Scott McDonald

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Scott McDonald
Personal information
Full name	Scott Douglas McDonald
Date of birth	21 August 1983 (1983-08-21) (age 25)
Place of birth	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Celtic
Number	7
Youth career
1997-1998	Gippsland Falcons
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1998–1999 2000–2002 2002 2003 2003 2004–2007 2007–	Gippsland Falcons Southampton → Huddersfield Town (loan) → Bournemouth (loan) Wimbledon Motherwell Celtic	003 0(0) 002 0(0) 013 0(1) 007 0(1) 002 0(0) 108 (42) 066 (41)
National team2
1999 2001–2003 2003–2004 2006–	Australia U-17 Australia U-20 Australia U-23 Australia	017 (13) 024 (16) 003 0(0) 013 0(0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 01:03, 2 April 2009 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 30 October, 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Scott Douglas McDonald (born 21 August 1983 in Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian footballer who currently plays as a striker for Scottish Premier League side Celtic and the Australian national team.

[edit] Club 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, making his first team debut, aged just fourteen.

McDonald started off as a trainee with Southampton in 2001 where he only managed one first team start and two appearances as a substitute, being loaned to Huddersfield Town (scoring once against Tranmere) and Bournemouth (scoring once against Shrewsbury) 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 after running off course during a cross-country run to go to the toilet.^[1]

[edit] 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,^[2] McDonald's former club Motherwell accepted a £700,000 offer from boyhood favourites^[3] Celtic in March 2007, with McDonald moving to Celtic Park at the start of the 2007–08 season.^[4]

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.^[5] In his successful stint at Motherwell F.C., he scored 42 goals in 109 appearances.

[edit] 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. His first goal for the club came in the second leg of the 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 very tight angle and score his first SPL goal for Celtic. He followed that up in a similar way with the winning goal against A.C. 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 would set up a last minute goal for his Dutch strike partner Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink that would save Celtic from conceding the SPL for 2007-08, 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 five-year deal in June 2008^[6] 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 highest 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 F.C.. In total, McDonald scored 31 times in his first season at Parkhead

McDonald wore the number 27 in his first season but in July 2008 he was given number 7 jersey. McDonald said he was delighted to wear the same number as Henrik Larsson and Jimmy Johnstone.

He had a shakey start to the 2008-09 season, not scoring in any of the first four games. It was against Motherwell that he opened his account, scoring Celtic's third goal in a 4-2 win at Fir Park. On 5 November that year 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 the SBS Network, former Socceroo Ned Zelic claimed he could attract interest from the big clubs in England in the years to come. On 27 December of the same year, he scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory at Ibrox during the Old Firm Derby, helping his team bring back the three points at home. On 27 January 2009 McDonald scored two 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 2009, it was announced that McDonald would be handed the Celtic captaincy for the pre-season games, due to the injury to Stephen McManus and the departure of former vice-captain Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] International career

McDonald made his international debut for Australia against Bahrain on 22 February 2006 in an Asian Cup qualifier and has also represented Australia at U-17, U-20 and U-23 levels. He played in 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship. Until this point, McDonald had also been eligible to play for Scotland, as both of his parents are of Scottish heritage. He was a starter in the Australia squad that started off qualification for World Cup 2010 with a 3-0 win over Qatar in February, setting up a goal for Mark Bresciano. He has yet to score a goal at international level, however.

[edit] Honours

With Celtic F.C.:

• SPL Championship: 2008
• Scottish League Cup winner: 2009
• Scottish Player of the Month: March 2009

[edit] Career statistics

(correct as of 4 March 2009)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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