Player-Manager Profile

Before joining Swindon, Mackay was recognised as one of the best players in the country - he was part of the double-winning Tottenham side of the sixties, and he also won 22 caps for Scotland, and the Footballer of the Year award in 1969, when at Derby.

Mackay's time at Swindon was controversial. It was the Town board who decided to sign him - paying £20,000 to Derby with the intention of handing him the manager's role, despite Fred Ford still being in charge. When Mackay refused to take the position until Ford's contract expired, it left Ford with a dilemma - Mackay playing in the same position as Town captain, and crowd-favourite, Stan Harland. Ford attempted to fit both in, moving Harland into midfield, but it only succeeded in unsettling Harland, who looked hopelessly out of position.

When Ford was sacked in November 1971, it was inevitable that Mackay would take over. Though he was by no means popular with the fans, his first decision made him even less so, when he decided to drop Harland. Mackay's spell in charge lasted exactly a year - with the club in debt, the board decided that a player needed to be sold, with the intention of selling Rod Thomas. When no bids for Thomas were received, a bid for Town legend Don Rogers was accepted - and the fans were incensed. Within days, Mackay had resigned for "personal reasons", and yet, within a week, he was installed as the manager of Nottingham Forest.

Managerial Record

Playing Record

Senior

Career details

Club	Details
Slateford Athletic Slateford Athletic	(youth)
Newtongrange Star Newtongrange Star	(youth)
Hutchison Vale Boys Club Hutchison Vale BC	(youth)
Heart of Midlothian Hearts	April 1952 (signed professional contract); transferred out (March 16th, 1959)
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham	March 16th, 1959 (transferred in , £32,000 ); transferred out (July 1968)
Derby County Derby County	July 1968 (transferred in , £5,000 ); transferred out (May 5th, 1971)
Swindon Town Swindon	May 5th, 1971 (transferred in , £20,000 ) November 1st, 1971 (appointed player-manager); resigned (November 1st, 1972)
Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest	November 6th, 1972 (appointed manager); resigned (October 23rd, 1973)
Derby County Derby County	October 23rd, 1973 (appointed manager); sacked (November 25th, 1976)
Walsall Walsall	March 9th, 1977 (appointed manager)
Al-Arabi Al-Arabi	1978 (manager)
Al-Shabab Al-Arabi Club Al-Shabab	1982/3 (manager)
Al-Arabi Al-Arabi	1983/4 (manager)
Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers	December 7th, 1987 (appointed manager)
Birmingham City Birmingham	April 26th, 1989 (appointed manager)
Zamalek SC Zamalek	July 1991 (appointed manager)
Qatar Qatar	1994/5 (appointed manager) July 1995 (appointed U17 manager)