Mackay earned his spurs in golden era

WITH the League Cup in the bag thanks to a 5-1 thrashing of Partick Thistle, Hearts next turned their attentions to retaining the championship they worked so hard to win the previous season.

From early in the campaign it was clear it would be a two-horse race between them and rivals Rangers but with the pair neck and neck the Hearts support would be stunned in March 1959 by the sale of their prize asset - Dave Mackay.

An offer from English giants Tottenham Hotspur was accepted by the Jambos and the possibility of a move to White Hart Lane was put to the player.

Mackay, at just 24, believed he was in the prime of his career and later revealed he found the decision to accept the bid "baffling".

"I didn't want to leave Hearts," he insisted. "But I came to the conclusion they wanted to sell me for whatever reason or else they wouldn't have accepted the bid."

After a brief meeting with Spurs boss Bill Nicholson, Mackay was sold on a move south of the border and a fee of £32,000 was agreed - a record for a defender or midfielder at that time.

Tottenham bought Mackay a house and paid for all his moving expenses to London by way of luring him to the club as they were unable to pay more than the £20-a-week he had been receiving at Hearts due to a salary cap.

And within two years of him joining Nicholson's side, they were reaping the rewards for their shrewd piece of business as they became only the second English club to "do the double" when they lifted the championship and FA Cup in 1960/61. Spurs ended up romping home eight points clear of nearest challengers Sheffield Wednesday and the dream campaign was completed when they defeated Leicester City 3-1 at Wembley soon afterwards.

Mackay would be described in the English media as "the heartbeat" of that side and Nicholson too was in no doubt about his value to the club. The man who signed Mackay said: "He was my best signing. He did more than anyone to forge a team capable of winning the double."

They won the FA Cup again in the 1961/62 season and the year after that European Cup Winners' Cup glory beckoned as Rangers, Slovan Bratislava and OFK Belgrade were dispatched en route to the final.

Shortly before the final against Atletico Madrid, however, Mackay picked up a niggling groin injury that ruled him out of the clash.

His team-mates were able to complete the job without him and return to England with the trophy although Mackay has since revealed that "missing the game remains one of the biggest regrets of my career".

If that episode was one of Mackay's biggest regrets, an incident the following season, 1963/64, would provide him with one of the biggest tests he would face.

In December 1963 Mackay was part of the Tottenham team that travelled to Old Trafford to face Manchester United as they defended their Cup Winners' Cup crown.

Early in the clash he challenged for a 50/50 ball and recalls hearing a "sickening crack". Despite feeling no pain when he looked down at his ankle, it had been twisted round by almost 90 degrees.

So severe was the injury that in hospital Mackay was warned he may never play football again.

But Mackay had other ideas and although he was by now pushing 30 he spent the remainder of the season and most of the summer completing an extensive rehabilitation programme.

Mackay finally got the go-ahead from doctors to resume full training and when the injury seemed to be holding up well he started a reserve match against Shrewsbury Town in September 1964.

Incredibly, on his first game back, Mackay was the victim of a late challenge and his leg was broken for a second time.

That entire season would prove to be a write off, yet to his immense credit he battled back once more.

Some 20 months after he last pulled on a Tottenham first-team shirt, on August 25 1965, Mackay's determination was rewarded when he made his return in a 4-0 thrashing of Leicester City.

While the years were catching up on Mackay he was by no means a spent force and in 1967 he came within a whisker of bringing another championship to White Hart Lane as Manchester United pipped them by just four points.

But that same season Tottenham defeated Chelsea to clinch the FA Cup for the third time that decade. Mackay, now 32, was captain and received a rousing reception as he climbed Wembley's famous 39 steps.

The following season proved to be a disappointing and ultimately trophyless one and as it drew to its conclusion Mackay decided it would be his last before retiring.

When news that Mackay was to quit Tottenham reached Hearts they sounded him out about the possibility of returning as player/manager.

The latter part appealed to Mackay who had always had an affinity for the club but he was reluctant to return to the scene of past glories in a playing capacity in case things failed to work out.

The Gorgie outfit continued to press for him to accept the dual role, though, and as they deliberated an aspiring young manager called Brian Clough stepped in and lured him to unfancied Derby County - a club languishing 18th in Division Two at the time. Mackay was captivated by Clough's enthusiasm, charisma and promise "to build the team around him". He was made club captain immediately.

It proved an inspired decision from Clough and County ran away with the Second Division championship that year and Mackay was named Footballer of the Year for his efforts as an unexpected return to the top flight beckoned.

Upon their promotion Derby continued to prove the doubters wrong and led the table before Christmas.

A mid-season slump ruled them out of the eventual title fight but a late rally saw them finish in fourth place with Mackay again lauded for his displays.

What would prove to be 36-year-old Mackay's final season as a player, 1970-71, saw a respectable mid-table consolidation and he again contemplated retirement.

But, just as with the last time he had mulled over the idea of hanging up his boots, another offer that caught his imagination came in.

Swindon Town asked him to be their player/boss and with a career in coaching always something he had wanted to pursue, he duly accepted the role.

It would be the start of a long and winding path that would lead him from Swindon to Nottingham Forest, back to Derby and all the way to the Middle East.

And just as with his playing days Mackay proved to be a real winner. Arguably the pinnacle of his time as a manager came when he delivered only Derby's second ever First Division championship.

Mackay had been an unpopular choice as boss when he was chosen to succeed the by now legendary Clough but he quickly won over the fans and turned around the waning club's fortunes.

But failure to retain the championship and a poor start to the season after that saw Mackay eventually part ways with Derby before a short stint at Walsall.

A complete change of lifestyle followed in 1978 when Mackay agreed to take up the reins at Ak-Arabi, the biggest club in Kuwait at the time. He would remain in the region, save a two-year spell in charge of Birmingham City in the late 1980s and early 90s, until 1996 when he finally retired as youth coach of Qatar.

To this day he remains among the most decorated coaches to have worked in the area wracking up countless doubles and trebles.

Indeed, it was only when he was diagnosed with cancer that year that Mackay brought an end to his long love-affair with the sport.

Perhaps typical of the man, he later described the illness as "an inconvenience". Unsurprisingly, and like most of the battles in his life, it was one he won.

By the time he had fully recovered, however, the situation in the Middle East had deteriorated so much that he felt it wise to return to the UK to live with his family.

Now in his 70s Mackay still regularly visits the three clubs with which he is synonymous - Hearts, Tottenham and Derby - and is regarded at each as one of the finest players to have pulled on their respective jerseys.

Taken from the Scotsman