| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Malcolm MacDonald[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 26 October 1913 | ||
| Place of birth | Glasgow, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 26 September 1999(1999-09-26) (aged 85)[1] | ||
| Place of death | Ardrossan, Scotland | ||
| Position | Utility player | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Linwood St Conval's | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| –1931 | St Roch's | ||
| 1931–1932 | St Anthony's | ||
| 1932–1945 | Celtic | 132 | (32) |
| 1940 | →Kilmarnock (guest) | 1 | (0) |
| 1945–1946 | Kilmarnock | 8 | (0) |
| 1946–1949 | Brentford | 87 | (1) |
| 1951 | Kilmarnock | 2 | (1) |
| International career | |||
| 1928 | Scotland Schoolboys | ||
| 1941–1944 | Scotland (wartime) | 3 | (0) |
| 1941 | Scottish League XI | 1 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1950–1957 | Kilmarnock | ||
| 1957–1965 | Brentford | ||
| 1965–1968 | Kilmarnock | ||
| 1966 | Scotland (caretaker) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Malcolm MacDonald (26 October 1913 – 26 September 1999) was a Scottish professionalfootballer andmanager, best remembered for his time as autility player withCeltic and as a manager withKilmarnock andBrentford. MacDonald managed theScotland national team on acaretaker basis in 1966. He is a member of the BrentfordHall of Fame.
MacDonald began his career inGlasgow with junior clubsSt Roch's andSt Anthony's,[2] before signing forScottish First Division clubCeltic on 19 March 1932.[3] Playing as anoutside left, he had a dream debut, scoring both of Celtic's goals in a 2–0 victory overPartick Thistle in the final league match of the1931–32 season.[3] Though he built on his appearance record year-by-year to make 38 appearances during the1934–35 season,[4] the arrival ofWillie Lyon and acartilage problem saw MacDonald's chances limited in1935–36,[3] making just 11 appearances during a season in which Celtic won the First Division title for the first time in 10 years.[4][5][6]
MacDonald didn't fully break into the team on a regular basis until the departure ofWillie Buchan toBlackpool in November 1937.[3] He made 34 appearances and scored 13 goals during the1937–38 season,[7] helping theBhoys to the league title and theEmpire Exhibition Trophy.[8] MacDonald's best season came in1938–39, scoring 20 goals in 40 games and scoring ahat-trick in theOld Firm match on 10 September 1938.[7] The outbreak of theSecond World War in September 1939 saw competitive football suspended for the duration of the conflict, but MacDonald remained with Celtic, making 199 wartime appearances (18 goals) before the official leagues and cups resumed in 1946.[4] MacDonald departed Celtic after the war, having made 156 appearances in major competitions and scored 38 goals during his time with the club.[4] Heplayed in every position bargoalkeeper during his years atCeltic Park.[3]
MacDonald returned toSouthern League 'A' club Kilmarnock in 1945, after a period guesting in 1940 during the Second World War.[3] He remained atRugby Park until October 1946.[9] MacDonald would later play for the club again while manager during the1951–52 season.[10] He made 10 appearances and scored one goal across his two spells with the club.[11]
MacDonald moved toEngland to joinFirst Division clubBrentford for a £1,500 fee in October 1946.[9] ManagerHarry Curtis played him as aninside forward, but a broken jaw hampered his progress and the Bees were relegated to theSecond Division at the end of the1946–47 season.[3] Injury toBill Gorman saw MacDonald take up a position atfull back in September 1947 and he kept the position until his retirement at the end of the1948–49 season.[12] He made 93 appearances and scored one goal during his time atGriffin Park.[9]
MacDonald's first taste of international football came with the Scotland schoolboy team in 1928.[3] In 1939, he made 8 appearances for theScottish FA XI on its tour ofCanada and theUnited States.[2][13] He later won three wartime caps for the fullScotland team during 1941.[3] MacDonald represented theScottish Football League XI against theirEnglish counterparts on 11 October 1941.[3]
MacDonald briefly coached the Scotland national football team for wartime internationals played in 1945.[9]
MacDonald'scoaching career began while still a player at Brentford and he held aplayer-coach role during the 1948–49 season.[3]
MacDonald took up his first managerial appointment with former club Kilmarnock in May 1950.[3] He turned the ailing club into a competitive force in theScottish Second Division and took the club to fifth, fourth and second-place finishes by the end of the1953–54 season,[3] which won Killie promotion to the First Division.[14] MacDonald also brought the club further success in the cups, reaching the1952 Scottish League Cup Final and the1957 Scottish Cup Final.[3] He departed the club at the end of the1956–57 season.[3]
