Mackay played for Heart of Midlothian for most of his career, and he holds the record for the most competitive appearances for the club, with 640.[3] Mackay won international recognition in the late 1980s, winning four caps for Scotland. His most significant act as a Scotland player was to score the winning goal on his debut in a UEFA Euro 1988 qualifying match against Bulgaria in Sofia.[4] Although this goal did not substantially benefit Scotland, who had already been eliminated, it was of great significance to Ireland, who qualified for the finals as a result of this strike.[4]
Kevin Harper alleged that he had been racially abused by Mackay during a match in November 1996. The Scottish Football Association failed to investigate the incident.[5][6] Mackay has since been involved in work for 'Show Racism the Red Card' which primarily aims to prevent racism in football.[7]
Mackay left Hearts in 1997 to play for Airdrie. After retiring as a player in 1999, Mackay then managed Airdrie for a season, but the club suffered severe financial problems[8] and he was sacked to make way for Steve Archibald during July 2000.[9]
Mackay has since worked as an agent, representing players including Garry O'Connor,[10]Christophe Berra[11] and Lee Wallace.[12] Mackay was criticised by his former club Hearts in June 2011 on the official Hearts website. "Over a short space of time 4 players at our club have been on the wrong end of the law. We note that 3 of them are represented by the same agent – Gary Mackay – who has been so vicious in his attacks against Mr Romanov".[13]
