Darren Mackie

Last updated

Darren Mackie
Mackie, Darren.jpg
Mackie in 2010
Personal information
Full name Darren Graham Mackie [1]
Date of birth (1982-01-05) 5 January 1982 (age 43) [1]
Place of birth Inverurie, Scotland
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) [1]
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1998–2012 Aberdeen 313 (58)
2004 → Inverness Caledonian Thistle (loan) 6 (0)
2012–2013 Phoenix 10 (5)
2013–2016 Turriff United 87 (32)
2016–2017 Inverurie Locos 54 (32)
Total470(127)
International career
2007 Scotland B 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 28 July 2013

Darren Graham Mackie (born 5 January 1982) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a striker for Aberdeen in the Scottish Premier League between 1998 and 2012, with a loan spell at Inverness Caledonian Thistle in 2004.

Contents

Though he was never a prolific goalscorer throughout his career, Mackie is regarded as a cult hero among Aberdeen fans due to his off-field antics and scoring the goal that took the Dons into the UEFA Cup group stages in 2007 [2] .

Club career

Aberdeen

Mackie was born in Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. A product of the Aberdeen Aberdeen youth system, he started his professional career with the club's senior team in 1998.

Inverness CT (loan)

In January 2004, Mackie moved on loan to Inverness Caledonian Thistle. [3] He made six league appearances for Inverness, but failed to score a goal and returned to Aberdeen at the end of the season.

Return to Aberdeen

He scored 15 goals for Aberdeen in the 2004–05 season – including twelve in the league – which helped his team to a fourth-place finish, but they just missed out on UEFA Cup qualification. On 22 August 2006, Mackie missed a decisive penalty in a shock 5–3 penalty shootout league cup defeat to Third Division side Queen's Park. [4] He finished the 2006–07 season with 13 league goals, including one very bizarre one in a match against Kilmarnock on 28 April 2007. Kilmarnock goalkeeper Alan Combe attempted to throw the ball to one of his teammates, but Mackie, who was walking away from goal, was instead hit on the back of his head by Combe's throw and the ball rebounded over the helpless keeper into the net. [5]

Aberdeen finished third in the SPL in the 2006–07 season and therefore qualified for the 2007–08 UEFA Cup first round, where they faced Ukrainian club Dnipro. The first leg of the tie on 20 September 2007 at Pittodrie ended goalless, [6] but in the second-leg, Mackie netted the opening goal, his 50th goal for Aberdeen. He headed in from close range after a pinpoint cross by Ricky Foster. The match ended 1–1 with Andriy Vorobey scoring the equaliser for Dnipro, [7] but Mackie's strike ensured Aberdeen's progress to the group stages of the tournament on away goals and secured a substantial financial windfall for the club. Mackie also scored the only goal of the game against Celtic at Celtic Park in the Scottish Cup quarter-final replay on 18 March 2008. [8]

Mackie scored his 50th league goal for Aberdeen on 20 December 2008 in an SPL match against Inverness Caledonian Thistle at the Caledonian Stadium and signed a new three-year contract with the Dons in February 2009. [9]

On 19 July 2011, Aberdeen played La Liga side Villarreal at Pittodrie in a testimonial match to mark Mackie's thirteen years with the club. [10] The match ended 1–0 to Villarreal, with striker Giuseppe Rossi scoring the only goal after 53 minutes. [11] Near the end of the 2011–12 season, Mackie was advised that his contract with Aberdeen would not be extended. [12] Mackie played his last game for Aberdeen in a goalless draw against St Mirren on 12 May.

Phoenix FC

On 27 September 2012, Mackie signed a one-year contract with Phoenix FC of the USL Pro. [13] He was sidelined with a groin injury in the early part of the season, which limited his playing time. His contract was not renewed and he returned to Scotland after the season ended. [14]

Turriff United

After leaving Phoenix, Mackie returned to Scottish football with Turriff United in 2013 [15] , spending three seasons at the club. His spell playing for the Highland League outfit was again blighted by injuries, including a 12-month lay-off following a knee ligament injury in a game against Fraserburgh [16] .

