Gary Mackay

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]

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)
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
 Scotland
UEFA European U-18 Championship
Winner1982 FinlandTeam Competition
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

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.[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]

See also
  • List of footballers in Scotland by number of league appearances (500+)

References
  1. On this day, back in 1990, a Scottish League XI beat Scotland 1-0 at Hampden Park in the SFL Centenary match with the goal coming from then Aberdeen Football Club star Hans Gillhaus, Scottish Professional Football League via Facebook, 18 August 2016
  2. Players' Agents Archived 4 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Scottish Football Association.
  3. Hearts Players by Appearances Archived 4 November 2006 at the Wayback Machine, London Hearts.
  4. The goal of his life, Evening Herald, 11 December 2008.
  5. Ideally suited to face up to racism Why the boy from Possil is mystified over Scots game
  6. Accentuate the negative; The head-in-the-sand attitude of Scottish
  7. Show Racism the Red Card Archived 28 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
  8. "Sacked Airdrie players to appeal". BBC News. 16 June 2000.
  9. "Airdrie have new Mackay in the frame". The Scotsman. Johnston Publishing. 20 July 2000.
  10. "Smith dismayed at absent O'Connor". BBC Sport. 9 October 2006.
  11. "Berra has hunger for Wolves' Premier bid". Edinburgh Evening News. Johnston Publishing. 4 February 2009.
  12. "'Airgun' footballer pleads guilty". BBC News. 6 September 2006.
  13. "Gary Mackay vicious in his attacks against Mr Romanov". Heart of Midlothian FC. 24 June 2011. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
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