Luigi "Lou" Macari (born 4 June 1949 in Largs, North Ayrshire) is a Scottish former footballer and football manager of Italian descent.
[edit] Playing career
Macari played for Manchester United in the 1970s and early 1980s. He was bought from Celtic in 1973 for £200,000. During his time with Celtic he scored 57 goals in 100 appearances. His first game for Manchester United came in January 1973 against West Ham United in which he scored a point-saving goal in a 2–2 draw. In 1977, his deflected shot off team mate Jimmy Greenhoff won Manchester United the FA Cup final against Liverpool (and ultimately denied Liverpool the European treble). He made 400 appearances for the club, scoring 98 goals.
Macari's early career at Old Trafford was spent trying to lead an attack that struggled to achieve anything. Relegation to the Second division in 1974 was the low point but Macari blossomed as a midfielder in the following seasons under Tommy Docherty, as United began to win back a large following with superb attacking football in which Macari enjoyed popularity alongside players such as Gordon Hill, Steve Coppell and the Greenhoff brothers.
He helped United win the Second Division title in 1975. They finished third on their return to the top flight and were runners-up in the FA Cup before going one better and lifting the trophy a year later. He was on the losing side in the 1979 final, and also played in a string of European campaigns during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
[edit] International career and the 1978 World Cup
Macari also played for the Scottish national team and was a member of the Scotland squad for the 1978 World Cup tournament in Argentina. However, he attracted widespread criticism when it emerged that he had led complaints that the £20,000 bonuses the players would receive upon winning the World Cup should they be successful in achieving that objective were too low, then made extra money by selling stories to the press[1] about the disarray and tensions within the Scottish camp. As it turned out, the Scotland team lost their first match to Peru, and drew with Iran. They beat Holland 3–2 but this was insufficient to proceed in the tournament and the Scotland squad returned home without qualifying for the knock-out stage. Macari and his team-mates did not receive the bonuses which were the subject of contention.
[edit] Management career
As a manager Macari insisted upon a strict fitness regime, which included extra sessions in the player's free time and the banning of alcohol in and around the club.[2]
After leaving Manchester United in 1984, he managed Swindon Town, West Ham United, Stoke City (twice), Celtic, Birmingham City and Huddersfield Town.
When I took my first management job at Swindon in the old Fourth Division, one of the things I had to adjust to was the fact I was working with players with lesser ability than at Old Trafford. There was a danger of demanding they play like top-flight footballers and then become frustrated with them when they couldn't. But I didn't see any reason why the players at Swindon couldn't be as fit as the players at Manchester United. That was something we worked really hard on, the players accepted it, and we reaped the rewards with promotion in my second season."
—Macari recalls his Swindon days.
[3]
His successes in management came with two promotions at Swindon Town (Fourth Division champions in 1986 and Third Division playoff winners in 1987) a Football League Trophy with Birmingham City in 1991, a Football League Trophy in 1992 along with a promotion for Stoke City (Division Two champions in 1993). After a brief and unsuccessful spell at Celtic he returned to Stoke City and took them to the Division One end of season playoffs in 1996 for a place in the Premier League, however they lost to Leicester City in the semi-finals 1–0 on aggregate. He left Stoke after the following season which was less successful with them finishing in mid-table, however a period of decline soon followed for the Potters and he is still held in high regard by Stoke fans.
Macari returned to management in 2000 with Huddersfield Town who were in relegation trouble after a poor start to the season. He could not prevent them from being relegated from Division One at the end of the 2000–01 campaign. Macari managed to steady the ship in 2001–02 and lead the club into the Division Two playoffs as the Terriers looked to bounce straight back up. However Despite the teams best efforts they were defeated by Brentford in the semi finals. Surprisingly Macari's contract was not renewed for the next season with Huddersfield's board stating his defensive style of football as the reason. Somewhat like Stoke a season of decline followed his departure from Huddersfield with many fans realising he had done a better job than he was given credit for. Oddly this was to be Macari's last managerial role and despite being linked with various positions since has not ventured back into management.
Macari was a very popular manager with clubs he managed, In 1992 when Birmingham City(his previous club) met Stoke City(his present club) in a division three match. The match had to be abandaned through a riot, Macacri was constantly insulted by Birmingham fans throughout the match after feeling betrayed by walking out.
Macari currently lives in Stoke-on-Trent and works as a pundit for MUTV on several shows. He is a regular guest on Match Day Live before Manchester United home and away games. As well as phone-in shows such as Wednesday Night Phone-in. He occasionally does punditry for Sky Sports. He also writes regular comment pieces for the Stoke-on-Trent newspaper The Sentinel and has given several guest talks at Staffordshire University on the Sports Journalism courses.
Macari also owns the "Lou Macari Chip Shop" on Chester Road, near Old Trafford which is a popular takeaway on matchdays.
[edit] Career statistics
| Team |
From |
To |
Record |
| G |
W |
D |
L |
Win % |
| Swindon Town |
23 July 1984 |
3 July 1989 |
270 |
132 |
63 |
75 |
48.89 |
| West Ham United |
3 July 1989 |
18 February 1990 |
39 |
14 |
13 |
12 |
35.9 |
| Birmingham City |
7 February 1991 |
18 June 1991 |
18 |
7 |
5 |
6 |
38.89 |
| Stoke City |
18 June 1991 |
7 October 1993 |
122 |
57 |
35 |
30 |
46.72 |
| Celtic |
7 October 1993 |
16 June 1994 |
25 |
8 |
10 |
7 |
32 |
| Stoke City |
29 September 1994 |
1 July 1997 |
144 |
53 |
42 |
49 |
36.81 |
| Huddersfield Town |
16 October 2000 |
14 June 2002 |
93 |
36 |
29 |
28 |
38.71 |
| Total |
711 |
307 |
197 |
207 |
43.18 |
[edit] Honours
[edit] As a manager
[edit] Promotions
[edit] Other Honours
[edit] Family
His mother died just before the 1978 World Cup in strange circumstances. Overdosing on tablets, her son was to find out that: "My mum had been on her own, and in the conversation I'd had with her she said she had some friends up there. Putting the pieces together after she died, I just wasn't convinced that the friends were good friends. Some money had gone missing."[4]
His sons Michael and Paul have played professionally with Stoke, when Macari was manager of the club. His youngest son Jonathan committed suicide in 1999 after being released from his contract at Nottingham Forest.[5] There was talk of drugs affecting his son's life and leading to his suicide,[6] but Macari later discounted that theory, admitting that much like the death of his mother, the complete story behind the tragedy may never be known.[4] Years later he claimed that "Money in a young man's pocket is a recipe for disaster and we had that disaster. Only when you go through something like that do you understand the hell of it."[7]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
