Ian McDonald (footballer, born 1953)

For other people with similar names, see Ian McDonald (disambiguation).

Ian Clifford McDonald (born 10 May 1953) is an English former footballer and manager.

Ian McDonald

Personal information
Full name	Ian Clifford McDonald^[1]
Date of birth	(1953-05-10) 10 May 1953 (age 70)^[1]
Place of birth	Barrow-in-Furness,^[1] England
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)^[2]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1971–1973	Barrow	36	(2)
1973–1974	Workington	42	(4)
1974–1975	Liverpool	0	(0)
1975	Colchester United	5	(2)
1975–1977	Mansfield Town	56	(4)
1977–1981	York City	175	(29)
1981–1988	Aldershot	340	(50)
Total		654	(91)
Managerial career
1991–1992	Aldershot (caretaker)
2013–2014	Workington
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

Born in Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire, McDonald began his career with his hometown club Barrow before joining Workington. A move to Liverpool followed but he did not break into the first team, and was loaned to Colchester United before joining Mansfield Town in July 1975, with whom he won the Third Division title in 1976–77.

He moved to York City where he became a regular in midfield before joining Aldershot in November 1981, in exchange for Malcolm Crosby. At Aldershot he gained renown as a skilful midfielder and captained the side to promotion to the Third Division under Len Walker in 1987.^[3] After leaving League football in 1989 to join Farnborough Town, he returned to Aldershot as caretaker manager following the resignation of Brian Talbot in November 1991.

However, the Hampshire club was now deep in debt and struggling back in the Fourth Division, having narrowly avoided going out of business the previous year. Staff wages regularly went unpaid, and many players moved elsewhere just to seek a guaranteed wage. McDonald often had to resort to recruiting amateur footballers just to be able to field a full side.

McDonald stayed with Aldershot until the club finally went out of business and left the Football League on 25 March 1992. His assistant Steve Wignall was appointed manager of the new Aldershot Town club which was formed several weeks later, and that summer McDonald made his own football comeback as a reserve team coach at Millwall. Later in 1992, McDonald had his own testimonial with the new Aldershot side at the Recreation Ground against Southampton. He later worked part-time in schools support in the Barrow-in-Furness area.^{[citation needed]}

On 16 December 2013, McDonald returned to football management when he was appointed manager of Workington,^[4] the club he played for forty years earlier.

Honours

Mansfield Town^[5]

• Football League Third Division winner: 1976–77

Aldershot^[6]

• Football League Fourth Division playoff winner: 1986–87

Individual

• York City Clubman of the Year: 1979–80

References

1. "Ian McDonald". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
2. Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.
3. . Aldershot Town F.C. Archived from the original on 6 April 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
4. . News & Star. 17 December 2013. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
5. "Tier Three (League One) Honours". Coludaybyday.co.uk.
6. "Division Three (League Two) Play-Off Final's". Coludaybyday.co.uk. Retrieved 1 April 2020.

External links

• Ian McDonald stats at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Transfer Database