Donald Scrimgeour Mackay (born 19 March 1940) is a Scottish former professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
player and manager.
Managerial career
After a spell coaching the
Bristol City
Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...
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 with
Nørresundby
Nørresundby () is a city in Aalborg Municipality, north of Limfjorden, in Vendsyssel, in Denmark. The urban area has a population of 23,718 (1 January 2021). It is located just north of Aalborg, which lies south of Limfjorden. Statistically its ...
managing the local side Norresundby, gaining promotion in his first season there. He returned to Scotland in 1980 when he was appointed manager of
Dundee
Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
, winning promotion to the
Scottish Premier Division
The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) ...
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. Bobby was sacked after a poor run of results and Don 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.
Following the sack at Coventry, Mackay went to work as reserve-team coach at
Rangers, alongside ex playing colleague
Walter Smith
Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish association football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow club Rangers.
A defender, Smith's playing car ...
and the manager
Graeme Souness
Graeme James Souness (; born 6 May 1953) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager, and current TV pundit.
A midfielder, Souness was the captain of the successful Liverpool team of the early 1980s, player-manager of Ranger ...
. Despite a successful spell at Rangers, Mackay wanted to manage in his own right, and therefore moved onto
Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...
. They narrowly missed the play-offs in his first season in charge, but did win the
Full Members Cup
The Full Members' Cup was an association football cup competition held in English football from 1985 to 1992. It was also known under its sponsored names of the Simod Cup from 1987 to 1989 and the Zenith Data Systems Cup from 1989 to 1992.
Th ...
, 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 manage
Fulham
Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...
. 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 Fourth Division.
Mackay then worked as a scout for
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
, where he discovered the young
Freddie Ljungberg
Karl Fredrik "Freddie" Ljungberg (; born 16 April 1977) is a Swedish former professional footballer and manager who played as a winger. He was most recently a former assistant coach, and interim head coach of Arsenal.
He began his career at Hal ...
. Mackay then had a stint as chief scout of
St Johnstone. He then teamed up with
Steve Archibald
Steven Archibald (born 27 September 1956) is a Scottish former professional footballer and manager. He played prominently as a forward for Aberdeen, winning the Scottish league in 1980, Tottenham Hotspur, winning two FA Cups and a UEFA Cup, and ...
at
Airdrie. Despite the financial difficulties experienced by the club, they won the
Scottish Challenge Cup
The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,[Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...](_blank)
as a scout from December 2001 through to June 2007,
before moving to join
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
under
Martin Allen
Martin James Allen (born 14 August 1965) is an English football manager and former player. He played more than 100 games as a midfielder for both Queens Park Rangers and West Ham United before finishing his playing career with Portsmouth and ...
.
His role as sporting director was short-lived, however.
Playing career
He was a goalkeeper and played for
Forfar Athletic
Forfar Athletic Football Club are a Scottish semi-professional football club from the town of Forfar, Angus. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League and currently play in Scottish League Two. They play their home games a ...
and made 104 appearances. He was then signed for
Dundee United
Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...
by Jerry Kerr, for whom he made 243 appearances. This is still the second most appearances made by a goalkeeper for Dundee Utd, behind keeping legend
Hamish McAlpine
Hamish Robert McAlpine (born 21 January 1948) is a retired Scottish footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played for Dundee United for twenty years, between 1966 and 1986. Whilst with the club, he won the Scottish Football League title once ...
. He was then given a free transfer by Jim McLean, after ten years of loyal service to the Utd cause, where he finished his 16-year professional playing career with
Southend United
Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...
after 13 appearances.
Career statistics
Manager
Honours
Blackburn Rovers
*
Full Members' Cup
The Full Members' Cup was an association football cup competition held in English football from 1985 to 1992. It was also known under its sponsored names of the Simod Cup from 1987 to 1989 and the Zenith Data Systems Cup from 1989 to 1992.
Th ...
:
1986–87
External links
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackay, Don
1940 births
Living people
Footballers from Glasgow
Scottish footballers
Scottish expatriate footballers
Scottish expatriate football managers
Association football goalkeepers
Forfar Athletic F.C. players
Dundee United F.C. players
Dallas Tornado players
Southend United F.C. players
Scottish Football League players
United Soccer Association players
English Football League players
Scottish football managers
Dundee F.C. managers
Coventry City F.C. managers
Blackburn Rovers F.C. managers
Fulham F.C. managers
Airdrieonians F.C. (1878) managers
Rangers F.C. non-playing staff
Middlesbrough F.C. non-playing staff
Arsenal F.C. non-playing staff
St Johnstone F.C. non-playing staff
Scottish Football League managers
Expatriate soccer players in the United States
Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States