NewsLiverpool's Greatest - No.52: Donald MacKinlay
Years: 1910-1928
Appearances: 434
Goals: 34
Trophies: First Division (1921-22, 1922-23)
Donald MacKinlay was the captain and leader of Liverpool’s back-to-back league title winners in the early 1920s.
A versatile footballer who was used in many positions across the field, his Reds career spanned almost two decades overall but was interrupted by the First World War.
Having made his debut in April 1910 and played in the club’s FA Cup final defeat by Burnley in 1914, his career truly took off when the professional game resumed after the global hostilities ended.
In the nine seasons between 1919 and 1928, MacKinlay – predominantly as a full-back – clocked up 355 matches, including an ever-present league campaign when a Liverpool side known as ‘the Untouchables’ successfully defended the championship in 1922-23.
Contemporary reports lauded MacKinlay’s abilities, one Liverpool Echo note of 1918 saying: “He hits the ball with ferocious force, and commands the ball as though it were tied to his boot.”
That was reflected in his respectable tally of 34 goals supplied from defence, while he was also a renowned free-kick taker.
A vocal leader, the Scot took his role as skipper hugely seriously, commenting: “I had full control on the field and if there was any decision on changing of positions, I took it.”
At time of writing, only Steven Gerrard, Ron Yeats and Emlyn Hughes have worn the armband for the Reds on more occasions than MacKinlay’s total of 293.
The last appearance of his epic spell with the club came in 1928 and supporters would select him as one of Liverpool’s greatest XI in a poll run by the Kop newspaper in 1966.
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