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Scottish footballer and manager From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gary Mackay (born 23 January 1964 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish former footballer, who made over 500 league appearances for Heart of Midlothian and also played for Airdrieonians and the Scotland national team. After retiring as a player, he managed Airdrie for a year. Mackay is now an SFA–registered agent.[2]
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | 23 January 1964 | ||
Place of birth | Edinburgh, Scotland | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1980–1997 | Heart of Midlothian | 516 | (45) |
1997–1999 | Airdrieonians | 44 | (1) |
Total | 560 | (46) | |
International career | |||
1987–1988 | Scotland | 4 | (1) |
1990[1] | SFA (SFL centenary) | 1 | (0) |
Managerial career | |||
1999–2000 | Airdrieonians | ||
Medal record | |||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Mackay played for Heart of Midlothian for most of his career, and he holds the record for the most competitive appearances for the club, with 640.[3] Mackay won international recognition in the late 1980s, winning four caps for Scotland. His most significant act as a Scotland player was to score the winning goal on his debut in a UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying match against Bulgaria in Sofia.[4] Although this goal did not substantially benefit Scotland, who had already been eliminated, it was of great significance to Ireland, who qualified for the finals as a result of this strike.[4]
Kevin Harper alleged that he had been racially abused by Mackay during a match in November 1996. The Scottish Football Association failed to investigate the incident.[5][6] Mackay has since been involved in work for 'Show Racism the Red Card' which primarily aims to prevent racism in football.[7]
Mackay left Hearts in 1997 to play for Airdrie. After retiring as a player in 1999, Mackay then managed Airdrie for a season, but the club suffered severe financial problems[8] and he was sacked to make way for Steve Archibald during July 2000.[9]
Mackay has since worked as an agent, representing players including Garry O'Connor,[10] Christophe Berra[11] and Lee Wallace.[12] Mackay was criticised by his former club Hearts in June 2011 on the official Hearts website. "Over a short space of time 4 players at our club have been on the wrong end of the law. We note that 3 of them are represented by the same agent – Gary Mackay – who has been so vicious in his attacks against Mr Romanov".[13]
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