FOOTBALL MEMORIES: Gordon Fyfe, the former journalist and Inverness Caledonian player, looks back on Kevin MacDonald's dream move to England – a deal that brought a Leicester City side featuring BBC Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker to the old Telford Street ground in 1983.
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Research into the Caledonian Invincibles of 1982-83 – the team that won the Highland League undefeated – recalls an end of season glamour friendly against Leicester City, whose ranks included strikers Gary Lineker and Alan Smith, now famous as television football pundits.
The Leicester team also featured former Caley midfielder Kevin MacDonald, who they had signed three years earlier for a club record fee of £26,000 and the promise of the glamour game at Telford Street, Inverness.
Lineker, who went on to play for Everton, Spurs and Barcelona, scored twice as did Smith, who joined Arsenal, in a 4-0 victory for Leicester. Also starring in the Leicester team was Ian Wilson, formerly of Elgin City, who played for Scotland.
The date was 28 March, 1983. 18 months later Kevin was signed by Liverpool in a £400,000 deal. In 1985-86, Kevin was a key member of the Liverpool team that won the English Football League Division 1 and FA Cup double. This was the first time in their illustrious history that Liverpool had achieved the double.
Lineker and Kevin were to meet up again In the FA Cup final at Wembley in May 1986. Lineker scored for Everton while Kevin starred in midfield in Liverpool’s 3-1 triumph.
Surprisingly, Kevin did not play for Scotland but his success at Liverpool in winning the league and cup double was an outstanding achievement, which was marked with a civic reception at Inverness Town House.
It was clear from an early age that Kevin was bound for great things. He was good at most sports, including golf, table tennis and badminton but excelled at football. His tenacity and will to win matched his undoubted ability.
Kevin was brought up in Ross Avenue and later in Ballifeary Lane in Inverness, being the youngest son of Donnie and Margaret MacDonald. Donnie, or Doxers as he was better known, had played for the three Inverness Highland League sides and was also an accomplished badminton player. He was also a chairman of Inverness Sports Council and manager of a local building society. Kevin’s older brothers were Jeff, who played for Caledonian 2nd XI and Glasgow University and Gordon, who had a spell in goal for Inverness Thistle.
“It was a very competitive household,” recalls Mrs MacDonald, a useful badminton player and keen golfer.
Kevin attended Central Primary School and was selected for the Inverness Primary Schools Select. He went on to Inverness High School, helping his side win the Under 15 Cock of the North Cup. He played for a number of youth sides, such as the Cameron Youth Club, the Boys Brigade 5th Company (East Church), Dalneigh Dynamos and Queen Street Hotspurs.
Kevin won football trophies galore before he was snapped up by Caledonian, initially playing in their under-16 team. His mum recalls skipper Peter Corbett calling for Kevin and taking him on his crossbar to training at Telford Street. It was not long before Kevin became a regular in the first team and he had scored 22 goals in 56 appearances, including 10 penalties, when he was snapped up by Leicester City, who had been encouraged to sign Kevin by Caley manager Willie Hunter.
The Leicester manager was Jock Wallace, the former Rangers boss, who quickly promoted Kevin to the first team and Jock’s successor Gordon Milne recognised his leadership qualities by making him captain at the age of 23.
Mrs MacDonald recalls: “Mr Wallace said Kevin joined Leicester as a boy and he made him a man. He helped Kevin cope with his early home sickness. He recognised his ability and his desire to win. Kevin enjoyed his time at Leicester and when his playing career was over he returned for a spell as youth development officer. Indeed he still lives in the Leicester area.”
Kevin helped Leicester gain promotion to the top flight of English football and his five-star performances won him a dream move to Liverpool in November 1984.
Liverpool manager Joe Fagan insisted his new signing was not the new Graeme Souness (he had moved on to Sampdoria in Italy), possessing his own qualities as a midfield enforcer.
Gordon Milne said at the time: “It would be too much of a cross for the lad to bear if people expect him to operate in the same way as Souness. Kevin is a winner. He is aggressive, will run and work all day and he can play too. He has all the basic qualities Liverpool are looking for – but a Graeme Souness he is not.”
In May 1985, he had just missed out on a place in the starting line up in the European Cup Final when Liverpool lost 1-0 to Juventus at the Heysel Stadium, Brussels. 39 fans died in riots ahead of the kick off, an experience Kevin would rather not recall.
The scenes were so disturbing that Mr MacDonald senior, who travelled to the final, did not wish to attend further big games involving Liverpool, including the English Cup Final.
Kevin, who had broken his elbow earlier in the 1985-86 season, then suffered a double leg break the following season while playing at Southampton, This was an injury that ruled him out for 15 months and effectively ended his time at Anfield.
He had a short loan spell at Rangers, under Graeme Souness, and then moved to Coventry City and Walsall before embarking on a successful career as a coach. He was in charge of the reserve team at Aston Villa when he was asked by Steve Staunton to be his number two with the Republic of Ireland international side. Indeed, Kevin took charge of the Irish side for a game in Cyprus when Staunton was serving a one-game ban. On three occasions, Kevin served as acting manager of Aston Villa, stepping up when the manager was relieved of his duties.
Kevin still keeps his hand in at coaching with the Gordon Strachan Academy.
In his younger days, Kevin took part in the Inverness Golf Club’s four-day open, meeting up with his brothers and old school pals from Inverness High School, including Brian Fraser and Mike Andrew.
He regularly qualified for the knockout stages of the event, both scratch and handicap. Indeed he won the handicap section on one occasion. He also recorded a hole in one at the 13th hole at Culcabock.
Mrs MacDonald has kept bags of newspaper cuttings of her late husband and all her sons, who all played a part in the sporting history of Inverness.
Jeff, who spends most of the year in Austin, Texas, excelled at badminton, cricket and football before becoming a successful businessman in the oil industry. Gordon, now living in Perth, Australia, after a career in policing in the London area, played cricket and golf to a high standard and had a spell as goalkeeper with Inverness Thistle.
• Gordon Fyfe is joint chairman of ICTFC Community Trust, which is promoting the Inverness Football Memories project along with the backing Am Baile, the Highland history and culture website, Clachnacuddin FC and High Life Highland.
