Alex MacDonald (footballer, born 1990)

Alexander MacDonald (born 14 April 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Stevenage. His previous clubs include Burnley, Falkirk, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Plymouth Argyle, Burton Albion, Oxford United, Mansfield Town and Gillingham. Born in England, he has represented Scotland at under-19 and under-21 level.

Alex MacDonald
MacDonald (wearing number 7) warming up for Gillingham in 2023
Personal information
Full name Alexander MacDonald[1]
Date of birth (1990-04-14) 14 April 1990[2]
Place of birth Warrington, England
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[3]
Position(s) Winger, forward
Team information
Current team
 Stevenage
Number 7
Youth career
2006–2008 Burnley
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2013 Burnley 11 (0)
2009 → Falkirk (loan) 11 (0)
2011 → Inverness Caledonian Thistle (loan) 10 (1)
2012 → Plymouth Argyle (loan) 18 (4)
2012 → Plymouth Argyle (loan) 16 (1)
2013 → Burton Albion (loan) 15 (1)
2013–2015 Burton Albion 56 (7)
2015–2017 Oxford United 77 (9)
2017–2020 Mansfield Town 109 (6)
2020–2023 Gillingham 85 (4)
2023– Stevenage 7 (0)
International career
2008–2009 Scotland U19 8 (7)
2010–2012 Scotland U21 6 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:00, 27 September 2023 (UTC)

Club career

Youth career

MacDonald started his career in the youth team at Burnley and signed a two-year scholarship in 2006, after previously having a trial at Liverpool. He impressed for the youth team and was voted Youth Team Player of the Year for the 2007–08 season, being rewarded with a professional contract in the summer of 2008.[3]

Burnley

MacDonald made his debut on 26 April 2008, coming on as a substitute for Wade Elliott in the Championship 3–3 draw against Cardiff City in the final home game of the season.[4] He also featured a week later in the final game of the season, a 5–0 defeat to Crystal Palace. In the 2008–09 season he featured mainly in the reserve side; however, he did make six appearances as a substitute for the first team, with his first coming in a 3–2 away win over Sheffield United. He also featured heavily in the FA Cup, making three appearances in the run to the sixth round, which came to an end in a 3–0 defeat against Arsenal.

When Burnley got promoted to the Premier League in May 2009 via the play-offs, MacDonald struggled to fight for a place in the team and joined Scottish Premier League side Falkirk on a six-month loan in July.[5] He made his debut for the Bairns on 16 July 2009 in the Europa League second qualifying round tie first leg tie against FC Vaduz of Liechtenstein, starting the match in a 1–0 win.[6] He made thirteen appearances in all competitions during his stay with the Scottish club, scoring no goals before returning to Turf Moor in January 2010. He suffered a double hernia injury towards the end of the season and did not feature for the rest of the campaign. He suffered greater troubles when his mother died in March, but he continued to train as usual with the first team as the Clarets were relegated from the Premier League.[7]

MacDonald thought he would feature more in the 2010–11 season under Brian Laws in the Championship, but he did not find himself in contention for the first team and was again sent on loan to Scotland in January 2010, joining SPL side Inverness Caledonian Thistle until the end of the season.[8] He made his first appearance for Terry Butcher's side on 5 February 2011, in 5–1 victory over Morton in the Scottish Cup second round, coming on as a substitute for Adam Rooney. He scored his first goal for the club 5 March 2011, scoring with his first touch in a 3–0 win over Motherwell in the SPL after coming on as a substitute.

After a very impressive pre-season in 2011, MacDonald finally broke back into the Burnley team on 20 August 2011, coming on as a late substitute for Ross Wallace in a 1–1 draw against Cardiff City.[9] On 31 January 2012, he was loaned to League Two side Plymouth Argyle on an emergency loan until 6 March.[10] MacDonald extended his loan with the club until the end of the campaign on 28 February.[11]

On 31 August 2012, MacDonald re-signed for Plymouth Argyle until 6 October on an emergency loan. On 1 October, after his loan spell was extended, Alex expressed his liking for the club and the city by saying that he wanted a permanent move to Plymouth.[12] On 4 December, he returned to Burnley from his loan spell.[13] On 31 January 2013, he joined League Two side Burton Albion on an initial one-month loan.[14]

Burton Albion

After his release from Burnley in May 2013, MacDonald joined Burton on a two-year contract.[15]

Oxford United

On 2 February 2015, MacDonald joined Oxford United on a two-and-a-half-year contract.[16] On 31 January 2017, he left Oxford by mutual consent.[17] While with Oxford, he scored 12 goals in 97 appearances, 9 of them in league matches

Mansfield Town

MacDonald signed for Mansfield Town on 31 January 2017. He was released by Mansfield at the end of the 2019–20 season.[18]

Gillingham

MacDonald signed for EFL League One side Gillingham on 14 August 2020.[19] He made his debut for the Kent side on 5 September 2020 in a 1–0 win over Southend United in the first round of the EFL Cup.[20]

Following the departure of manager Steve Evans from the club on 9 January 2022, he was appointed to assist caretaker manager Steve Lovell.[21]

With his contract expiring at the end of the season, manager Neil Harris confirmed that the club were in conversation with Macdonald over an extension.[22]

Stevenage

MacDonald signed for Stevenage in June 2023.[23]

International career

MacDonald was born in England, but qualified to play for Scotland through his father. He scored in his second appearance for the under-19s against Azerbaijan on 20 October 2008 and scored two more against San Marino a couple of days later.[24] In his fifth match for the team, against France on 25 February 2009, MacDonald captained the side and scored twice.[24] In total, he received eight caps at under-19 level and scored seven goals.[24] He made his under-21 debut on 17 November 2010 against Northern Ireland and scored his first goal for the team in his fourth appearance, against Luxembourg.[25] He dedicated the goal to his mother, Janette, who died 18 months earlier at the age of 40.[26]

