Scott McDonald

Scott McDonald

Personal information
Full name	Scott Douglas McDonald
Date of birth	21 August 1983 (1983-08-21) (age 27)
Place of birth	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Middlesbrough
Number	7
Youth career
1998	Gippsland Falcons
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1998–1999	Gippsland Falcons	3	(0)
1999–2000	Cranbourne Comets	10	(2)
2000–2002	Southampton	2	(0)
2002	→ Huddersfield Town (loan)	13	(1)
2002	→ Bournemouth (loan)	7	(1)
2003	Wimbledon	2	(0)
2004–2007	Motherwell	108	(42)
2007–2010	Celtic	88	(51)
2010–	Middlesbrough	17	(7)
National team‡
1999	Australia U17	17	(13)
2001–2003	Australia U20	24	(16)
2003–2004	Australia U23	3	(0)
2006–	Australia	16	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:27, 2 May 2010 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18:40, 24 May 2010 (UTC)

Scott Douglas McDonald (born 21 August 1983 in Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian football (soccer) player who currently plays as a striker for English Championship side Middlesbrough and the Australian national team.

Club career

Early career

McDonald began his career at outer suburb club, Doveton, before joining Casey Comets. He made three appearances on loan from his Victorian State League club, Cranbourne Comets, with Gippsland Falcons in the Australian National Soccer League, where he became the club's youngest ever NSL player, replacing Jason Marsh when making his first team debut aged just fifteen.

McDonald started off as a trainee with Southampton in 2001 where he managed only one first-team start and two appearances as a substitute, being loaned to Huddersfield Town (scoring once against Tranmere)^[1] and Bournemouth (scoring once against Shrewsbury)^[2] where again he had chances to play first team football. Upon reaching the end of his contract with Southampton he signed for Wimbledon on a rolling monthly contract. Before signing for Motherwell in summer 2004, McDonald was on trial with Dundee United but failed to win a contract.

Motherwell

After signing for Motherwell, McDonald had a slow start, scoring only one goal during the second half of the 2003-04 season despite impressive performances. The following season he proceeded to score 15 goals. McDonald famously scored two late goals against Celtic at the end of season 2004/05 to deny them the Scottish Premier League Championship which was instead won by their arch-rivals Rangers. In the 2005/06 season, McDonald scored 11 goals in 35 appearances, and in the following season, scored 15 goals in 32 appearances. His goal against Falkirk on 25 November 2006 was the 5000th goal in the SPL since its formation in 1998.

After a £400,000 bid from Rangers was rejected in January 2007,^[3] McDonald's former club Motherwell accepted a £700,000 offer from boyhood favourites^[4] Celtic in March 2007, with McDonald moving to Celtic Park at the start of the 2007/08 season.^[5]

In December 2007, McDonald was named BBC Sportsound Player of the Year for his eight man-of-the-match performances throughout the 2006/07 season.^[6] In his successful stint with The Steelmen, he scored 42 goals in 108 appearances.

Celtic

McDonald playing for Celtic

McDonald made his competitive debut for Celtic in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League third qualifying Round match against Spartak Moscow at Luzhniki Stadium, assisting Paul Hartley for Celtic's goal. The game finished 1-1.^[7] His first goal for the club came in the second leg of the tie at Celtic Park. A mistake by Spartak defender Roman Shishkin allowed McDonald to slip in and hit the ball first time past Stipe Pletikosa. Just days later away to St. Mirren, McDonald latched onto a long Gary Caldwell pass to lob Chris Smith from a tight angle and score his first SPL goal for Celtic. He followed that up in a similar way with the winning goal against AC Milan in the final minute of their UEFA Champions League clash and another last-minute winner just days later at Gretna.

In a pulsating Old Firm clash, McDonald set up a last minute goal for his Dutch strike partner Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink that kept Celtic in the 2007-08 SPL title race, before scoring a double and winning a penalty in the vital 3-2 victory over Rangers in April 2008 just two weeks later.