Inverurie Loco Works

Mackie was announced as a player-coach at Inverurie Loco Works as of 1 September 2016. [17] In late 2016, Mackie took temporary charge of Inverurie following the resignation of the club's manager, Scott Buchan [18] .

In June 2017, the club announced on social media that Mackie was leaving both roles at Inverurie Loco Works, citing business commitments [19] .

Shortly after leaving the Locos, Mackie retired as a player [2] .

International career

On 30 January 2007, Alex McLeish named Mackie in the Scotland B team to play Finland B at Rugby Park, Kilmarnock on 7 February. [20] [21]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeague Scottish Cup Scottish League Cup EuropeTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Aberdeen 1999–2000 Scottish Premier League 4000100050
2000–01 222211010263
2001–02 348202100389
2002–03 304101041365
2003–04 160002000180
2004–05 34123310003815
2005–06 274101000304
2006–07 36132010003913
2007–08 193311031255
2008–09 296302000346
2009–10 324311020365
2010–11 91003000121
2011–12 191202200233
Total3135822619310236469
Inverness (loan) 2003–04 Scottish First Division 6020000080
Career total3195824619310237269

References

  1. 1 2 3 The Bell's Scottish Football Review 2005.06. Cre8 Publishing. 2005. p. 16. ISBN   978-0-95485-561-1.
  2. 1 2 Fleming, Keiran (13 May 2022). "Darren Mackie the Aberdeen cult hero loved by many for his antics". Aberdeen Live. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  3. ↑ "Mackie joins Caley Thistle". BBC. 7 January 2004. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
  4. ↑ Queen's Park 0–0 Aberdeen (5–3 pen) BBC Sport. 22 August 2006.
  5. ↑ "Aberdeen 3–0 Kilmarnock" Aberdeen FC website. 24 April 2007
  6. ↑ "Aberdeen 0–0 Dnipro" BBC Sport. 20 September 2007
  7. ↑ "Dnipro 1–1 Aberdeen" BBC Sport. 4 October 2007.
  8. ↑ "Celtic 0–1 Aberdeen" BBC Sport. 18 March 2008.
  9. ↑ "Darren Mackie nets new Dons deal". The Daily Record . 9 February 2009. Retrieved 4 May 2009.
  10. ↑ "Darren Mackie Testimonial Match". Aberdeen Football Club. 17 June 2011. Archived from the original on 23 June 2011. Retrieved 22 June 2011.
  11. ↑ "Aberdeen lose Darren Mackie match against Villarreal". BBC Sport. 20 July 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
  12. ↑ "Aberdeen striker Darren Mackie among six to exit". BBC Sport. 25 April 2012. Retrieved 25 April 2012.
  13. ↑ "Phoenix FC officially signs first player, Scottish former Premier League forward, according to sources". Odeen Domingo. The Arizona Republic. 27 September 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
  14. ↑ "Aberdeen FC favourite Darren Mackie to head home after frustrating spell at Phoenix FC". eveningexpress.co.uk. 23 August 2013. Archived from the original on 20 October 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  15. ↑ "Mackie makes Turriff debut | SPFL". spfl.co.uk. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  16. ↑ "Turriff United's Mackie ruled out for 12 months". Grampian Online. 1 December 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  17. ↑ Former Aberdeen Man Darren Mackie Signs for Inverurie Locos‚eveningexpress.co.uk, 31 August 2016
  18. ↑ Edwards, Dave (22 December 2016). "Family first as manager Buchan quits Inverurie Locos". Press and Journal. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  19. ↑ "Inverurie Loco Works FC - Official Facebook Site". Facebook . 5 June 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  20. ↑ "Gow & McGregor given Scots chance". BBC Sport. 30 January 2007. Retrieved 4 September 2008.
  21. ↑ "Darren Mackie". fitbastats.com. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.