Alan McDonald (Northern Irish footballer)
Alan McDonald while manager of Glentoran
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alan McDonald | ||
| Date of birth | 12 October 1963 | ||
| Place of birth | Belfast, Northern Ireland | ||
| Date of death | 23 June 2012 (aged 48) | ||
| Place of death | Lisburn, Northern Ireland | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Centre back | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1981–1997 | Queens Park Rangers | 476 | (18) |
| 1983 | → Charlton Athletic (loan) | 9 | (0) |
| 1997–1998 | Swindon Town | 33 | (1) |
| Total | 518 | (19) | |
| National team | |||
| 1986–1996 | Northern Ireland | 52 | (3) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2007–2010 | Glentoran | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Alan McDonald (12 October 1963 – 23 June 2012) was a Northern Ireland footballer and manager. As a player, he spent most of his career in England with Queens Park Rangers, as well as having short spells with Charlton Athletic and Swindon Town. He was capped 52 times for Northern Ireland and played at the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico. After retiring as a player, he managed IFA Premiership side Glentoran from June 2007 until his resignation at the end of February 2010. McDonald collapsed and died whilst playing golf at the Temple Golf Club near Lisburn on 23 June 2012.
McDonald joined Queens Park Rangers on 4 October 1979 as a youth player and spent 17 years with the club. Unable to break into the first-team early on in his career, he gained his first league experience whilst on loan at Charlton Athletic and made his league début versus v Crystal Palace on 4 April 1983. His QPR début was at Wolves on 24 September 1983 in a 4-0 away win. McDonald and QPR reached the final of the League Cup in 1986. By the late 1980s, McDonald was playing as stopper in QPR's sweeper system. During his time the club's best finish came in 1993 when they finished in fifth place and were the highest placed London club in the first season of the newly formed Premiership. Their worst came in 1996 when they were relegated.
McDonald's last game for QPR was on 31 March 1997 in a home match v Wolves. He joined Swindon Town on a free transfer in the summer of 1997, making 36 appearances and scoring once in his last season as a player, 1997–98.
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