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Name: Roderick MacDonald
Aka : Roddy MacDonald, Roddie MacDonald
Date of Birth: 30 Aug 1954
Birthplace : Dingwall, Alness Rothshire
Position : Centre half
Height: 6ft 1in
Games: 252 games 32 goals
Internationals : Scotland
International Caps : none for senior / under-23

Biog

Highlander Roddy MacDonald signed for the Bhoys from Brora Rangers in August 1972 as an 18 year-old on the recommendation of ex Celt Sammy Wilson.

As a strong youth MacDonald had played most frequently as a striker but while a trialist at Parkhead MacDonald’s potential as a centre-half was recognised by Jock Stein. It was in that position MacDonald made his Hoops debut in a 3-1 League Cup victory at Arbroath on August 29th 1973 and within a couple of seasons of that match MacDonald had established himself as a defensive stalwart for the Bhoys.

Roddy's big break came when Billy McNeill retired in May 1975 and he became first choice centre half. The 1975/76 was not an easy baptism and the boy looked raw, never more so when Motherwell came from 0-2 behind to win 3-2 in the Scottish cup at Fir Park in January of 1976, Roddy struggling that day to cope with the excellent Motherwell forward duo of Pettigrew and Graham. In March Roddy was pushed up front as emergency striker in a ECWC quarter Final tie againsy Sachsenring Zwickau in East Germany, due to flu epidemic at Parkhead. With Celtic 0-1 down, Roddy scored an equaliser with three minuyes left which was controversially disallowed and that would have taken the tie to extra time. By this time however, Roy Aitken had taken over at centre half and Roddy's future looked unsure.

The turning point in his career came in 1976 when the experienced Pat Stanton arrived and the improvement in Roddy's game was immediately noticable with the powerful Aitken being pushed into a central midfield role to allow Roddy to flourish at centre-half. The partnership between Stanton and MacDonald was the rock on which the double success of 1977 was built on. Roddy gave a tremendous performance in the 1977 Cup Final when he blunted the Rangers attack of Parlane and Johnstone.

Roddy was one of Celtic's few successes in the abysmal 1977/78 season and was an ever present. He made Ally McLeod's 40 man Scotland squad for the World Cup in Argentina although he did not make the final 22. At this point Roddy was a great asset at set pieces and could be relied upon to score several goals a season and he was particularly dangerous after the arrival of Davie Provan in 1978 with Provan being a superb deliverer of a cross ball.

Roddy was a regular in the title winning season in 1979 but missed the run in through injury, Tom McAdam taking his place for the last few games after converting from centre forward. The following season Roddy was again a consistent starter in the side although injury again cost him his place in the 1980 Scottish Cup winning side, Mike Conroy this time stepping into the breach.

In 1980/81 Roddy lost his place to the centre back partnership of Aitken and McAdam although he had returned and had an excellent game in April in Celtic's 1-0 win against Rangers at Ibrox which all but clinched the title.

In 1981 it was a major surprise when Billy McNeill allowed him to move to Hearts for £50,000 especially when the inferior Willie Garner arrived from Aberdeen as his replacement for a similar fee. Garner was not to last long and Roddy's experience was missed.

Roddy MacDonald was excellent in the air and scored more than a few goals in a Celtic jersey. He had a happy knack of scoring against Rangers and is possibly best remembered for his winning goal in the Old Firm game at Celtic Park in October 1979, powerfully heading home a Davie Provan corner kick.

A fine servant to Celtic Roddy made a total of 252 first team appearances and scored 32 goals.

On retiring from football Roddy became a serving officer with Strathclyde Police Force.

Playing Career

Honours with Celtic

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