Gary Mackay

Not to be confused with Gary Mackay-Steven, another Scottish footballer.
Gary Mackay
Personal information
Full name Gary Mackay
Date of birth (1964-01-23) 23 January 1964
Place of birth Edinburgh, Scotland
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1980–1997 Heart of Midlothian 516 (45)
1997–1999 Airdrieonians 44 (1)
Total 560 (46)
National team
1987–1988 Scotland 4 (1)
Teams managed
1999–2000 Airdrieonians

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Gary Mackay (born 23 January 1964 in Edinburgh) is a former Scottish international association football player, who is now an SFA–registered agent.[1] He also managed Airdrieonians for a year.

Career

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.[2] 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 in a UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying match against Bulgaria in Sofia.[3] 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.[3]

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.[4][5] Mackay has since been involved in work for 'Show Racism the Red Card' which primarily aims to prevent racism in football.[6]

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[7] and he was sacked to make way for Steve Archibald during July 2000.[8]

Mackay has since worked as an agent, representing players including Garry O'Connor,[9] Christophe Berra[10] and Lee Wallace.[11] 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".[12]

References

  1. ↑ Players' Agents, Scottish Football Association.
  2. ↑ Hearts Players by Appearances, London Hearts.
  3. 1 2 The goal of his life, Evening Herald, 11 December 2008.
  4. ↑ Ideally suited to face up to racism Why the boy from Possil is mystified over Scots game
  5. ↑ Accentuate the negative; The head-in-the-sand attitude of Scottish
  6. ↑ Show Racism the Red Card.
  7. ↑ "Sacked Airdrie players to appeal". BBC News. BBC. 16 June 2000.
  8. ↑ "Airdrie have new Mackay in the frame". The Scotsman. Johnston Publishing. 20 July 2000.
  9. ↑ "Smith dismayed at absent O'Connor". BBC Sport. BBC. 9 October 2006.
  10. ↑ "Berra has hunger for Wolves' Premier bid". Edinburgh Evening News. Johnston Publishing. 4 February 2009.
  11. ↑ "'Airgun' footballer pleads guilty". BBC News. BBC. 6 September 2006.
  12. ↑ "Gary Mackay vicious in his attacks against Mr Romanov". Heart of Midlothian FC. 24 June 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
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