Mackay gave us glory days
FOOTBALL was united in its tributes last night to Dave Mackay, the Tottenham, Derby and Scotland midfi elder who has died at the age of 80.
Mackay was a member of Spurs’ 1960- 1961 Doublewinning team and the club will tonight hold a minute’s applause at White Hart Lane ahead of the Premier League match with Swansea, with black armbands being worn by the squad.
At half- time, a number of the club’s highest- profi le former players will pay tribute to Mackay.
“It is a very sad loss for Tottenham,” said head coach Mauricio Pochettino. “It is a great loss for British football. He was a legend.”
One of football’s iconic pictures is of Mackay pulling the shirt of Leeds’ Billy Bremner in 1966.
But he actually disliked the image. He had just come back from a twice- broken leg when Bremner challenged him and that was the reason he reacted so dramatically.
Yet it was his role as a tough midfi elder that helped galvanise the ‘ Glory, Glory’ Spurs side of the Sixties, allowing others in the side, such as Danny Blanchfl ower, to play their own game. His presence was immense.
Speaking last year to Spurs’ website, Cliff Jones, his team- mate in that victorious side, said: “When people ask me about the Double team, I always say that the most infl uential player I ever played with was Dave Mackay.
“Bill Nicholson [ the manager] went up to Scotland in 1959, Hearts had won everything and one of the main reasons for that was Dave Mackay.
“Bill Nick signed Mackay and he brought that will to win, that commitment and we took off from that moment. He was one of the biggest reasons why we were so successful in those glory days. People always talk about how tough he was and of course he was, but he was also very skilful. He had the lot, the whole game.”
Mackay joined Derby in 1968 and helped Brian Clough’s side win promotion to the First Division the following year before taking up a player- manager role at Swindon in 1971.
He returned to Derby as manager in 1973 after Clough resigned and led them to the title in 1975.
“The majority of pictures you see of Dave Mackay, he had his chest stuck out. That is how he played and that is how he lived his life,” said former Derby captain Roy McFarland. “He had a tough legacy taking over as manager from Brian Clough but he calmed and settled everyone down.”
Mackay was capped 22 times by his country and the Scottish FA will hold a minute’s applause in his honour before the friendly against Northern Ireland later this month.
Former Scotland manager Craig Brown said: “Dave was the perfect midfi eld player and he would have been worth an absolute fortune today.”
Spurs hero Gary Lineker tweeted: “He was a wonderful footballer, and a winner, both North and South of the border. # RIPDave”
Mackay died at a hospital in Nottingham on Monday evening.