Alexander MacDonald (born 14 April 1990) is a 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 lea ...

who plays as a winger for club

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

. His previous clubs include

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, Inverness CT or just Inverness, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team competes in , the third tier of the Scottish Professional Footba ...

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

and Gillingham. Born in England, he has represented Scotland at under-19 and under-21 level.

Club career

Youth career

MacDonald started his career in the youth team at

and signed a two-year scholarship in 2006, after previously having a trial at

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. He impressed for the youth team and was voted Youth Team Player of the Year for the 2007–08 season, being rewarded with a professional contract in the summer of 2008.

Burnley

MacDonald made his debut on 26 April 2008, coming on as a substitute for

Wade Elliott Wade Patrick Elliott (born 14 December 1978) is an English former professional footballer who was most recently head coach of EFL League One club Cheltenham Town. He played mainly as a right midfielder but could also play as a central midfielder. ...

in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

3–3 draw against

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

in the final home game of the season. He also featured a week later in the final game of the season, a 5–0 defeat to

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

. In the 2008–09 season he featured mainly in the reserve side; however, he did make six appearances as a substitute for the first team, with his first coming in a 3–2 away win over

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

. He also featured heavily in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

, making three appearances in the run to the sixth round, which came to an end in a 3–0 defeat against

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 ...

. When Burnley got promoted to the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

in May 2009 via the play-offs, MacDonald struggled to fight for a place in the team and joined

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

side

on a six-month loan in July. He made his debut for the Bairns on 16 July 2009 in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

second qualifying round tie first leg tie against

FC Vaduz Fussball Club Vaduz (En: ''Football Club Vaduz'') is a professional association football, football club from Vaduz, Liechtenstein that plays in the Challenge League (Switzerland), Challenge League, the second tier of Swiss football. The club pla ...

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

, starting the match in a 1–0 win. He made thirteen appearances in all competitions during his stay with the Scottish club, scoring no goals before returning to

Turf Moor Turf Moor is an association football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Burnley F.C., Burnley Football Club since 1883. This unbroken service makes Turf Moor the second-longest continuously used ground in Footbal ...

in January 2010. He suffered a double hernia injury towards the end of the season and did not feature for the rest of the campaign. He suffered greater troubles when his mother died in March, but he continued to train as usual with the first team as the Clarets were relegated from the Premier League. MacDonald thought he would feature more in the 2010–11 season under

Brian Laws Brian Laws (born 14 October 1961) is an English former professional footballer and manager. Playing as a defender, Laws made over 100 appearances for each of Burnley, Middlesbrough, and Nottingham Forest. In 1994, Laws became player-manager of ...

in the Championship, but he did not find himself in contention for the first team and was again sent on loan to Scotland in January 2010, joining SPL side

until the end of the season. He made his first appearance for

Terry Butcher Terry Ian Butcher (born 28 December 1958) is an English football manager and former player. During his playing career as a defender, Butcher captained the England national team, winning 77 caps in a ten-year international career that feature ...

's side on 5 February 2011, in 5–1 victory over Morton in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Adam Rooney Adam Christopher David Rooney (born 21 April 1988) is an Irish semi-professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Hereford, where he is also assistant manager. He previously played for Stoke City, spent spells on loan at Yeovil Tow ...

. He scored his first goal for the club 5 March 2011, scoring with his first touch in a 3–0 win over

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

in the SPL after coming on as a substitute. After a very impressive pre-season in 2011, MacDonald finally broke back into the Burnley team on 20 August 2011, coming on as a late substitute for

Ross Wallace Ross Wallace (born 23 May 1985) is a Scottish former professional association football, footballer who played as a winger (association football), winger. He played for Celtic F.C., Celtic, Sunderland A.F.C., Sunderland, Preston North End F.C., P ...

in a 1–1 draw against

. On 31 January 2012, he was loaned to League Two side

on an emergency loan until 6 March. MacDonald extended his loan with the club until the end of the campaign on 28 February. On 31 August 2012, MacDonald re-signed for Plymouth Argyle until 6 October on an emergency loan. On 1 October, after his loan spell was extended, Alex expressed his liking for the club and the city by saying that he wanted a permanent move to Plymouth. On 4 December, he returned to Burnley from his loan spell. On 31 January 2013, he joined League Two side

on an initial one-month loan.

Burton Albion

After his release from Burnley in May 2013, MacDonald joined Burton on a two-year contract.

Oxford United

On 2 February 2015, MacDonald joined

on a two-and-a-half-year contract. On 31 January 2017, he left Oxford by mutual consent. While with Oxford, he scored 12 goals in 97 appearances, 9 of them in league matches

Mansfield Town

MacDonald signed for

on 31 January 2017. He was released by Mansfield at the end of the 2019–20 season.

Gillingham

MacDonald signed for

EFL League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

side Gillingham on 14 August 2020. He made his debut for the

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

side on 5 September 2020 in a 1–0 win over

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

in the first round of the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

. Following the departure of manager Steve Evans from the club on 9 January 2022, he was appointed to assist caretaker manager

Steve Lovell Stephen William Henry Lovell (born 6 December 1980) is an English former footballer who played as a striker. Lovell played the majority of his career in the Scottish Premier League, representing Dundee, Aberdeen and Falkirk, but also played i ...

. With his contract expiring at the end of the season, manager Neil Harris confirmed that the club were in conversation with Macdonald over an extension.

Stevenage

MacDonald signed for

in June 2023.

Rotherham United

On 24 June 2024, MacDonald agreed to join League One side

on a one-year deal, linking up for a third spell with manager Steve Evans.

International career

MacDonald was born in England, but qualified to play for Scotland through his father. He scored in his second appearance for the under-19s against

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

on 20 October 2008 and scored two more against

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

a couple of days later. In his fifth match for the team, against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

on 25 February 2009, MacDonald captained the side and scored twice. In total, he received eight

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

at under-19 level and scored seven goals. He made his under-21 debut on 17 November 2010 against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

and scored his first goal for the team in his fourth appearance, against

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

. He dedicated the goal to his mother, Janette, who died 18 months earlier at the age of 40.

Career statistics

Honours

Oxford United *

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

runner-up: 2015–16

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Alex 1990 births Living people Footballers from Warrington Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's youth international footballers Scotland men's under-21 international footballers English people of Scottish descent Men's association football forwards Burnley F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Gillingham F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Premier League players 21st-century Scottish sportsmen