Despite immense abilities that certain individuals possess, football is ultimately a team game where teamwork makes the dream work. This has led to some of the greatest players in the Beautiful game bidding farewell empty handed without any silverware.
One such name is Malcolm Macdonald, who was a popular forward during the 70's. He was nicknamed 'Supermac', due to his pace, power, and prolific scoring ability. MacDonald was mostly known for his stints at Newcastle and Arsenal, especially with the former as he's their fifth-highest goalscorer in history.
Let us now pay tribute to Supermac, as we rewind his glorious years as a footballer.
Before Newcastle
Malcolm Macdonald began his football career as a right-back, but eventually shifted to the centre forward position. He began his youth career at Barnet, and eventually made the professional jump to non-league side Tonbridge in 1967. In what was a huge coincidence, MacDonald's schoolboy hero Bobby Robson paid £1,000 to sign him for Fulham in 1968 just after their relegation from the Football League First Division.
After a year at Fulham, the English forward joined Luton Town in 1969. He had an excellent 2 years at the club, which saw him score 58 goals in 101 appearances.
Newcastle's Supermac
The year of 1971 saw Newcastle manager Joe Harvey sign Macdonald from Luton for £180,000. He went on to have a dream debut for Newcastle, as he scored a hat-trick. This was also the game where his legendary "Supermac" nickname was created. It came when Newcastle fans chanted to the tune of the iconic Jesus Christ Superstar, namely, "Supermac, superstar, how many goals have you scored so far?".
Despite this dream start, Newcastle were struggling at bottom of the league after suffering a fifth consecutive defeat in the season against Everton. However, Macdonald later went on to form a devastating partnership with teammate Tony Green.
The duo was immense to Newcastle's revival, as the club went on an unbeaten run of five wins and two draws to and climbed up the table. Newcastle finished the season at 11th position, with Macdonald scoring a sensational 30 goals in 52 games. He also ended his debut campaign as the club's top scorer.
The years that followed saw Macdonald repeat his individual heroics, finishing as club top scorer in 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1976. He was also the First Division's top scorer for that 1975–76 season.
MacDonald was close to achieving silverware success with Newcastle on two occasions. One of them came against Liverpool in the 1974 FA Cup final, as they lost 3-0 to the Reds. The other was in the 1976 League Cup final, as Manchester United broke Newcastle hearts with a 2-1 victory on this occasion. Macdonald even set up Newcastle's only goal in that match, but his efforts went in vain.
Arsenal stint and retirement
Macdonald left Newcastle and joined Arsenal in 1976 for a bizarre £333,333.34 transfer fee. In December of the same year, he ironically scored a hat-trick in Arsenal's 5-3 victory over Newcastle. He was the club's top scorer for two consecutive seasons, and even the division top scorer in 1977.
The Englishman reached yet another FA cup final, but suffered heartbreak yet again after suffering a 1-0 victory against Ipswich Town. Macdonald suffered a serious knee injury during the start of the 1978–79 season, when Arsenal faced Rotherham in the League Cup. Unfortunately for the player, it was a fatal blow from which he truly never recovered.
After 3 years at Arsenal, Macdonald had a short stint at Swedish side Djurgården. He announced his heartbreaking retirement from football at the premature age of 29 in August 1979.
The Supermac bid farewell after scoring over 200 goals, in a magical career that unfortunately couldn't see him lift any silverware.
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