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Dave MacKay

David Craig Mackay was born in Edinburgh on 14 November 1934 and began his playing career with the club he supported as a boy, Heart of Midlothian. He quickly established himself as one of the leading players of his generation demonstrating great control and shooting power. 

Despite standing just 5ft 8in, MacKay  was physically intimidating. He He won all three Scottish Domestic honours with the club before Tottenham Hotspur singed him for £32,000 in March 1959. During the 1960s his fierce determination and skill contributed to the team which won the Double in 1961, further FA Cup victories in 1962 and 1967.  Many feared Mackay's career over when he broke his leg against Manchester United in December 1963 and, having missed the rest of the season, suffered the same bad break again just three games into his comeback.

Of course, MacKay did return to the Tottenham first team such was his iron determination on and off the pitch. In 1967 he captained Tottenham to victory over Chelsea in the FA Cup Final. 

In 1968 he was transferred to Derby County for £5,000, after Clough persuaded him to sign. In his first season at the Baseball Ground, in which the club gained promotion to the First Division, he was chosen FWA Footballer of the Year, jointly with Manchester City's Tony Book. 

In 1971 he was appointed player-manager of Swindon Town but left after just one season to take charge of Nottingham Forest. He remained at the City Ground until October 1973, when he returned to Derby as manager following Clough's resignation. In his first season Derby finished third in the table.  In his second season in charge of Derby, he guided the team to the 1975 league title. The following season, he managed the club to a respectable fourth-place finish in the league, the semifinals of the FA Cup, and an unfortunate extra time second-round exit to Real Madrid in the 1976 European Cup. At one stage the side had been in the running for the Double.

Mackay was sacked in November 1976 after a poor start to the season. He later managed Walsall before spending nine years coaching in Kuwait. Spells as manager of Doncaster Rovers and Birmingham City ended with a return to the Middle East before retiring from football altogether in 1997.

Still regarded as one of the most talented players of his generation, Dave MacKay was, in the opinion of Brian Clough, Tottenham's greatest ever player.