Ian Mackay Abad (born 14 July 1986) is a Spanish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

CD Eldense Club Deportivo Eldense is a Spanish football team based in Elda, in the autonomous community of Valencia. Founded in 1921, the club plays in the Primera División RFEF – Group 2, and holds home matches at ''Estadio Nuevo Pepico Amat'', which ha ...

Career

Born in

A Coruña A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. A Coruña is the most populated city in Galicia and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and s ...

, Mackay emerged through local Deportivo youth ranks, but never managed any first-team appearances, only occasionally being involved in training. In his first year as a professional he was loaned to

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

clubs,

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territorie ...

and Universidad Oviedo, before being released in 2007 and joining another side in that tier,

Vecindario Vecindario is a town in the Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Santa Lucía de Tirajana in the south-eastern part of the island of Gran Canaria, in the Province of Las Palmas, in the Canary Islands. The population of Vecindario was estimated ...

. In January 2008, Mackay returned to Galicia, joining lowly Ciudad Santiago and helping to win promotion to the third division, with the club in a severe financial crisis. In the following summer he moved to Ponferradina, still in division three. He achieved promotion to

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

in his first season, and played his first match in the competition on 28 August 2010 by starting in a 0–0 home draw against

Huesca Huesca (; an, Uesca) is a city in north-eastern Spain, within the autonomous community of Aragon. It is also the capital of the Spanish province of the same name and of the comarca of Hoya de Huesca. In 2009 it had a population of 52,059, almo ...

. Mackay made 23 appearances in his first season, but ''Ponfe'' were immediately relegated. On 18 July 2011, he joined

Sabadell Sabadell () is a city in Catalonia, Spain. It is in the south of the ''comarca'' of Vallès Occidental and its joint capital (co-capital), on the River Ripoll, north of Barcelona. Sabadell is located above sea level. Sabadell pioneered the Ind ...

also of the second tier, serving mostly as a backup to

David de Navas David de Navas Alcalá (born 7 December 1976) is a Spanish retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Born in Alcobendas, Community of Madrid, de Navas played 70 games in the Segunda División over a 20-year senior ...

during his only season. In August 2012, Mackay moved to Atlético Baleares in the third division. In October 2013, he joined

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

Boiro Boiro is a municipality in the province of A Coruña in the autonomous community of Galicia in northwestern Spain. It is located in the comarca of Barbanza. Boiro has an area of 86.58 km2. Boiro was where the controversial assisted suicide ...

, but signed for

Racing Ferrol Racing Club de Ferrol is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Ferrol, Galicia, Ferrol, Province of A Coruña, in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. Founded in 1919, the club currently plays in Prim ...

in April of the following year when their three goalkeepers were injured. Mackay made 140 total appearances for Ferrol, and after their relegation in 2017–18 he stayed in the third tier, joining

Murcia Murcia (, , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country. It has a population of 460,349 inhabitants in 2021 (about one ...

. He returned to Sabadell in July 2019, and was a starter in the club's promotion to the second division. On 11 June 2021, Mackay returned to Deportivo, now as a first-team player. On 23 January 2024, he moved to second division newcomers

Personal life

Mackay was born to a Spanish mother and a Scottish father, oil worker John Cameron Mackay from

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

, and had four older half-sisters in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. Due to living his whole life in Spain, he did not speak English. In February 2007, it was reported that Mackay was being tracked for the Scotland national team by manager

Alex McLeish Alexander McLeish (born 21 January 1959) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He played as a defender for Aberdeen during their 1980s glory years, making nearly 500 League appearances for the club, and won 77 caps for ...

. He was a fan of

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

, and idolised

Henrik Larsson Edward Henrik Larsson (born 20 September 1971) is a Swedish professional football coach and former player, formerly an assistant manager of Barcelona. Playing as a striker, Larsson began his career with Högaborgs BK. In 1992, he moved to Hels ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mackay, Ian 1986 births Living people Spanish people of Scottish descent Spanish men's footballers Footballers from A Coruña Men's association football goalkeepers Segunda División players Primera Federación players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Deportivo Fabril players AD Ceuta footballers UD Vecindario players SD Ponferradina players CE Sabadell FC footballers CD Atlético Baleares footballers CD Boiro footballers Racing de Ferrol footballers Real Murcia CF players Deportivo de La Coruña players CD Eldense footballers