| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Malcolm Ian Macdonald | ||
| Date of birth | (1950-01-07)7 January 1950 (age 75) | ||
| Place of birth | London, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[1] | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1967–1968 | Tonbridge Angels | 74 | (11) |
| 1968–1969 | Fulham | 13 | (5) |
| 1969–1971 | Luton Town | 88 | (49) |
| 1971–1976 | Newcastle United | 187 | (95) |
| 1976–1979 | Arsenal | 84 | (42) |
| 1977 | South Melbourne Hellas | 3 | (3) |
| 1979 | Djurgården | 9 | (2) |
| Total | 424 | (207) | |
| International career | |||
| 1972 | England U23 | 4 | (4) |
| 1972–1975 | England | 14 | (6) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1980–1984 | Fulham | ||
| 1987–1988 | Huddersfield Town | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Malcolm Ian Macdonald (born 7 January 1950) is an English former professionalfootballer,manager and media figure. Nicknamed"Supermac", Macdonald was a quick, powerfully built and prolific goalscorer. He played forFulham,Luton Town,Newcastle United,Arsenal andEngland. Macdonald is Newcastle's fifth-highest goalscorer of all time. He wastop scorer in the English First Division with Newcastle in1975 and with Arsenal in1977.
Born in Finlay Street,Fulham, Macdonald attended the same school (Sloane Grammar school on Hortensia Rd inChelsea) as formerGenesis andGTR guitaristSteve Hackett.[2][need quotation to verify] Macdonald started his career as afull back before switching tocentre forward. He started his career atBarnet.[3] After playing for non-league sideTonbridge, his schoolboy heroBobby Robson paid £1,000 to sign him forFulham in 1968 just after their relegation from theFootball League First Division.[4]
A year later, Macdonald moved toLuton Town. At Luton he scored 58 times in 101 matches.[citation needed]
Newcastle United managerJoe Harvey signed Macdonald for £180,000 in the summer of 1971. He made an immediate impact by scoring ahat-trick on his home debut againstLiverpool.[5] It was in this game that MacDonald earned the nickname "Supermac", which came from a chant by the Newcastle fans to the tune of "Superstar" fromJesus Christ Superstar, namely, "Supermac, superstar, how many goals have you scored so far?"[3]
In his first season Newcastle were bottom of the table on 30 October 1971 afterEverton handed them their fifth consecutive defeat of the season. That match was the Newcastle debut ofTony Green. With Green and Macdonald teaming up effectively up front for Newcastle, the team prospered, with an unbeaten run of five wins and two draws, climbing up the table. They finished the league eleventh, with Macdonald scoring 30 goals in 52 games in his first season to be Newcastle's top scorer in1972.[6] He top scored again in1973,1974,1975 and1976. He was also theFirst Division'stop scorer for that 1975–76 season.[7][8][9]
Macdonald scored twice, defeatingBurnley in the1973–74 FA Cup semi-final. In the1974 FA Cup final, Newcastle lost 3–0 toLiverpool.[10]
Macdonald set up an equalising goal forAlan Gowling in the1976 League Cup final at Wembley, but Newcastle went on to lose 2–1 toManchester City.[11]
Macdonald left Newcastle forArsenal in 1976, for an unusual fee of £333,333.34. In December 1976, he scored a hat-trick for his new club against Newcastle in a 5–3 win atHighbury. He was the club's top scorer for two consecutive seasons and was the top scorer for the First Division in 1977. Macdonald, at the time not fully fit, got to theFA Cup final of1978 after scoring twice in the semi-final againstOrient atStamford Bridge. He earned a runners-up medal in thefinal after a 1–0 defeat toIpswich Town. At the start of the 1978–79 season, he suffered a knee injury in aLeague Cup match againstRotherham, an injury from which he was unable to completely recover.[12][8][13]
After completing the English First Division season with Arsenal, Macdonald was lured to Australia in 1977 to play forSouth Melbourne Hellas in theNational Soccer League.[14]
He played three games during the middle of the 1977 National Soccer League season, scoring on his debut againstWest Adelaide, playing at home againstBrisbane Lions and most notably scoring twice againstSt George (who fielded former Arsenal starCharlie George), which drew a capacity crowd to Middle Park, providing a rare high point to an otherwise poor season for Hellas.[15]
Macdonald spent a couple of months in Sweden withDjurgården, after which he announced his retirement from playing at the premature age of 29 in August 1979. In his footballing career, Macdonald scored a total of 193 goals.[16]
While at Newcastle, he made hisEngland debut againstWales atWembley Stadium. Macdonald was on the England scoresheet for the first time in a friendly 2–0 win over thenWorld ChampionsWest Germany.
