| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Luigi Macari[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1949-06-07)7 June 1949 (age 76)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Edinburgh, Scotland | ||
| Height | 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)[3] | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1964–1965 | Kilmarnock Amateurs | ||
| 1965–1966 | St Michael's Kilwinning | ||
| 1966–1968 | Celtic | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1966–1973 | Celtic | 58 | (26) |
| 1973–1984 | Manchester United | 329 | (78) |
| 1984–1986 | Swindon Town | 36 | (3) |
| Total | 423 | (107) | |
| International career | |||
| 1972 | Scotland U23 | 2 | (0) |
| 1972–1978 | Scotland | 24 | (5) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1984–1989 | Swindon Town | ||
| 1989–1990 | West Ham United | ||
| 1991 | Birmingham City | ||
| 1991–1993 | Stoke City | ||
| 1993–1994 | Celtic | ||
| 1994–1997 | Stoke City | ||
| 2000 | Huddersfield Town (caretaker) | ||
| 2000–2002 | Huddersfield Town | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Luigi Macari (born 7 June 1949) is a Scottish formerfootballer and manager. He began his playing career atCeltic where he was one of theQuality Street Gang, the outstanding reserve team that emerged in the late 1960s that also includedKenny Dalglish andDanny McGrain. He is best known for his time atManchester United, where he played over 400 games. He helped them win promotion back to the First Division and then played in their FA Cup win of 1977. He then finished his playing career atSwindon Town.
Macari was the manager of Swindon,West Ham United,Birmingham City,Stoke City (two spells), Celtic andHuddersfield Town.[4][5]
Lou Macari was the only child of Margaret and Albert; he was born inEdinburgh, and spent the first year of his life with his family in the village ofNewtongrange, before the family moved to London.[6] His father was in the catering industry, and had represented the British Army at football.[7] The family moved toLargs inNorth Ayrshire when Macari was aged nine.[8] He was spotted playing for Ayrshire county byCeltic, and signed schoolboy forms for the club at the age of 16.[9] He turned professional at the club in 1968, on wages of £15 a week.[10]
Macari quickly became part of the renowned reserve side known as theQuality Street Gang that also includedKenny Dalglish,Danny McGrain andDavid Hay.[11] In August 1968, Celtic Reserves needed to defeatPartick Thistle Reserves by at least seven goals to win their Reserve League Cup section overRangers Reserves. Celtic won 12–0, with Macari scoring four goals.[11] Macari scored 91 goals in two seasons for the reserves and in occasional first team games,[11] having broken through into the Celtic first team in 1970.[9] In 1971, he replacedWillie Wallace in the starting line up for the replay of the1971 Scottish Cup Final, and scored for Celtic in a 2–1 win overRangers.[12]
After a promising start to his playing career with Celtic, he moved south of the border in 1973 for£200,000 to sign for Manchester United, where he spent the bulk of his playing career. During his time with Celtic he had scored 57 goals in 100 appearances since making his first team debut in 1970. He won three League titles and two Scottish Cups in his time at Celtic.[13]
His first game forManchester United came in January 1973 againstWest Ham United in which he scored a point-saving goal in a 2–2 draw. In 1977, his deflected shot off teammateJimmy Greenhoff wonManchester United theFA Cup final againstLiverpool (and ultimately denied Liverpoolthe European treble). He made 400 appearances for the club, scoring 98 goals.
Macari's early career at Old Trafford was spent trying to lead an attack that struggled to achieve anything. Relegation to the Second division in 1974 was the low point but Macari blossomed as a midfielder in the following seasons underTommy Docherty, as United began to win back a large following with attacking football in which Macari enjoyed popularity alongside players such asGordon Hill,Steve Coppell and the Greenhoff brothers.
