285 John Mackie

Biography

Wing half and inside forward John Mackie was born in Coatbridge in 1910 and raised by his grandparents at Baillieston in Glasgow, where his grandfather was a blacksmith in a local colliery. He came into football in the early 1930s with his local club Baillieston Park Vale then, from August 1933, Scottish junior side Bridgeton Waverley. Mackie had already interested the scouts of Middlesbrough earlier in the 1933/34 season and in May 1934, immediately after playing in the Scottish Junior Cup semi-final that Bridgeton lost 1-4 to Wishaw, he was snapped up by Hull City. After spending much of the 1934/35 season in the Reserves Mackie was introduced to the first team at inside right by manager Jack Hill. Mackie rewarded the manager with goals in the last two league fixtures of the season, a 2-3 defeat at Bradford City and a 5-1 win over Notts County. Mackie started the 1935/36 season in the City forward line but a poor start to the season demanded that changes be made by manager Hill and in the first week of October 1935 Mackie was sold to Bradford City for a nominal fee.

Mackie slotted straight into the Bantams’ first team at right half rather than the forward line, though he did still contribute two goals against West Ham and Bury. John missed the second half of the season after suffering a leg injury against Tottenahm Hotspur over the festive period. He returned for the start of the 1936/37 season and missed only four games as the Bantams were relegated. He then missed only five fixtures in the 1937/38 season as Bradford finished mid-table in Division Three North and were beaten finalists in the Division Three North Cup.

By May 1938 Mackie had scored seven times in 104 senior starts for Bradford City, and was heralded as one of the sides key players. It was therefore a considerable surprise when he was sold to Division Two side Chesterfield in July 1938. Mackie was a regular in the Spireites first team for the first half of the season, playing at both half back and inside forward and scoring three times in 17 starts. He was injured during a Boxing Day fixture against Bradford Park Avenue and was absent for the rest of the season.

The commencement of World War Two hostilities meant that Mackie’s professional career drew to an untimely close, though he did make a handful of wartime appearances for Chesterfield in 1941 and 1942. He eventually returned to Glasgow area and died in Chryston in April 1980.

Details

Nationality: Scotland
Date/Place of Birth: 1 March 1910, Coatbridge
Hull City First Game: 20 March 1935, Burnley A (Division Two), 25 years, 19 days old
Hull City Final Game: 28 September 1935, Barnsley A (Division Two), 25 years, 211 days old

Clubs

Baillieston Park Vale, Bridgeton Waverley (1933-1934), Hull City (1934-1935), Bradford City (1935-1938), Chesterfield (1939)

Hull City Record

Career: 14 apps, 2 goals

John Mackie
SeasonLGE
App
LGE
Gls
FAC
App
FAC
Gls
FLC
App
FLC
Gls
EUR
App
EUR
Gls
OTH
App
OTH
Gls
1934/3572--------
1935/3670--------

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.