page_title: Scott McDonald
section_title: Celtic
hierarchical_section_title: Scott McDonald / Club career / Celtic
caption_attribution_description: Scott McDonald of Celtic FC (left) and Graeme Smith of Motherwell FC (right). Match at Celtic Park on November 8, 2008 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Tsutomu Takasu)
context_page_description: Scott Douglas McDonald is an Australian professional footballer, who plays for Brisbane Roar. Originally a striker, McDonald can also play as an attacking midfielder.
  Born in Melbourne, McDonald commenced his senior footballing career with Gippsland Falcons in the National Soccer League before moving to Great Britain in 2001. He subsequently played for a wide range of clubs, including representing Southampton in the Premier League and Celtic and Motherwell in the Scottish top flight.
  McDonald represented Australia 26 times between 2006 and 2012. He was a member of the squad for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup, where Australia finished second, as well as the 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship, 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship and 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship.
context_section_description: In March 2007, after a £400,000 bid from Rangers had been rejected in January, Motherwell accepted an offer of £700,000 from McDonald's boyhood favourites Celtic, with McDonald moving to Celtic Park at the start of the 2007–08 season.
  McDonald made his competitive debut for Celtic in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League third qualifying-round match against Spartak Moscow at Luzhniki Stadium, assisting Paul Hartley for Celtic's goal as the game finished 1–1. His first goal for the club came in the second leg of the tie at Celtic Park. A mistake by Spartak defender Roman Shishkin allowed McDonald to slip in and hit the ball first time past Stipe Pletikosa. This match also ended 1–1, but Celtic won 4–3 on penalties. Just days later in an away league match against St Mirren, McDonald latched onto a long Gary Caldwell pass to lob Chris Smith from a tight angle and score his first SPL goal for the club. He followed that up with the winning goal in the final minute of their 2–1 UEFA Champions League group-stage win against A.C. Milan on 3 October and another last minute winner just days later at Gretna. In a pulsating clash with Old Firm rivals Rangers on 16 April 2008, McDonald set up his Dutch strike partner Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink for a last minute goal that kept Celtic in the 2007–08 SPL title race, before scoring a double and winning a penalty scored by Barry Robson in another vital 3–2 Old Firm victory eleven days later. At the end of the season, McDonald was rewarded with a new five-year deal at Parkhead and was nominated for SPL Player of the Year. He scored 25 goals in 36 league appearances in his first season at Celtic and was the top goalscorer during the 2007–08 season, beating the next highest goalscorer and strike partner Vennegoor of Hesselink by 10 goals. This breakthrough season included two hat-tricks; against Dundee United and former club Motherwell. In total, McDonald scored 31 times in his first season at Parkhead.
  McDonald wore the number 27 shirt in his first season with Celtic, but in July 2008 he was given number 7, which he also wore at Motherwell. After a sluggish start to the 2008–09 season, not scoring in any of the first four games, he opened his account against Motherwell, scoring Celtic's third goal in a 4–2 win at Fir Park. On 5 November 2008 McDonald scored the opening goal in a 1–1 draw with Manchester United at Celtic Park in the Champions League with a well executed lob over Ben Foster. Only three days later, McDonald continued to haunt his former club Motherwell with a low strike from outside the penalty area. Celtic won this match 2–0. On 27 December 2008, he scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory at Ibrox during the Old Firm derby, helping his team bring the three points home. On 27 January 2009, McDonald scored twice in the dramatic 11–10 penalty shoot-out victory against Dundee United to send Celtic through to the League Cup final, which they won 2–0 against archrivals Rangers. This win gave McDonald his first domestic cup trophy at Celtic.
  McDonald scored his 49th and 50th Celtic goals at Pittodrie against Aberdeen on 2 May as Celtic ran out 3–1 winners. On 3 July, McDonald was handed the Celtic captaincy for a pre-season game against Brisbane Roar, due to the injury to Stephen McManus and the departure of vice-captain Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink. On 5 August, he scored the opening goal against Dynamo Moscow in Russia, a game which Celtic went on to win 2–0, to progress to the final qualifying round of the Champions League. On 5 December, McDonald scored his 50th league goal for Celtic against Aberdeen. McDonald scored a total of 64 goals for Celtic.
caption: McDonald playing for Celtic in 2008.
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