Pauline MacDonald (born 17 April 1975) is a Scottish

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 ...

coach and former player who was appointed manager of the Scotland under-17 women's team in October 2017. As a player MacDonald made her senior Scotland debut in 1992, served the national team as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

and amassed a total of 65 caps. A versatile defender or midfielder, MacDonald played at club level in the American USL W-League and the English

FA Women's Premier League The FA Women's National League, formerly WFA National League and FA Women's Premier League (WPL), is a group of six football divisions run by the English Football Association. Founded in 1991 by the Women's Football Association, the League includ ...

, as well as in her native Scotland.

Playing career

Club career

MacDonald began playing organised football as an 11-year-old, with Central Fife L.F.C.. She moved to Cumbernauld United L.F.C., then to the dominant team of the era Cove Rangers L.F.C. who were based in Aberdeen. In 1998 MacDonald played for

Miami Gliders Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

of the USL W-League and was named to the second division all-star team. English

club

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 ...

signed MacDonald during the 1999–00 season. After a period of retirement from playing, MacDonald signed for Edinburgh Ladies in September 2006.

International career

In May 1991 MacDonald captained the Scotland under-21 team to a 4–2 win over rivals England in Motherwell. She made her senior international debut in April 1992, at the

Albena Cup The Albena Cup was an invitational competition for women's football (soccer) teams held in Albena, Bulgaria. Contested by both clubs and national teams, it was originally named Grand Hotel Varna Tournament and the first two editions were held indo ...

Coaching career

In September 2004 MacDonald was appointed as a women's football development officer for Edinburgh, a position jointly funded by the

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the Sport governing body, governing body of association football, football in Scot ...

(SFA) and the local authority. Structured female youth football was completely lacking in the area and MacDonald made it her priority to remedy the situation. MacDonald guided Dalkeith L.F.C. to promotion into the top-flight

Scottish Women's Premier League The Scottish Women's Premier League (SWPL) is the highest level of league competition in women's football in Scotland. Its two divisions are SWPL 1 and SWPL 2. The league was formed when the Premier Division of the Scottish Women's Football League ...

in 2007–2008, her first season as a club coach. They took their Premier League place as Boroughmuir Thistle, having undergone a name change. After approximately a decade of working for the SFA as coach and assistant coach with the national women's youth teams, MacDonald was appointed coach of the Scotland under-17 women's team in October 2017. She joined her former Scotland teammates

Shelley Kerr Michelle Kerr (born 15 October 1969) is a Scottish football manager and former player who is currently the English Football Association's technical lead for women's national teams. As a player Kerr was a powerful centre back, who captained ...

and Pauline Hamill as a full-time female coach on the SFA payroll.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:MacDonald, Pauline 1975 births Living people Scottish women's footballers Scotland women's international footballers Arsenal W.F.C. players FA Women's National League players USL W-League (1995–2015) players Female association football managers Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Scottish expatriate women's footballers Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Women's association football defenders Women's association football midfielders Spartans W.F.C. players Women's association football managers Scottish football managers