Macari helped United win the Second Division title in 1975. They finished third on their return to the top flight and were runners-up in the FA Cup before going one better and lifting the trophy a year later.[9] He was on the losing side in the 1979 final against Arsenal,[9] and also played in a string of European campaigns during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Macari won twoScotland Under 23 caps in early 1972,[14] before making his debut for the fullScotland national team in May 1972 againstWales.[15] He was a member of the Scotland squad for the 1978World Cup tournament in Argentina. However, he attracted widespread criticism when it emerged that he had led complaints that the £20,000 bonuses the players would receive if they won the World Cup were too low, then made extra money by selling stories to the press[16] about the disarray and tensions within the Scottish camp. As it turned out, the Scotland team lost their first match toPeru, and drew withIran. They beat theNetherlands 3–2 but this was insufficient to proceed in the tournament and the Scotland squad returned home without qualifying for the knock-out stage. Macari and his team-mates did not receive the bonuses which were the subject of contention. He won a total of 24 senior caps, scoring five international goals.[17]
After leaving Manchester United in 1984, he managedSwindon Town, West Ham United,Stoke City (twice),Celtic,Birmingham City andHuddersfield Town. As a manager Macari insisted upon a strict fitness regime, which included extra sessions in the players' free time and the banning of alcohol in and around the club.[18]
When I took my first management job at Swindon in the old Fourth Division, one of the things I had to adjust to was the fact I was working with players with lesser ability than at Old Trafford. There was a danger of demanding they play like top-flight footballers and then become frustrated with them when they couldn't. But I didn't see any reason why the players at Swindon couldn't be as fit as the players at Manchester United. That was something we worked really hard on, the players accepted it, and we reaped the rewards with promotion in my second season."
— Macari recalls his Swindon days.[19]
His successes in management came with two promotions atSwindon Town (Fourth Division champions in 1986 and Third Division play-off winners in 1987).Harry Gregg, Swindon's assistant manager, did not like the style of play implemented by Macari. The divide between Macari and Gregg became more noticeable, so the board chaired by Maurice Earle sacked both of them on Good Friday, 5 April 1985. Macari was then reinstated as manager on 10 April 1985 after a fan-led protest,[20] Swindon then went unbeaten for their next six games, winning, four, and Macari won the Manager of the Month award.[20] The following season, 1985–86 saw Macari collect four Manager of the Month awards as he led Swindon to the Division 4 title with a record-breaking 102-point tally.[20] A second consecutive promotion was achieved in 1987 with a play-off final victory overGillingham atSelhurst Park.[20] In 1989, Macari was fined £1,000 by the Football Association after he bet on Swindon to lose an FA Cup tie againstNewcastle United.[20] In 1992, he was tried and acquitted for tax fraud which took place while he was Swindon's manager; the club's then chairman was found guilty.[21]
His achievements at Swindon earned Macari a move toWest Ham United in1989–90, becoming the first manager there never to have worked for the club in a previous capacity.[22] Macari was given the job on 3 July 1989.[23] He had a reputation for discipline and tried to change the training and dietary habits of the players.[24] This met with some disapproval within the playing ranks.[24] Macari bought in new recruits in future regular players,Luděk Mikloško,[25]Trevor Morley,[26]Martin Allen,[27] andIan Bishop.[26] His team struggled to make much headway towards promotion and by the end of 1989 were in tenth place in The Second Division. They were also knocked out of the FA Cup byTorquay United on 6 January 1990 in the Third Round. Shortly after this it emerged that Macari was being investigated for betting irregularities whilst at his former club, Swindon Town.[20] Macari left West Ham on 18 February 1990, shortly before a league match against his former club Swindon. His last game in charge was an infamous 0–6 thrashing away atOldham Athletic in the first leg of the League Cup semi final.[22][23][28]
Macari was appointed as manager atBirmingham City in February 1991. He guided the Blues to a 3–2 victory overTranmere Rovers in the1991 Football League Trophy Final.[29]
