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Kevin MacDonald

Birthdate: 22 November 1960 Birthplace: Inverness, Scotland Other clubs: Caledonian (1976-80), Leicester City (1980-84), Leicester City (loan 2 / 1987-88), Rangers (loan 1988) Coventry City (1989-91), Cardiff City (loan 1991), Walsall (1991-93) Bought from: Leicester City Signed for LFC: £400,000, November 1984

Liverpool debut: 29.12.1984 Last appearance: 22.10.1988 Debut goal: 09.10.1985 Last goal: 06.05.1986 Contract expiry: 13.07.1989 Win ratio: 60.94% W:39 D:14 L:11 Honours: League Championship 1985/86; FA Cup 1986 Total games/goals opposite LFC: 5 / 0 LFC league games/goals: 40 / 1 Total LFC games/goals: 64 / 5

Player profile

The former Leicester captain was purchased to help fill a part of the huge void left by Graeme Souness' move to Italy. MacDonald managed to get a run in the side midway through the 1985/86 double season but a broken arm in a match against Spurs kept him out for a while. Steve McMahon's injury allowed MacDonald back into the side and his excellent form won him a place in the first 11 for the FA Cup final ahead of Steve, who had recovered. MacDonald was Liverpool's unsung hero on the day. "Headlines were being prepared in salute of Rushie and Jan. In the dressing room we all rushed to congratulate Kevin MacDonald," Dalglish said. "He got in among Everton's midfield, taking the fight to Reidy, reclaiming the ball time after time. Never one of the most celebrated footballers, Kevin Mac will always be remembered fondly for the turning the Blue Tide back at Wembley in May 1986." While MacDonald's qualities were certainly appreciated by his boss he did have one drawback according to King Kenny: "'Albert' grumbled about everything from the pitch to the weather and the food. He even moaned about other people moaning!" Disaster struck on 20 September 1986 against Southampton when shortly after coming on as a substitute MacDonald suffered a double leg fracture. He returned to action 15 months later when he was loaned out to his former club, Leicester. He played a few games with Liverpool in 1988/89 before going on another loan spell in Glasgow with Rangers. MacDonald was out of the first-team picture at Liverpool due to his lengthy lay-off and signed for Coventry City where he played 44 games in two seasons. He finished his career in the Fourth Division with Walsall.

MacDonald joined Leicester's coaching staff and was even caretaker manager for four games in late 1994 after Brian Little and Allan Evans quit the Foxes for Villa Park. When Steve Staunton took over as Ireland's manager in January 2006 he appointed MacDonald as his senior coach, albeit on a part-time basis, combining the role with his coaching job at Aston Villa. His contract was terminated along with Staunton's in October 2007. Following the resignation of Martin O'Neill as Aston Villa manager five days before the 2010/11 Premier League season was due to start, MacDonald was immediately named as caretaker manager of the West Midlands club before Gérard Houllier took over. MacDonald left Villa in June 2012 after being 17 years on the backroom staff, having overseen a steady flow of academy prospects achieving success in the first team.

On 28 February 2013 MacDonald was appointed to succeed Paulo Di Canio as the manager of League One Swindon Town. He steered Swindon to the last of the four play-off positions but they lost to Brentford on penalties after two drawn matches in the semi-final. Two months after that defeat MacDonald left the Wiltshire club by mutual consent.

MacDonald returned to Villa Park in February 2015 as assistant manager to Tim Sherwood.

Related Articles

Two bad breaks

Fortunately it's not too common for footballers to break their legs. One game this season saw two leg breaks. Back in the 1986/87 season, two Liverpool players broke their legs destroying their Liverpool careers.More

Shoot! Focus on Kevin MacDonald

A Shoot! focus on "Albert" from 1985.More

Related Quotes

"A real work-horse for us in the middle of the pitch. He came in when Stevie McMahon got injured. Got about the pitch well, won the ball and gave it, kept everything simple. Never tired and did a really good job. Hugely underrated."

Kenny Dalglish on Kevin MacDonald

Just a few months after the high of winning the double you suffered the low of breaking your leg against Southampton, was this the beginning of the end for you at Liverpool?

"Yes, I suppose it was. We'd played Everton in the ScreenSport Super Cup in midweek and I wasn't involved but I was on the bench for the game at The Dell, came on and broke my leg! I think it was almost two years to the day before I got back into the first team. By this time the team had evolved and it was clear there was no future for me at Anfield. It was no-one's fault. That was life and I just had to get on with it. To be honest, I was just happy to be playing again because there was a time when I thought I might career may have been over."

Kevin MacDonald interviewed by Liverpoolfc.tv

Scrapbook

• Focus on Kevin MacDonald
• Kevin MacDonald signs on
• The double - Liverpool Echo souvenir 13 May 1986