 | Thisbiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Don Mackay" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(September 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Donald Scrimgeour Mackay[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1940-03-19)19 March 1940 (age 85) | ||
| Place of birth | Glasgow, Scotland | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1958–1962 | Forfar Athletic | 104 | (0) |
| 1962–1972 | Dundee United | 243 | (0) |
| 1967 | →Dallas Tornado (loan)[2] | 7 | (0) |
| 1972–1974 | Southend United | 13 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1978–1980 | Nørresundby | ||
| 1980–1984 | Dundee | ||
| 1984–1986 | Coventry City | ||
| 1987–1991 | Blackburn Rovers | ||
| 1991–1994 | Fulham | ||
| 2001 | Airdrieonians | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Donald Scrimgeour Mackay (born 19 March 1940) is a Scottish former professionalfootball player and manager.
After a spell coaching theBristol City youth team between 1974 and 1978, where he was part of the backroom staff that won promotion to the then English First Division, he began his management career in Denmark withNørresundby managing the local side Norresundby, gaining promotion in his first season there. He returned to Scotland in 1980 when he was appointed manager ofDundee, winning promotion to theScottish Premier Division with the club, again in his first season in charge. After several high-profile departures from the Dundee first team, Mackay eventually left the club in 1983.
After a short time away from the game, Bobby Gould approached him to be his assistant at Coventry City. Gould was sacked after a poor run of results and Mackay was asked to take charge, where the club staved off relegation by famously winning their last three games of the season, to retain their First Division status.
In April 1986, with Coventry facing their third successive relegation battle, and having gone eight games without a win, Mackay left the club. He then went to work as reserve-team coach atRangers, alongside ex playing colleagueWalter Smith and the managerGraeme Souness. Despite a successful spell at Rangers, Mackay wanted to manage in his own right, and therefore moved ontoBlackburn Rovers. They narrowly missed the play-offs in his first season in charge, but did win theFull Members Cup, beating First Division Chelsea, Oxford United and Charlton Athletic along the way.
In the next two seasons at Blackburn they made the playoffs, losing out on promotion both times. Following a relatively poor final season in charge (1990–91), he was relieved of his position early in the next season and went on to manageFulham. His first season at Fulham was promising but results deteriorated the following year and following a defeat at Leyton Orient he was dismissed, results did not improve and Fulham were eventually relegated to the Third Division.[3]
Mackay then worked as a scout forArsenal, where he discovered the youngFreddie Ljungberg.[4] Mackay then had a stint as chief scout ofSt Johnstone. He then teamed up withSteve Archibald atAirdrie.[5] Despite the financial difficulties experienced by the club, they won theScottish Challenge Cup in their only season in charge.
He was employed byMiddlesbrough as a scout from December 2001 through to June 2007,[6][7] before moving to joinLeicester City underMartin Allen.[6][8] His role as sporting director was short-lived, however.[9]
He was a goalkeeper and played forForfar Athletic and made 104 appearances. He was then signed forDundee United by Jerry Kerr, for whom he made 243 appearances. This is still the second highest number of appearances made by a goalkeeper for Dundee United, behindHamish McAlpine.[citation needed] Mackay was then given a free transfer by Jim McLean, after ten years with Dundee United. Mackay finished his 16-year professional playing career withSouthend United after 13 appearances.
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Nørresundby |  DEN | 1978 | 1980 | — | − | − | − | — |
| Dundee |  SCO | 15 April 1980 | 31 May 1984 | 188 | 71 | 38 | 79 | 037.77 |
| Coventry City |  ENG | 28 December 1984 | 13 April 1986 | 67 | 22 | 12 | 33 | 032.84 |
| Blackburn Rovers | ENG | 3 February 1987 | 2 September 1991 | 232 | 91 | 64 | 77 | 039.22 |
| Fulham | ENG | 27 January 1992 | 28 March 1994 | 161 | 53 | 46 | 62 | 032.92 |
| Airdrieonians | SCO | 20 July 2000 | 13 February 2001 | 38 | 12 | 17 | 9 | 031.58 |
| Total | 38 | 12 | 17 | 9 | 031.58 | |||
Blackburn Rovers