Scott McDonald cancels retirement to launch relegation rescue mission
At 35, Scott McDonald had switched from scoring to TV presenting. Now he’s doing both in the same league after putting on the boots again to try and save a famous Scottish side from relegation.
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It was at Christmas that Scott McDonald first felt the lure of playing football again, months after the former Socceroo quit the game in an unhappy state of mind.
By February he was dusting off his boots, and eight weeks, 11 games, six goals and three assists later, the striker is closing in on an Easter miracle, after coming out of retirement to help an old mate save a famous club from relegation.
At 35, McDonald is well established as a TV presenter in Scotland, the face of a BBC preview show for the Scottish Championship — the very league where all of a sudden he is scoring goals every week for Partick Thistle, and frankly having the time of his life.
Apparently dead and buried at the foot of the Championship, Partick have hauled themselves off the bottom of the table and have a fighting chance of staying up.
After beating Ayr on Wednesday morning (EST), McDonald’s side are out of the relegation zone and are even eyeing the upper reaches of the table.
They have two games left, which they will probably have to do without the veteran Aussie who was replaced in the Ayr game after 35 minutes with concussion - to seal a quite remarkable deal — and in the process give McDonald plenty to talk about on his TV show.
“It’s been an unbelievable couple of months,” McDonald told News Corp Australia.
“Collectively we’d like to be higher up the table and we’re still in a fight, but our destiny is in our hands.
“For me personally it took a couple of weeks to bed in, but a goal on debut helps and it’s gone from there.”
That is some understatement, for his form since Partick boss Gary Caldwell (a former teammate at Celtic) persuaded him to reverse his retirement has been extraordinary.
“I had decided just to concentrate on the media side of things, which is something I’ve really enjoyed,” McDonald said.
“Last year I’d fallen out of love with playing football really, and it just felt time to go.
“I’ve been very happy in myself and enjoying the TV work. Then Gary got the job at Partick and he invited me to training in November.
“But psychologically I wasn’t in the right place to do it. Then at Christmas my mum and family came over, and for the first time I wasn’t playing in front of them, which felt weird.
“I had another chat with Gary and I’d kept myself in good nick — when you’re young you take it for granted and don’t look after yourself properly, but I was now at an age where I felt the need to take pride in looking after myself.
“I knew I could still play but I wondered if I’d get frustrated again. Instead I’ve found myself in a really good place and it’s allowed me to enjoy my football again.”
So much so that McDonald doesn’t seem in a hurry to quit for the second time.
Though he insists he won’t even consider the future until Partick’s fate is sealed, the fact an A-League team is about to be established just west of Melbourne, close to where he was born, might offer another twist to this already exaggerated plot.
“I’m keeping my cards close to my chest for now, and won’t really think about the future until we’re over this situation,” he said.
“Then I’ll take some time out and speak to my family, as well as weigh up what to do career-wise. The media work has been good for me and the BBC have really committed to me.
“The fact they and the club allowed me to keep doing both jobs has helped enormously. There was a bit of criticism at first but the goals have kind of silenced that.”
The only other question is what happens if his superb freekick last Saturday — the goal that lifted his side off the bottom of the table — gets voted goal of the month on his TV show.
“Well,” he said, ‘it’ll be an easy interview then …”
Originally published as Scott McDonald cancels retirement to launch relegation rescue mission
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