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Personal
Fullname: Donald McKay
Born: 14 September 1920
Died: […]
Birthplace: Milton, West Dunbartonshire
Signed: 15 August 1939
Left: 8 May 1940 (to Arbroath)
Position: Goalkeeper
Debut: Queen’s Park 2-2 Celtic, Glasgow Cup, 30 Sep 1939
Internationals: none
Biog
Milton-born goalkeeper Donald McKay signed for Celtic from St Roch’s in August 1939.
By trade he was a railway carriage upholster and had played trials for Rangers and was said to be:
“surely one of the most promising goalies in the Central League“.
He went down with rheumatoid arthritis just as the War broke out and football was initially suspended.
Signed as cover for Joe Kennaway, he made his competitive debut in a 2-2 Glasgow Cup tie at home to Queen’s Park on 30th September 1939.
The youngster struggled to make the step up from junior to senior level and after playing a total of 17 first team Regional League games he was transferred to Arbroath in May 1940.
He had a poor record in goals, conceding in every single match he played in goal for Celtic, including the Glasgow Cup and War Emergency Cup games, with the only exception being a 1-0 win over Airdrie in January 1940. 39 goals were conceded in 19 games he played in; 34 goals in 16 league games.
In fairness, the first team as a whole was very poor at this time with board meddling and undermining of the manager making things worse. Celtic came 13th in the truncated wartime league in 1939-40. If it was the full league with the other stronger teams from the North & East also playing in the same league set-up, then possibly Celtic could have been relegation fodder.
Additionally he was only 19 years of age during this spell, so a lot to ask from some a young inexperienced player in such a key position. Apparently he was only getting three hours of training a week.
He had made blunders as all young players in such positions will do, but he was apparently carrying the can for the issues:
“McKay’s mistakes are being magnified… those of some others minimised“.
Understandably, once out the team Donald McKay didn’t return again to the first team.
His last match was a 4-2 victory over Raith Rovers in the first round of the Scottish War Emergency Cup. So at least he was signing off with Celtic with a victory, albeit he was blamed for Raith Rovers’ second goal. Celtic actually lost the return leg 3-0 away the next week, and he wasn’t playing, so maybe clear evidence the defence as a whole was more culpable than just himself.
In any case, Celtic had a new keeper in goal in Robert Smith (on loan) whose record was to be no better than Donald McKay’s, and so the search for a dependable goalkeeper carried on. Matters only improved once the great Willie Miller became the goalkeeper.
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | REGIONAL LEAGUE |
SCOTTISH WAR EMERGENCY CUP |
LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 1939-40* |
16
|
1 | n/a | n/a | 17 |
| Shut-outs: | 1 | 0 | – | – |
1
(6%)
|
Honours with Celtic
none