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Dave Mackay

Some more tributes to the great man... Like many younger fans I just assumed Mackay was a tough tackling, no-nonsense midfield general (based upon that infamous photo of him grabbing Bremner by the collar) but from reading all these tributes I can understand why he so disliked that image and considered Paul Scholes to be his closest modern day equivalent.

Dave Mackay hated this picture... he was no bully, he was a giant of the game | Daily Mail Online
...Harry Redknapp, a schoolboy on Tottenham’s books when Mackay was in his prime, says he once watched him plough through the West Bromwich Albion team, tackle after tackle, up-ended opponents lying in his wake.

Others talk of his incredible skill. Graeme Souness, also a Tottenham apprentice, witnessed Mackay’s ability at first hand. He says he would throw a ball up in the air and volley it repeatedly and ferociously against a wall at Tottenham’s training ground, 20 yards out, left foot then right foot, never letting it drop.

His trademark as he ran out on to the pitch was to launch a kick high into the air, and then kill it on his instep as it fell to earth. It was said to be his way of intimidating the opposition, letting them know how good he was.

...Ferguson wrote the foreword for Mackay’s autobiography, and named him as captain in his dream Scotland XI, but their first meeting was not so comfortable. Ferguson was a teenager playing for Queen’s Park reserves, Mackay recovering from injury with Hearts.

He clattered through the young man, first tackle of the match. Second time out, Ferguson did the same to him. ‘Do you want to last this game?’ Mackay asked as he rose. Ferguson stammered that Mackay had booted him earlier. ‘I tackled you,’ Mackay replied. ‘If I boot you, you’ll know.’

...There is a story about Mackay and the great Jim Baxter, on Scotland duty, going head to head in a crossbar challenge. As the pair match each other strike for strike, a knot of players forms around them. They reach eight each, nine each, 10. Mackay puts the ball down. ‘OK, Jim,’ he roars, ‘let’s try it with our right foot now.’ There was only one winner, after that.
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BBC Sport - Dave Mackay: Former players, managers and pundits reflect
Former Scotland manager Craig Brown

"He would be in my all-time greatest Scottish team, no doubt about that.

"I watched him play for Hearts in the '50s. I was a boy at the time, and any time Hearts came to the west of Scotland my father took me to see them to see Dave Mackay.

"My dad used to say, 'I'm taking you to see Dave Mackay'; it wasn't Hearts.

"He'd run out into the centre circle with the ball in his hand and then back-heel it from there into the goal - that's how he led Hearts out.

"I remember watching him do that, it was a brilliant piece of skill, to back-heel the ball on the half volley from the centre spot into the goal was an impressive sight.
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https://twitter.com/x/status/572738891985383424

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a proper footballer, to coin a phrase, none of today's monkeys would be fit enough to tie his boots
 
I never noticed this thread, and I don't normally post in these 'RIP' type things anyway. But for Dave Mackay, a true warrior and a proper legend, I have to pay respect.

RIP
 
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