.jpg) MacDonald in 2011 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kevin Duncan MacDonald[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1960-11-22)22 November 1960 (age 64)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Inverness, Scotland[1] | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[2] | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Inverness Caledonian | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1976–1984 | Leicester City | 138 | (8) |
| 1984–1989 | Liverpool | 40 | (1) |
| 1987 | →Leicester City (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 1988 | →Rangers (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 1989–1991 | Coventry City | 31 | (0) |
| 1990–1991 | →Cardiff City (loan) | 8 | (0) |
| 1991–1993 | Walsall | 53 | (7) |
| Total | 276 | (16) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1994 | Leicester City (caretaker) | ||
| 1995–2012 | Aston Villa Reserves | ||
| 2006–2007 | Republic of Ireland (assistant) | ||
| 2010 | Aston Villa (caretaker) | ||
| 2013 | Swindon Town | ||
| 2015 | Aston Villa (assistant) | ||
| 2015 | Aston Villa (caretaker) | ||
| 2018 | Aston Villa (caretaker) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Kevin Duncan MacDonald (born 22 November 1960) is a Scottish formerfootballer who is the former manager ofSwindon Town and caretaker manager ofAston Villa on three occasions. As a player MacDonald was a member of theLiverpool "double" winning side of 1986.
Prior to taking his first managerial job at Swindon MacDonald's career most notably included a spell as caretaker manager atAston Villa following the resignation ofMartin O'Neill on 9 August 2010. MacDonald also worked as assistant manager of theRepublic of Ireland, with his ex-Liverpool teammateSteve Staunton, who he used to coach at Aston Villa.[3] In 1994, he also spent a short time as caretaker manager atLeicester City.
MacDonald was discovered byLeicester City while playing for his home town club,Inverness Caledonian, in theHighland League.Alex Ferguson, then manager ofAberdeen, watched Macdonald on several occasions while he played for Inverness Caledonian, but no business was done.
MacDonald joinedLiverpool from Leicester for £400,000 in November 1984. He never commanded a regular spot at Anfield, but he was in the team at the right time, helping Liverpool to theFirst Division title in 1986 and then to the "double" (only the third in the 20th century) when he helped them beatEverton in the1986 FA Cup Final atWembley.[3]
At the start of the following season, MacDonald broke his leg againstSouthampton on 20 September 1986.[4] By the time he recoveredKenny Dalglish had settled onSteve McMahon for the central midfield role. He made no appearances for the rest of the 1986–87 season, and just one appearance in the1987–88 season (in the league againstLuton Town on 9 May 1988).[5] In his final season at the club,1988–89, he made just five competitive appearances[6] before he later had spells on loan at his old club Leicester and also atRangers. In April 1989, shortly before he left Liverpool, MacDonald, along with his teammates, rallied round thebereaved families of theHillsborough disaster.[7] He scored three competitive goals in his time at Liverpool (one in the league, one in theFA Cup and one in theLeague Cup) as well as two goals in theFootball League Super Cup,[8] all of which came in the1985–86 season. In June 1989 he made a permanent move toCoventry City and played out his career.[3]
In November 1994, MacDonald was named caretaker manager ofLeicester City for a short period between the departure ofBrian Little and the arrival ofMark McGhee.[9]
In August 2010, following the immediate resignation of formerAston Villa managerMartin O'Neill, he assumed the role of caretaker manager at the club.[10] He had previously been the manager of Villa's successfulreserve side and assistant manager of the Republic of Ireland national side under Steve Staunton.[9] MacDonald had been employed by Aston Villa since 1995 and had held a number of different positions at the club.[11]
MacDonald's first game as caretaker manager came atVilla Park againstWest Ham United on the opening day of the2010–11 Premier League season which Villa won 3–0 including the last goal forJames Milner as a Villa player.[12] He then led Villa to a 1–1 draw in their Europa League qualifier first-leg match againstRapid Vienna.[13] His second league game in charge resulted in a 6–0 defeat toNewcastle United.[14]
Villa namedGérard Houllier as their permanent manager on 8 September 2010; however, MacDonald remained in charge for the following two Premier League matches against Stoke City and Bolton due to Houllier having to work his notice with the French Football Federation.[15]
With the departure of Houllier and hisnumber 2,Gary McAllister, the Villa hierarchy let it be known that MacDonald andGordon Cowans would have futures at the club no matter who the new manager was.[16]
On 13 December 2018, Aston Villa suspended MacDonald after allegations of bullying from ex-midfielder Gareth Farrelly. Farrelly gave an interview to the Guardian newspaper where he described MacDonald as being "relentlessly negative" to him in the 1990s. Furthermore, Farrelly claimed MacDonald was "incredibly aggressive, with constant verbal and physical bullying". Other players came forward to give information including Greg Walters a trainee at Aston Villa between 1998 and 2000. Villa initiated an internal investigation and MacDonald was temporarily reassigned to non-player facing duties.[17] On 20 August 2019, Aston Villa announced MacDonald's departure with immediate effect. Aston Villa apologised to all former players that came forward as part of the investigation into MacDonald's behaviour. In the club's statement it said "Aston Villa wishes to apologise to all former players who were affected by behaviour which would not be tolerated by the Club today".[18]
On 28 February 2013, it was announced MacDonald was the new manager ofSwindon Town inLeague One.[19] MacDonald led the team into the 2013 League One play-offs following a 6th place league finish but lost 5–4 on penalties toBrentford in the semi-finals.
On 12 July 2013, he failed to attend a pre-season friendly withForest Green Rovers atThe New Lawn for what was described by Swindon as 'personal problems' and after six months in the job, it was announced that he had quit the club the following day.[20][21]
