Career
Club
McLaren started his career with Hearts in 1987 and made over 180 appearances for the Tynecastle club He moved to Rangers in October 1994 in a £2m part-exchange deal, with Dave McPherson moving the opposite direction. He was forced to retire from football in 1998, aged 27, due to injury.
On 2 March 1999, Rangers played English club Middlesbrough in a testimonial match for McLaren at Ibrox in front of 49,468 spectators.
McLaren scored a penalty in a 4–4 draw. International
He was named in the squad for Union of European Football Associations Euro 1992, but did not feature in any matches.
He was forced to miss Union of European Football Associations Euro 1996 through injury, being replaced by Derek Whyte in the squad. McLaren became an ambassador for charity Football Aid and a regular pundit on Rangers television