On 16 April 1975, in a European Championship qualifier also held at Wembley Stadium, Macdonald scored all five goals in a 5–0 victory for England againstCyprus equalling the record for the most goals scored in a single game by an England player. This feat has not been repeated since by any English footballer.[17] Although three pre-war players,Howard Vaughton,Steve Bloomer andWillie Hall, had previously scored five for England, Macdonald was the first, and remains the only, player to do so in a competitive international. His feat spawned the newspaper headline "SuperMac 5, Cyprus 0".[9]
In total he played 14 times for England scoring six goals.[citation needed]
After retirement from playing, Macdonald returned to Fulham as a manager in 1980. His time atCraven Cottage was initially successful, with promotion to the Second Division being achieved in 1982.[18]
In the 1982–83 season, they appeared certainties for promotion to the First Division for the majority of the season, but a slump in the later stages of the season allowed their lead to wither away and they finished 4th. The following season began as a struggle before a second half turnaround saw them into mid-table safety, with Macdonald, even before the season's end leaving the club in April 1984.[18]
He returned to management atHuddersfield Town in 1987, but his time in charge proved unfruitful as the side were relegated from the Second Division in dismal fashion, including a 10–1 defeat toManchester City.
As of May 2022[update], Macdonald is the president ofNorth Shields F.C.[19]
Macdonald appeared on the TV showSuperstars in 1975, where he ran 100m in 10.9 seconds.[20]
Macdonald worked extensively forReal Radio North East, presenting, firstly in 2000, theLegends Football Phone-In, alongsideBernie Slaven andMicky Horswill. At the end of the 2011–12 season the programme was axed from Real Radio and then made its way on toStar Radio North East, so continuing in a similar format until 2014.[21][22] Macdonald also presented an interview series for theCentury Radio Network titledUpfront With Malcolm Macdonald, in which he talked to famous players such asIan Wright,Joe Royle andPeter Beardsley among others.[23]
He also writes a regular column for the retro football magazineBackpass.[citation needed]
In 2011, Macdonald was strongly critical of Newcastle United's decision to change their stadium name fromSt James' Park to the Sports Direct Arena. Macdonald said: "It seems antagonistic. It's not only part of the football club's heritage, but part of the heritage of the city."[24]
After a failed business venture and divorcing his second wife, he struggled with the aftermath of his injury. Macdonald said that the pain from his long-standing knee injury led to an increasing dependence on alcohol. He eventually gave up drinking in 1997.[25]
Macdonald is married to Carol, the former wife ofBrian Johnson.[26]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Other[27] | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Fulham[28] | 1968–69 | Second Division | 13 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 5 |
| Luton Town[29] | 1969–70 | Third Division | 46 | 25 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 54 | 28 |
| 1970–71 | Second Division | 42 | 24 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 30 | |
| Total | 88 | 49 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 101 | 58 | ||
| Newcastle United[29] | 1971–72 | First Division | 42 | 23 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 52 | 30 |
| 1972–73 | First Division | 35 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 47 | 24 | |
| 1973–74 | First Division | 29 | 15 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 44 | 28 | |
| 1974–75 | First Division | 42 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 58 | 32 | |
| 1975–76 | First Division | 39 | 19 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 56 | 24 | |
| Total | 187 | 95 | 22 | 14 | 18 | 12 | 30 | 17 | 257 | 138 | ||
| Arsenal[29] | 1976–77 | First Division | 41 | 25 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 29 |
| 1977–78 | First Division | 39 | 15 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 26 | |
| 1978–79[30] | First Division | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | |
| Total | 84 | 42 | 9 | 10 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 108 | 57 | ||
| Djurgården | 1979 | Allsvenskan | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2 | |
| Career total | 381 | 193 | 36 | 29 | 40 | 21 | 31 | 17 | 488 | 260 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| England Under 23[31] | 1972 | 4 | 4 |
| Total | 4 | 4 | |
| England[31] | 1972 | 3 | 0 |
| 1973 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1974 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1975 | 7 | 6 | |
| Total | 14 | 6 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 March 1975 | Wembley Stadium, London, England |  West Germany | 2–0 | 2–0 | Friendly |
| 2 | 16 April 1975 |  Cyprus | 1–0 | 5–0 | UEFA Euro 1976 qualifying | |
| 3 | 2–0 | |||||
| 4 | 3–0 | |||||
| 5 | 4–0 | |||||
| 6 | 5–0 |
Newcastle United
Arsenal
Individual
No one believed that Macdonald would be able to run that fast again straight away. He ran the race, won it again, and beat his own record in 10.9 seconds. He held the European record for seven years until Des Drummond ran the 100m in 10.85 seconds in the 1982 International Superstars in Hong Kong.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