On 18 June 1991 Macari was appointed manager atStoke City. Stoke at the time had just finished in their lowest league position and Macari had the task to turn around the fortunes of the club. He brought inSteve Foley (£50,000 fromSwindon Town),Vince Overson (£55,000 from Birmingham City),Ronnie Sinclair (£25,000 fromBristol City) and forwardMark Stein fromOxford United for what turned out to be a bargain £100,000.[4]
Stoke in1991–92 were in the hunt for automatic promotion all season eventually having to settle for a play-off place where they came up againstStockport County.[4] The first leg atEdgeley Park saw County win 1–0 thanks to a free-kick fromLee Todd afterCarl Beeston had been sent-off and in the second leg Stoke went behind in the first minute and despite Stein pulling one back Stoke went out 2–1 on aggregate.[4] Just days after losing to Stockport in the play-offs, they met again in the1992 Football League Trophy Final where Stoke won 1–0.[29] The1992–93 season saw Stoke win the Second Division title after amassing 93 points and also went on a club record unbeaten run of 25 games.[30]
In October 1993, Macari left Stoke City and returned to Scotland to manageCeltic.[4] Despite defeatingRangers 2–1 at Ibrox in his first match, his time atCeltic Park was unsuccessful.[31][32] Macari made several moves in the transfer market – none of them particularly successful.Gerry Creaney, one of the few consistent goalscorers at Celtic at that time, was played out of position on the right-wing for several weeks before being sold toPortsmouth for £600,000. StrikerWillie Falconer was signed fromSheffield United, right-backLee Martin and goalkeeperCarl Muggleton came north from England, and in what is considered one of Macari's poorest moves,Andy Payton moved to Barnsley in a part-exchange deal for journeyman strikerWayne Biggins. A miserable 4–2 defeat by Rangers in the New Year fixture at Parkhead left Celtic languishing in the league. An early Scottish Cup exit in January 1994 at Motherwell sealed another dismal season for Celtic.[33]Fergus McCann took over as owner of Celtic in March 1994 and duly sacked Macari three months later.[31]
Macari returned to Stoke in September 1994. Stoke finished in a mid-table position of 11th in1994–95 before the partnership ofMike Sheron andSimon Sturridge in1995–96 produced 29 goals and earned Stoke a place in the play-offs.[5] Stoke's opponents in the play-offs wereMartin O'Neill'sLeicester City whom Stoke had already beaten twice in the league.[5] The first leg atFilbert Street ended 0–0.[5] In the second leg, Stoke produced a poor performance and Leicester scored the only goal,Garry Parker's left-foot volley ended Stoke's hopes of promotion.[5] The1996–97 campaign saw Stoke play their final season at theVictoria Ground which ended with a mid-table finish of 12th. Macari announced he was leaving at the end of the season which was a surprise but he was 'stripped of his duties' before he left and later launched a lawsuit againstPeter Coates for wrongful dismissal.[5]
Macari joinedHuddersfield Town in December 1999 as the club's European Scout and formed part of Steve Bruce's backroom staff. The following season, in October 2000, Bruce was sacked and Huddersfield, who were in relegation trouble after a poor start to the season, asked Macari to step in as caretaker manager. He was appointed as the permanent manager four games later and despite a valiant effort to rescue the club, he couldn't prevent them from being relegated from Division One at the end of the 2000–01 campaign.
Macari managed to steady the ship in 2001–02 and lead the club into the Second Division play-offs as the Terriers looked to bounce straight back up. However they were defeated byBrentford in the semi-finals. Macari's contract was not renewed for the next season with Huddersfield's board stating his defensive style of football as the reason. This was to be Macari's last managerial role and despite being linked with various positions since has not ventured back into management.
Macari currently lives inStoke-on-Trent and works as a pundit forMUTV on several shows. He is a regular guest onMatch Day Live beforeManchester United home and away games. As well as phone-in shows such asWednesday Night Phone-in he occasionally does punditry forSky Sports, and also writes regular comment pieces for the Stoke-on-Trent newspaperThe Sentinel. He has given several guest talks atStaffordshire University on the Sports Journalism courses. Macari also owns the "Lou Macari Chip Shop" on Chester Road, nearOld Trafford. He wrote his autobiography in October 2009 calledFootball, My Life.
