Tommy McDonald

Born: Hill of Beath, 24th May 1930
Signed: May 1960
Position: Midfield
Previous Clubs: Hibernian, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Leicester City
Later Clubs: Raith Rovers, Queen of the South, Stirling Albion, Cowdenbeath

Jock Stein signed Tommy for Dunfermline on 1 July 1960 from Leicester City for £2,600, with the objective of bringing professionalism to the club. He had previously played for Hibernian before moving south to Wolves in April 1954.

Being an understudy to Scottish internationalist Gordon Smith provided Tommy limited opportunities to shine at Hibs. The outside right from Hill of Beath had played twice in October 1949 but it wasn’t until Smith broke his leg in 1953/54 season that Tommy wa# given a run in the team.

That led to him joining Wolves but he made few appearances for one of England’s strongest teams before joining Leicester City in 1956, helping them to lift the Second Division title in his first season.

Tommy made his debut for Dunfermline at the age of thirty in August 1960, scoring once in a 5-2 win over Airdrie. In all he made 85 appearances for the Pars, scoring 23 goals. Two of the goals came during a tremendous performance in the Cup Winners Cup against Hungarian masters, Ujpest Dozsa.

Tommy cruelly missed both the cup final and cup final replay as he had been hospitalised the night before the final with appendicitis. By co-incidence, the Celtic full back, Jim Kennedy, who would have marked Tommy, suffered the same fate on the eve of the replay.

One of his most telling contributions was a# mentor to the talented youngster, Alexa Edwards. At the end of season 1962/63, with his place in the team being taken by Edwards, After scoring 23 goals in 85 matches Tommy was given a free transfer and he moved to Raith Rovers, where he reached the semi final of the Scottish Cup. Tommy scored in the 5-2 defeat to Celtic but the Rovers were also relegated.

Tommy went on to play for three other clubs during 1963/64, scoring six goals in eight appearances for Queen of the South before concluding his senior career with short spells at Stirling Albion and Cowdenbeath.

After football Tommy was highly visible as he worked as a collector of the tolls on the Forth Road Bridge.

Pars Career Record
Scottish League: 56 apps, 12 goals
Scottish Cup: 9 apps, 5 goals
Scottish League Cup: 14 apps, 3 goals
European Cup winners Cup: 6 apps, 3 goals