Gary MacDonald (footballer)

Gary MacDonald (born 25 October 1979) is an English footballer who plays as a defender, and was most recently a player/assistant manager of Hungerford Town.[1] He has made over 150 appearances in the Football League and the Conference Premier.

Gary MacDonald
MacDonald with Walton Casuals in 2014
Personal information
Full nameGary MacDonald
Date of birth (1979-10-25) 25 October 1979 (age 44)
Place of birthMiddlesbrough, England
Position(s)Central Defender
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2000–2001Havant & Waterlooville57(2)
2001–2003Peterborough United18(1)
2002–2003Stevenage Borough (loan)7(0)
2003–2007Woking122(4)
2007–2008Ebbsfleet United7(0)
2008Bognor Regis Town (loan)0(0)
2008–2009Hayes & Yeading United25(1)
2009–2010Havant & Waterlooville27(2)
2010–2012Kingstonian20(0)
2013Metropolitan Police (loan)10(0)
2013–2014Walton Casuals20(0)
2014Slough Town0(0)
2014–2015Hayes & Yeading United24(1)
2015Slough Town8(0)
2015–2016Farnborough15(1)
2016Staines Town3(0)
2016Walton & Hersham7(1)
2016–2017Hayes & Yeading United0(0)
2017–2018Hungerford Town0(0)
Managerial career
2016Walton & Hersham (player-manager)
2016–2017Hayes & Yeading United (player-assistant manager)
2017–2018Hungerford Town (player-assistant manager)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 00:35 16 November 2013 (GMT)

Career

MacDonald began his career with Portsmouth but made no first-team appearances and joined non-league club Havant & Waterlooville.[2] He joined Football League One club Peterborough United in February 2001[3] but struggled to break into the first-team,[2] making 21 league and cup appearances in two years.[3] He joined Football Conference side Stevenage Borough on loan in November 2001[2] and made eleven appearances for the club during the remainder of the 2001–02 season.[3]

At the end of the season, he joined another National Conference side Woking,[4] where he started 120 games in four years.[5] He was signed by Ebbsfleet United in June 2007[5] but suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in his first game for Ebbsfleet in August 2007,[6][7] which ruled him out of the game for several months until he made his comeback in a Kent Senior Cup match in January 2008.[7]

MacDonald returned to the first-team in March 2008 and by the end of the 2007–08 season, had made eight appearances for Ebbsfleet[8] and collected a winners medal when Ebbsfleet won the FA Trophy at Wembley Stadium in May 2008.[9] MacDonald returned to Havant & Waterlooville in 2009, but fell out of favour with the manager and made his last appearance for the club in March 2010. During the close-season of 2010, MacDonald signed for Kingstonian.[10]

Following a one-month loan with Metropolitan Police, the 34-year-old signed for Walton Casuals. In July 2014, the versatile defender signed for Slough Town. He then briefly lined up for Farnborough, before a switch to Staines Town. He then joined Walton & Hersham in February 2016.[11] Following the resignation of manager Mark Hams the following month, MacDonald was announced as player-manager for the eight remaining games of the 2015–16 season.[12]

In July 2016 he was announced by Hayes & Yeading United to be Mickey Lewis' playing assistant manager, having had two previous spells with the club, most recently in 2015 under Phil Babb and Tristan Lewis.

Honours

References