McDonald was rewarded with a new deal in 2008 ^[8] and was nominated for SPL Player of the Year. He scored 25 goals in 36 league appearances in his first season at Celtic, and was the top goalscorer during the 2007-08 season beating the next highest goalscorer and strike partner, Vennegoor of Hesselink by 10 goals. This breakthrough season included two hat-tricks; against Dundee United, and his former club Motherwell. In total, McDonald scored 31 times in his first season at Parkhead.

McDonald wore the number 27 in his first season with Celtic but in July 2008 he was given number 7 jersey. After a sluggish start to the 2008-09 season, not scoring in any of the first four games, he opened his account against Motherwell, scoring Celtic's third goal in a 4-2 win at Fir Park. On 5 November 2008 McDonald scored the opening goal in a 1-1 draw with Manchester United at Celtic Park in the Champions League with a well executed lob over Ben Foster. Only three days later, McDonald continued to haunt his former club Motherwell with a low strike from outside the penalty area. Celtic won this match 2-0. On 27 December 2008, he scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory at Ibrox during the Old Firm derby, helping his team bring the three points home. On 27 January 2009 McDonald scored twice in the dramatic 11-10 penalty shoot-out victory against Dundee United to send Celtic through to the League Cup final, which they won 2-0 against arch rivals Rangers. This win gave McDonald his first domestic cup trophy at Celtic.

McDonald scored his 49th and 50th Celtic goals at Pittodrie against Aberdeen on 2 May as Celtic ran out 3-1 winners. On 3 July, McDonald was handed the Celtic captaincy for a pre-season game against Brisbane Roar, due to the injury to Stephen McManus and the departure of former vice-captain Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink. On 5 August, he scored the opening goal against Dynamo Moscow in Russia, a game which Celtic went on to win 2-0, to progress to the final qualifying round of the Champions League. On 5 December, McDonald scored his 50th league goal for Celtic against Aberdeen.

In four years with Motherwell, McDonald managed 45 goals, but in less than three years with Celtic he scored 65 times.

Middlesbrough

On 7 January 2010, Celtic rejected a transfer bid from Premier League side Wigan Athletic for the Australian striker,^[9] but on 1 February - transfer deadline day - Celtic sold McDonald to Middlesbrough for a reported £3.5 million. He joined up with Gordon Strachan, whom he played under at Celtic and Southampton, and also rejoined four of his former teammates, Willo Flood, Barry Robson, Chris Killen and Stephen McManus. On 16 February, he missed a penalty against Blackpool in a 2-0 loss. ^[10] McDonald scored his first Middlesbrough goal in the Tyne-Tees derby against Newcastle on 13 March.^[11] After a return from injury, McDonald scored three times in four games against Crystal Palace, Sheffield Wednesday and Coventry City.^[12][13] McDonald made a bright start to the 2010–11 Football League Championship season scoring twice in his first two games against Ipswich and Chesterfield in the 2010–11 Football League Cup.^[14]

International career

Having represented Australia at U-17, U-20 and U-23 levels, McDonald made his international debut for Australia against Bahrain on 22 February 2006 in an Asian Cup qualifier. He played in 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship. McDonald was a starter in the Australia squad that started off qualification for the 2010 World Cup with a 3-0 win over Qatar in February, setting up a goal for Mark Bresciano, but yet to score a goal at international level himself. On 11 May 2010 McDonald was named by Australian coach Pim Verbeek in a provisional 31 man squad for the 2010 World Cup. On 25 May it was announced that he had been omitted from the final 23 man squad for the finals.^[15]

Honours

Club

Celtic

• Scottish Premier League (1): 2007-08
• Scottish League Cup (1): 2008-09

Individual

• SPL Player of the Month (3): September 2004, September 2007, March 2009
• BBC Sportsound Player of the Year (1): 2007
• SPL Top Scorer (1): 2007-08

Career statistics

(correct as of 10 August 2010)

References

External links

• Scott McDonald career stats at Soccerbase
• Celtic profile
• FFA - Socceroos profile