New Arsenal manager Terry Neill knew he needed a
goalscorer to get the Highbury faithful onside at the start of the 1976/77
season.
Not only was he the man
selected to take over from the great Bertie Mee, the ex-Gunners defender had
just moved from arch-rivals Tottenham, and was, at 34, the youngest manager to
ever guide the club.
The former Northern
Ireland stopper set about building a side that would eventually reach three FA
Cup finals, between 1978 and 1980, and the final of the Cup Winners'
Cup in 1980.
One man integral in
those early days was Malcolm Macdonald, nicknamed Supermac, who joined the club
shortly after Neill's arrival in 1976.
The former Newcastle
striker had quickly become a firm fans' favourite at St James' Park, following
his £180,000 move from Luton in 1971, scoring a hat-trick on his debut against Liverpool and becoming the club's top scorer for
five seasons in a row.
An unusual transfer fee
of £333,333.34 saw Supermac arrive at Highbury in superb form and his
goal-scoring feats continued in north London for the next two seasons, both of
which saw the London-born striker sit top of the club's goal-scoring charts.
A serious knee injury
suffered in a League Cup tie against Rotherham in 1978 effectively ended
Macdonald's footballing career, although he did spend a short spell at Swedish
side Djurgardens before hanging up his boots in August 1979.
He scored 57 goals in
108 appearances for Arsenal and bagged six international goals, five of which
came in a 1975 clash with Cyprus, in 14 starts for England.
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