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NORMAN MACKAY
Born: 26 May 1902
Came from: Lovell's Athletic Went to: Southend United
First game: 28 January 1928 Last game: 05 May 1934
Appearances: 241 (241/0) Goals: 14
Born in Edinburgh, Mackay began his career in his native Scotland and was a right-half or an inside right. Prior to football, he had been a draughtsman, in which poise he was captured and caricatured on a vintage football card.
He had started out as a forward with Edinburgh Royal in 1917 and played for Leith Amateurs in 1918 and Gala Fairydean in 1919 before joining Scottish League Hibernian in 1920. After making just two appearances for Hibs, he moved south to join Blackburn Rovers in 1921. He spent the 1921-22 season at Ewood Park, though he did not make a League appearance.
His spell at Ewood may have also been brief, as records suggest he returned home with moves to St Bernard’s in 1921, before joining Lochgelly United in 1922 and then Broxburn United. It was from Broxburn that he moved to top-flight Aston Villa after spending the 1922-23 season without a club.
Competition was fierce at Villa Park and after just two first-team starts aged 21, he dropped into non-league football with Western League Lovell's Athletic - the works' team of the Newport-based toffee factory, who were a familiar opponent of the time, to Argyle. He had also had a trial with Clydebank and was playing junior football with Glasgow-based Yoker Athletic. When he was signed by Argyle in 1927 for a fee of £200, he had indeed been combining playing for Lovell's with a job selling the toffees that the company produced.
A hat-trick on his debut against Coventry in January 1928 was the perfect start, but it proved to be a false dawn. He was never really a goal-scorer, but developed into an energetic, tough-tackling half-back, and became a key part of the 1929-30 Division Three (South) winning side. He was ever-present in their first season in the Second Division and missed only one game as Argyle finished in fourth place in 1931-32. He was of medium height but stocky and known for his terrier-like tackling, was described by a former team-mate as "a hard nut, small, but tough".
After nearly seven years at Home Park, making almost 250 appearances while scoring 14 goals, he joined Southend United in 1934. He played 32 times in his single season at the Southend Stadium (as was then their base), playing under former Argyle and later England player, David Jack, who was in charge of the Essex side. After leaving Southend, Mackay then moved back north of the border to play for his last club, Clydebank, ahead of his retirement from football in 1935.
YOUR CONTRIBUTION
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From Steve Dean in Plymouth on 21/02/2014 ...
Browsing through a copy of the Western Morning News from 1931 - as I'm sure we all do from time to time - I came across this report from Plymouth Magistrates Court:
19 SEPTEMBER 1931
FOOTBALLER IN COURT
"He is a good driver but a poor lawyer," remarked Mr. Elliot Square at Plymouth yesterday, when he defended Norman Mackay, of Connaught-avenue, Plymouth, the Plymouth Argyle half-back. The case was taken out of its turn in the list to enable Mackay to catch the train for Leeds, where Argyle are engaged today.
Mackay pleaded "Guilty" to not reporting a slight collision between his car and a stationary vehicle in George-street on the night of August 8, and further to not having in force a third-party risk insurance.
The Chief Constable (Mr. A. K. Wilson) said just after 11 o'clock Mackay was driving his car, and a slight collision occurred, but he failed to report it, as required by law. ... More
APPEARANCE DETAILS [reselect competitions]
The details below reflect appearances in all first-team competitions.
I'm very grateful to many who have helped write GoS-DB's player pen-pictures, and to Dave Rowntree, the PAFC Media Team and Colin Parsons for their help with photos. Thanks also to staff at the National Football Museum, the Scottish Football Museum and ScotlandsPeople for their valuable assistance.
The following publications have been particularly valuable in the research of pen-pictures: Plymouth Argyle, A Complete Record 1903-1989 (Brian Knight, ISBN 0-907969-40-2); Plymouth Argyle, 101 Golden Greats (Andy Riddle, ISBN 1-874287-47-3); Football League Players' Records 1888-1939 (Michael Joyce, ISBN 1-899468-67-6); Football League Players' Records 1946-1988 (Barry Hugman, ISBN 1-85443-020-3) and Plymouth Argyle Football Club Handbooks.
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