Ian Wallace was spotted by Gordon Milne playing for Dumbarton in August 1976 and signed soon afterwards for £40,000. His first season was traumatic; he suffered serious facial injuries in a car accident and then, on his return, was hit in the eye with a ball. He bounced back however, and celebrated his first season in Division 1 by scoring a hat-trick against Peter Shilton, then playing for Stoke (the only hat-trick conceded by Shilton between 1973 and 1985). 1977-78 was his golden season when he forged a remarkable striking partnership with Mick Ferguson and scored 21 league goals, still a City record in the top flight.
He won the first of three Scottish caps as a substitute against Bulgaria and scored the winning goal but he had left it too late to win a place in the 1978 World Cup squad. In four seasons at Coventry Wallace scored 58 League goals, a record only overhauled by Dion Dublin in 1998. By 1979-80 transfer speculation was rife and in July 1980 he joined the European champions, Nottingham Forest, for £1.25 million, then a club record fee received. He was not a great success at Forest, scoring only 36 league goals in 136 games, and joined French club, Brest in 1984 for £40,000. By January 1985 he had returned to England and joined Sunderland, for whom he appeared in the 1985 League Cup final. His playing career ended with a broken leg playing for Croatia in Australia, where he went after playing for Maritimo of Portugal. He was manager of Dumbarton for a spell in the late 1990s and regularly visits the CBS Arena.
Hat tricks (2)
1976-77
30 April 1977 v Stoke City H, Division One
1978-79
21 April 1979 v Southampton H, Division One
Sent off (1)
1979-80
19 April 1979 v Crystal Palace H, Division One, violent conduct, fighting with Kenny Sansom