Career statistics
As of match played on 9 October 2021
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Burnley
2007–08[27]
 Championship 200000—20
2008–09[28]
 Championship 3030000060
2009–10[29] Premier League 000000—00
2010–11[30] Championship 000000—00
2011–12[31] Championship 501010—70
2012–13[32] Championship 100010—20
Total 110402000170
Falkirk (loan) 2009–10[33] Scottish Premier League 11000002[lower-alpha 1]0130
Inverness Caledonian Thistle (loan) 2010–11[34] Scottish Premier League 101100000111
Plymouth Argyle (loan) 2011–12[35] League Two 184000000184
2012–13[36] League Two 16100001[lower-alpha 2]1172
Total 345000011356
Burton Albion (loan) 2012–13[37] League Two 15100002[lower-alpha 3]0171
Burton Albion 2013–14[38] League Two 35030102[lower-alpha 3]0410
2014–15[39] League Two 21710201[lower-alpha 2]0257
Total 718403050838
Oxford United 2014–15[40] League Two 153000000153
2015–16[41] League Two 40540206[lower-alpha 2]1526
2016–17[42] League One 22141202[lower-alpha 2]1303
Total 7798140829712
Mansfield Town 2016–17[43] League Two 181000000181
2017–18[44] League Two 41340001[lower-alpha 2]0463
2018–19[45] League Two 21100203[lower-alpha 4]0261
2019–20[46] League Two 29110003[lower-alpha 2]0331
Total 10965020701236
Gillingham 2020–21[47] League One 37110304[lower-alpha 2]0451
2021–22[48] League One 7000001[lower-alpha 2]080
Total 441103050531
Career total 3673023114028343234
  1. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  2. Appearances in Football League Trophy
  3. Appearance in Football League Two play-offs
  4. One appearance in Football League Trophy, two appearances in League Two play-offs

References
  1. "Notification of shirt numbers: Gillingham" (PDF). English Football League. p. 31. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  2. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2008). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2008–09. Mainstream. ISBN 978-1-84596-324-8.
  3. "Alex MacDonald". Burnley F.C. Archived from the original on 10 January 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  4. "Memorable day for young Clarets striker Alex MacDonald". Burnley Citizen. Retrieved 2 May 2008.
  5. "Falkirk bring in three new faces". BBC Sport. 9 July 2009. Retrieved 9 July 2009.
  6. "Alex makes European debut". Claretsmad. 16 July 2009. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  7. "Burnley FC mourning after death of Alex MacDonald's mum (40)". Burnley Express. 4 March 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  8. "Burnley's Alex MacDonald joins Inverness on loan". BBC Sport. 31 January 2011. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  9. "Burnley vs Cardiff City". Burnley F.C. 20 August 2011. Archived from the original on 27 December 2011. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  10. "Macca Off To Be A Pilgrim". Burnley F.C. 15 February 2012. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  11. "Alex MacDonald's delighted to extend stay at Home Park". The Herald. Plymouth. 28 February 2012. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  12. "Macca back with the Pilgrims". Burnley FC. 31 August 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  13. "MacDonald keen on Plymouth switch". Claretsmad. 4 December 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  14. "Brewers Add Fire Power". Burton Albion. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  15. "Burton: Alex MacDonald, Dominic Knowles and Adam Reed sign". BBC Sport. 18 June 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2013.
  16. "Transfer Deadline Day: Oxford sign Burton's Alex MacDonald". BBC Sport. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  17. "Alex MacDonald departs Oxford United on deadline day by mutual consent". Oxford Mail. 31 January 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  18. "Mansfield Town announce retained list". Mansfield Town F.C. 18 May 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  19. "Alex MacDonald: Gillingham sign forward after release from Mansfield Town". BBC Sport. 14 August 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  20. "Report | Gillingham 1-0 Southend United". gillinghamfootballclub.com. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  21. "Steve Lovell and Alex MacDonald to lead Gillingham after Ipswich thrashing". ITV News. 10 January 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  22. Cawdell, Luke (3 May 2023). "Gillingham in contract talks with Alex MacDonald and David Tutonda; Manager Neil Harris confirms Stuart O'Keefe will leave in the summer while striker Lewis Walker remains". Kent Online. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  23. Alex MacDonald joins Stevenage
  24. "Alexander MacDonald – U19 Squad". Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  25. "Alexander MacDonald – U21 Squad". Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  26. "Super Mac on Target For Scots". Burnley F.C. 7 October 2011. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  27. "Burnley 2007/2008 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  28. "Burnley 2008/2009 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  29. "Burnley 2009/2010 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  30. "Burnley 2010/2011 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  31. "Burnley 2011/2012 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  32. "Burnley 2012/2013 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 18 June 2012.
  33. "Falkirk 2009/2010 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  34. "Inverness CT 2010/2011 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  35. "Plymouth 2011/2012 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  36. "Plymouth 2012/2013 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  37. "Burton 2012/2013 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
  38. "Burton 2013/2014 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
  39. "Burton 2014/2015 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  40. "Oxford 2014/2015 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  41. "Oxford 2015/2016 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  42. "Oxford 2016/2017 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  43. "Games played by Alex MacDonald in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  44. "Games played by Alex MacDonald in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  45. "Games played by Alex MacDonald in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  46. "Games played by Alex MacDonald in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  47. "Games played by Alex MacDonald in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  48. "Games played by Alex MacDonald in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
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