Malcolm Macdonald

This article is about the footballer. For the politician, see Malcolm MacDonald.

Malcolm Macdonald

Personal information
Full name	Malcolm Ian Macdonald
Date of birth	7 January 1950 (1950-01-07) (age 61)
Place of birth	Fulham, England
Playing position	Forward (retired)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1968–1969	Fulham	13	(5)
1969–1971	Luton Town	88	(49)
1971–1976	Newcastle United	187	(95)
1976–1979	Arsenal	84	(42)
1979	Djurgårdens IF	9	(2)
Total		381	(193)
National team
1972–1976	England	14	(6)
Teams managed
1980–1984	Fulham
1987–1988	Huddersfield Town
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Malcolm Ian Macdonald (born 7 January 1950) is a former English footballer nicknamed Supermac, famed for scoring goals for Luton Town, Newcastle United and Arsenal.

Football career

Born in Fulham, London, Macdonald started out as a full back before switching to centre forward. After signing from Tonbridge Angels^[1] Bobby Robson paid £1,000 to sign him Fulham in 1968 just after their relegation from the Football League First Division.

A year later he moved to Luton Town. At Luton he scored 49 times in 88 matches, which caught the eye of Newcastle United manager Joe Harvey, who signed him for £180,000 in the summer of 1971. At Newcastle he quickly became a favourite of the fans, scoring a hat-trick on his home debut against Liverpool, and was the club's top scorer for five seasons in a row.

While at Newcastle, he made his debut for England (against Wales). On 16 April 1975, in a game for England against Cyprus he scored all five goals in a 5–0 victory, a record that still stands today (spawning a newspaper headline "SuperMac 5, Cyprus 0".^{[citation needed]}) In total he played 14 times for his country, scoring six times (the only other game he scored in being a 2–0 win over then World Champions West Germany).

Macdonald left Newcastle for Arsenal in 1976, for the unusual fee of £333,333.33, and played two full seasons (being the club's top scorer in both), but suffered a knee injury in a League Cup match against Rotherham at the start of the 1978–79 season, from which he was unable to completely recover. After having spent a couple of months in Sweden with Djurgårdens IF he announced his retirement from playing at the premature age of 29 in August 1979. He never won a major honour but was on the losing side in two FA Cup finals and a League Cup final, two for Newcastle and one for Arsenal.

Football management

After retirement from playing, he returned to Fulham to manage them for four seasons from 1980 to 1984, and was later manager of Huddersfield Town between 1987 and 1988. His time at Fulham was initially successful, with promotion to the Second Division being achieved in 1982. In the 1982–83 season, they appeared certainties for promotion to the First Division for the majority of the season, but a slump in the later stages of the season allowed their lead to wither away and they finished 4th. The following season began as a struggle before a second half turnaround saw them into mid-table safety, however he would be replaced by his assistant Ray Harford in April 1984.

He returned to management with Huddersfield in 1987, but his time in charge proved disastrous, including a 10–1 loss to Manchester City as the side were relegated from the Second Division in dismal fashion.

However, after being declared bankrupt following a failed business venture, divorcing his second wife and struggling with the aftermath of his injury, he became an alcoholic. Macdonald said that the pain from his long-standing knee injury led to his increasing dependence on alcohol. He eventually gave up drinking in 1997.^[2]

Radio

He has since become a radio presenter on Real Radio's Legends Football Phone In, alongside Bernie Slaven and Micky Horswill.

He also presents "Upfront With Malcolm Macdonald",^[3] a thirty minute show consisting of interviews with ex-professional players across the Real Radio and Century Network. The guests he has interviewed on the show so far are:

• Cyrille Regis
• Frank Stapleton
• Clive Allen
• Steve Bull
• Charlie George
• Tony Cottee
• Ian Wright
• Ian Rush
• Peter Beardsley
• Joe Jordan
• Joe Royle
• Peter Withe

He also writes a regular column for the retro football magazine BACKPASS (www.backpassmagazine.co.uk).

Trivia

During the TV show Superstars in 1975, Macdonald ran 100m in 10.9 seconds.^[4]

References

1. ^ "Bobby Robson – the top 10 signings". mirror.com.hk. 2009-07-31. http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/2009/07/31/bobby-robson-the-top-10-signings-115875-21561283/. Retrieved 2009-08-01. 
2. ^ Jackson, Jamie (2003-08-03). "Triumph and despair". The Observer (Guardian Media Group). http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2003/aug/03/newsstory.sport. Retrieved 2008-09-27. 
3. ^ 100–102 Century Radio – Music you just have to sing along to!
4. ^ "Superstars History and Top Facts". BBC Sport. bbc.co.uk. 2004-11-05. http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2003/10_october/01/superstars_rules.pdf. Retrieved 2008-09-27. "No one believed that Macdonald would be able to run that fast again straight away. He ran the race, won it again, and beat his own record with an amazing 10.9 seconds. He held the European record for seven years until Des Drummond ran the 100m in 10.85 seconds in the 1982 International Superstars in Hong Kong." 

External links

• Malcolm's own web site

Persondata
Name	Macdonald, Malcolm
Alternative names
Short description	Footballer
Date of birth	1950-01-07
Place of birth	Fulham, England
Date of death
Place of death