Teenage football coach from Tain lands job as manager of amateur team after chest surgery curtailed youth playing days
A teenage footballer from Tain who missed out on his formative years due to surgery is fulfilling his passion for the game from the sidelines – after landing his first management gig.
Alex McDonald was just 16 when he was forced to put sport on hold due to a chest abnormality, ending his hopes of playing alongside his classmates during their senior school years.
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Now, just three years later, he is running the show – as manager of amateurs Tain Thistle Football Club.
A promising goalkeeper, Alex McDonald had been playing as a regular for St Duthus under-18s in the Highland League when he was diagnosed with Pectus Excavatum – a chest deformity that caused his sternum and ribs to grow abnormally.
The condition resulted in a “sunken chest”, forcing him to call time on his playing days after deciding to undergo surgery rather than accept the limitations it could leave him with in later life.
“The condition affected my lung capacity,” McDonald explains. “It was making it difficult to breathe properly, and it left me with a choice to undergo surgery or just learn to live with it.
“When I hit teenage years and did the bulk of my growing, it became more prominent.”
"I struggled a lot with it growing up. The appearance of it was very different to everyone else – although it did serve well as a cup holder!
After trying non-surgical options through the NHS, McDonald opted for the Nuss Procedure – a surgery designed to correct the deformity.
He explains: "The surgery involved two curved metal bars being inserted underneath my sternum and twisted to push my chest up into a normal position. The bars were then bolted onto either side of my ribs.”
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The operation took place in June 2022, and would require an extensive recovery period of three years.
He added: "I was told it would be six months before I was allowed to do any form of exercise or activity and I was advised that in the time the bars are in place, I was to avoid any trips or falling over, meaning that I was not allowed to play contact sports.”
The conditions meant he had to step away from playing football just as he was progressing throughout the youth set up with his local club, St Duthus, as a member of the club’s under-18 team.
Worse still, it would be three years before he could kick a ball or “keep nets” again.
But instead of letting the setback keep him away from the sport, McDonald made an unlikely switch – volunteering for the daunting task of coaching his own teammates.
"I offered to help with coaching of the under-18s team I had been part of – and would have been playing in," he said.
“I knew everyone that was there and grew up playing football with them so it never felt like there was a lot of pressure when talking in front of them or shouting in some cases!
“They knew it was all new to me and supported me with it. I never took it to heart if they disagreed with what I did.”
After a season with the under-18s, McDonald’s keenness for coaching took him into the adult ranks, and at just 17 he began assisting senior team boss Alan Geegan with coaching during the 2023-24 season.
A season later, he became assistant to newly appointed manager John Maclellan.
McDonald had already worked alongside Maclellan as a coach with amateur team Tain Thistle during the summer months, gaining a valuable insight into the coaching and development side of the adult game.
“I sat back and observed under Geegs (Alan Geegan), seeing the kind of things he did on the sideline.
“Quite often he would ask for my opinion when making decisions which gave me confidence knowing that what I was saying was potentially going to make a difference at a good level.
“The past couple of years working with John is really where things took off for me, though. His endless efforts with fitness and making sure the players are all physically prepared for every game has allowed me to study the tactical side more.”
Now 19, McDonald works as a trainee site manager with a construction company.
As he gets ready for having his chest bars removed in June, he also prepares to take up his first management role in football.
On March 15, it was announced that he had been appointed as manager of North-West Sutherland amateur league champions, Tain Thistle.
Having already completed levels 1.1 – 1.3 on the Scottish FA coaching pathway, the Tain native is eager to take this next step in his football career.
"I’m really enjoying the sideline life," he admits. "It’s always been difficult not being able to play, but I’ve had great memories since then and two league titles with Tain Thistle to show for it.
“If anything, it just shows that once you stop playing that it doesn’t have to be the end.
“After this summer, I’m sure I’ll start getting involved with training sessions again and I might see the odd 10-minute cameo come the end of the season – but my focus remains on coaching and leading Tain Thistle forward.”
