Former Walsall Football Club manager David 'Dave' Mackay has passed away at the age of 80.
Born in Edinburgh on 14th November 1934, Mackay began his playing career with the club which he supported as a boy, Heart of Midlothian. He went on to win all three Scottish domestic honours with the club. He also captained the side in 1957/58, when they went on to win the Scottish league title.
After six years and over 100 appearances for Hearts, Dave was signed by Tottenham Hotspur in March 1959. He went on to make over 300 appearances for Spurs during a nine year stay at White Hart Lane.
In 1968 he joined Derby County for £5,000. 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 was appointed player-manager of Swindon Town but left after just one season to take charge of Nottingham Forest.
In 1971 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 Brian Clough's resignation.
He then went on to have a spell as manager of Walsall after taking charge in March 1977. Soon after his appointment he cleared out the squad, brought in a host of new players and made tweaks to the club's playing style, this allowed him to lead the Saddlers to a respectable 9th place in Division Three during his first full season with the club.
Despite this solid placing Dave departed Fellows Park in August 1978 and returned to the Middle East, where he began a nine year spell of coaching in Kuwait with the likes of Al-Arabi Kuwait and Al-Shabab.
In 1987 he was appointed manager of Doncaster Rovers, he remained with the Belle Vue side for two seasons before he moved to Birmingham City. He resigned in 1991 after failing to get the Blues back into the second tier of the Football League pyramid.
Soon after his departure from St Andrews he returned to the Middle East for two more seasons managing Zamalek to the Championship. He then spent a further three years coaching in Qatar before retiring from the game in 1997.
During his career he won ten major honours in both British and European football, he amassed a total of 22 caps for the Scottish national side, during which he also scored four goals. He was also named 'Footballer of the Year' in both Scotland and England during a career that spanned over 800 games.
Dave was made an inaugural inductee of the English Football Hall of Fame in 2002 in recognition of his impact on the English game as both a player and manager, and in 2006 he also became an inaugural inductee of the Heart of Midlothian Hall of Fame.
We would like to pass on our sincere condolences to Dave's family and friends during this sad time.