Macari was portrayed by Scottish actorTony Curran in the 2014 television filmMarvellous, based on the life of former Stoke City kitmanNeil Baldwin.[34]
Macari's mother died just before the 1978 World Cup in strange circumstances. He subsequently discovered that she had overdosed on tablets. "My mum had been on her own, and in the conversation I'd had with her she said she had some friends up there. Putting the pieces together after she died, I just wasn't convinced that the friends were good friends. Some money had gone missing."[35]
His sonsMichael andPaul have played professionally with Stoke, when Macari was manager of the club. His youngest son Jonathan died by suicide in 1999 after being released from his contract atNottingham Forest.[36] Family friend and former managerDave Bassett said that Jonathan could not handle the pressure of living up to his father's greatness. There was also talk of drugs affecting his son's life and leading to his suicide,[37] but Macari later discounted that theory, admitting that much like the death of his mother, the complete story behind the tragedy may never be known.[35] Years later he said that "money in a young man's pocket is a recipe for disaster and we had that disaster. Only when you go through something like that do you understand the hell of it."[38]
His grandsonLewis plays forNotts County, having signed fromStoke City.[39]
Macari worked with Stoke-on-Trent council to set up The Macari Centre, a street retreat to house the homeless sleeping rough, which opened in February 2016.[40][41] In theCOVID-19 pandemic, following the closure of the crowded premises of The Macari Centre, Macari rented a warehouse and filled it with glamping pods for homeless people, giving them socially distanced places of their own and their own individual addresses.[42]
Source:[43]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other[A] | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Celtic | 1967–68 | Scottish Division One | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1968–69 | Scottish Division One | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | |
| 1969–70 | Scottish Division One | 15 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 10 | |
| 1970–71 | Scottish Division One | 11 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 13 | |
| 1971–72 | Scottish Division One | 20 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 42 | 25 | |
| 1972–73 | Scottish Division One | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 23 | 9 | |
| Total | 58 | 26 | 8 | 8 | 24 | 14 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 2 | 110 | 58 | ||
| Manchester United | 1972–73 | First Division | 16 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 5 |
| 1973–74 | First Division | 35 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 6 | |
| 1974–75 | Second Division | 38 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 18 | |
| 1975–76 | First Division | 36 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 15 | |
| 1976–77 | First Division | 38 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 53 | 14 | |
| 1977–78 | First Division | 32 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 40 | 11 | |
| 1978–79 | First Division | 32 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 6 | |
| 1979–80 | First Division | 39 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 9 | |
| 1980–81 | First Division | 38 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 9 | |
| 1981–82 | First Division | 11 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 2 | |
| 1982–83 | First Division | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 2 | |
| 1983–84 | First Division | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
| Total | 329 | 78 | 34 | 8 | 27 | 10 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 404 | 97 | ||
| Swindon Town | 1984–85 | Fourth Division | 27 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 31 | 4 |
| 1985–86 | Fourth Division | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | |
| Total | 36 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 43 | 4 | ||
| Career total | 423 | 107 | 43 | 16 | 55 | 24 | 22 | 9 | 14 | 3 | 557 | 159 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland[44] | 1972 | 6 | 3 |
| 1973 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1975 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1977 | 6 | 2 | |
| 1978 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 24 | 5 | |
Source:[43]
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Swindon Town | 23 July 1984 | 3 July 1989 | 285 | 138 | 67 | 80 | 048.4 |
| West Ham United | 3 July 1989 | 18 February 1990 | 40 | 15 | 12 | 13 | 037.5 |
| Birmingham City | 7 February 1991 | 18 June 1991 | 24 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 050.0 |
| Stoke City | 18 June 1991 | 26 October 1993 | 138 | 69 | 38 | 31 | 050.0 |
| Celtic[45] | 27 October 1993 | 14 June 1994 | 34 | 12 | 14 | 8 | 035.3 |
| Stoke City | 29 September 1994 | 1 July 1997 | 151 | 55 | 47 | 49 | 036.4 |
| Huddersfield Town | 16 October 2000 | 14 June 2002 | 93 | 36 | 29 | 28 | 038.7 |
| Total | 765 | 337 | 213 | 215 | 044.1 | ||
Celtic
Manchester United
Swindon Town
Birmingham City
Stoke City
Individual
General
Specific
 | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
