationality: | Scotland |
Football Career:
| Glasgow United | – | – |
| Maryhill Juniors | – | 1977 |
| Albion Rovers | 1977 | 1979 |
| Motherwell | 1979 | 1983 |
| Ayr United | 1982 | 1983 |
| Barrow | 1983 | 1984 |
| Queen of the South | 1984 | |
| Albion Rovers | 1984 | 1986 |
| Stranraer | 1986 | 1988 |
Well Career:
| Apps | Goals | |
|
League:
|
50 (16) | 25 |
|
Scottish Cup:
|
4 (1) | 0 |
|
League Cup:
|
9 (1) | 1 |
|
Other:
|
0 | 0 |
|
Total:
|
63 (18) | 26 |