MacDonald returned to Brentford, then having fallen to theThird Division South, as manager prior to the beginning of the1957–58 season.[15] He instantly turned around the club's fortunes, using a largely home-grown squad to push for promotion to the Second Division during the season,[15] though an injury toLen Newcombe would ultimately contribute to a second-place finish.[3] With an ageing squad, MacDonald third and sixth-place finished in1958–59 and1959–60, before toying with relegation during the1960–61 season.[3] The Brentford board's decision to shrink the playing squad (which included selling prolific twinforwardsJim Towers andGeorge Francis) and to retain a number of players on a part-time basis contributed to the club's relegation at the end of the1961–62 season.[3]
New chairmanJack Dunnett pumped money into the club in 1961 and MacDonald's signings ofJohnny Brooks,John Dick andBilly McAdams in 1962 saw Brentford win the1962–63Fourth Division title at a canter.[3] MacDonald remained with Brentford until January 1965, when he announced he would be departing Griffin Park.[3] He intended to carry on in his position until the end of the1964–65 season, but was given aleave of absence on 2 February 1965 by chairman Dunnett.[3] For his achievements with the Bees, MacDonald was later inducted into the club'sHall of Fame.[16]
On 26 January 1965, MacDonald agreed a £4,000-a-year contract to return to Kilmarnock as manager on 1 July 1965.[3] The club had finished the1964–65 season as First Division champions for the first time in the club's history, but MacDonald could not build on that and accumulated a third and two seventh-place finishes, though he took Killie to the semi-finals of the1966–67 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.[3] He was sacked on 2 April 1968.[3]
MacDonald briefly managed the Scotland team on acaretaker basis in late 1966 and presided over two1966–67 British Home Championship matches: a 1–1 draw withWales and a 2–1 victory overNorthern Ireland.[3]
MacDonaldscouted forTottenham Hotspur from the late 1960s until the mid 1970s, working for friendBill Nicholson.[3]
MacDonald was born in Glasgow to parents fromSouth Uist and was known as 'Calum' to his friends and teammates.[5][17] After his retirement from football management, MacDonald went into business as aphysiotherapist andchiropodist inTroon.[3] MacDonald died on 26 September 1999.[18]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Celtic | 1931–32[7] | Scottish First Division | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3[b] | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| 1932–33[7] | Scottish First Division | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4[c] | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
| 1933–34[7] | Scottish First Division | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3[d] | 0 | 16 | 1 | |
| 1934–35[7] | Scottish First Division | 30 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4[c] | 0 | 38 | 1 | |
| 1935–36[7] | Scottish First Division | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[e] | 0 | 11 | 0 | |
| 1936–37[7] | Scottish First Division | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2[f] | 0 | 14 | 1 | |
| 1937–38[7] | Scottish First Division | 27 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 4[g] | 0 | 34 | 13 | |
| 1938–39[7] | Scottish First Division | 30 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 5[h] | 1 | 40 | 20 | |
| Total | 132 | 32 | 13 | 5 | 26 | 3 | 171 | 40 | ||
| Kilmarnock | 1946–47[11] | Scottish First Division | 8 | 0 | — | — | 8 | 0 | ||
| Brentford | 1946–47[12] | First Division | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 16 | 1 | |
| 1947–48[12] | Second Division | 41 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 43 | 0 | ||
| 1948–49[12] | Second Division | 30 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 34 | 0 | ||
| Total | 87 | 1 | 6 | 0 | — | 93 | 1 | |||
| Kilmarnock | 1950–51[12] | Scottish Second Division | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 1 | |
| Total | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 10 | 1 | |||
| Career total | 229 | 34 | 19 | 5 | 26 | 3 | 274 | 42 | ||
| Team | From | To | Record | Ref | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Kilmarnock | May 1950 | 1957 | 297 | 138 | 57 | 102 | 046.46 | [19] |
| Brentford | 1957 | February 1965 | 380 | 160 | 94 | 126 | 042.11 | [20] |
| Kilmarnock | July 1965 | 2 April 1968 | 141 | 67 | 30 | 44 | 047.52 | [19] |
| Scotland (caretaker) | 1966 | 1967 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 050.00 | [21] |
| Total | 820 | 366 | 182 | 272 | 044.63 | — | ||
Celtic
Kilmarnock
Brentford
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
