Malpas was born in Dunfermline, Fife and played youth football for Leven Royals. He signed for Dundee United in August 1979. His total of 830 competitive first team appearances is the second highest in the club's history. Malpas initially combined his football career with studying for an electrical engineering degree at Dundee College of Technology, and didn't become a full-time professional until 1984. Despite this, he made his debut in for Dundee United in 1981 and won the Scottish Football League Premier Division title in 1983. In the subsequent 1983–84 European Cup, United reached the semi final. United made it to the final of the 1986–87 UEFA Cup; en-route they defeated Terry Venables' FC Barcelona side home and away in the quarter-final, and inflicted a first home defeat on Borussia Mönchengladbach in 55 European games going back to 1970 in the semi-final. They lost 2–1 on aggregate to IFK Gothenburg in the final, the second leg of which was their 70th match of the season. United and Malpas played in five Scottish Cup finals in nine years: in 1985 they took the lead but lost 2–1 to Celtic. In 1987 they lost 1–0 St Mirren. In 1988 against Celtic, the pattern of 1985 was almost repeated but this time it was an even later goal which defeated United. In 1991, they suffered a 4–3 extra time defeat to Motherwell. Captain Malpas lifted the trophy when Craig Brewster scored the only goal in the 1994 Scottish Cup Final win against Rangers. Malpas won the SFWA Footballer of the Year award in 1991. His long service was rewarded with two testimonial matches, in 1991 and 2000. He was inducted into the Dundee United Hall of Fame as one of its inaugural members in 2008.
Scotland
Winning first of his caps in 1984, as of 2020 Malpas is the most recent part-time professional to have played for Scotland. He won 55 caps in total. In his 50th international appearance he was made captain to mark the occasion. He appeared for Scotland at the 1986 and 1990 World Cups and at Euro 1992.
Coaching and managerial career
After retiring as a player, Malpas assumed full-time coaching duties at Tannadice, having been acting as player/coach since 1991. He was part of the temporary management team following the dismissal of Alex Smith in October 2002, but left the club in January 2003. He initially joined Motherwell as assistant manager to former coaching colleague Terry Butcher. Malpas became Motherwell manager in May 2006, following Butcher's departure to coach Sydney FC. He left the club in June 2007 after one season in charge, having taken the team from a comfortable mid-table position to one that narrowly avoided relegation. Malpas became caretaker manager of the Scotland under-21 team in August 2007, but missed out on the permanent position to Billy Stark. In January 2008, Malpas became manager of Swindon Town after the takeover of the club by local businessman Andrew Fitton, replacing former Dundee United teammate Paul Sturrock. Malpas was sacked by chairman Andrew Fitton on 14 November 2008 after a poor run of results and shock exits in the FA Cup to Histon and in the Football League Trophy within a week. He joined Terry Butcher again as assistant, this time at SPL club Inverness Caledonian Thistle. In 2013, Malpas moved with Butcher to Hibernian, rejecting the chance to manage Inverness. Butcher and Malpas both left Hibernian in June 2014, after the club had been relegated from the Scottish Premiership. Malpas became director of football at Raith Rovers on 26 December 2014. He left Raith Rovers on 22 May 2015 and was inducted to the Scottish Football Hall of Fame in October 2015. Malpas returned to Inverness Caledonian Thistle in April 2017, working for manager Richie Foran.
