• Former defender dies suddenly while playing golf near Lisburn
• Made over 400 appearances for QPR in 16-year career
The former Northern Ireland and Queens Park Rangers captain, Alan McDonald, has died at the age of 48. McDonald collapsed suddenly while he was playing golf at the Temple Golf Club near Lisburn on Saturday morning.
The centre-half from Belfast managed Glentoran when they won the Irish League championship in 2009 and made 52 appearances for Northern Ireland, scoring one goal. He also played in the 0-0 draw with England in 1985 to guarantee qualification for the World Cup finals in Mexico, in which McDonald featured in all three group matches.
McDonald made over 400 appearances in a 16-year career with QPR and was in the team that was beaten 3-0 by Oxford United in the League Cup final in 1986. After leaving Loftus Road he played for a season at Swindon Town before becoming the Northern Ireland Under-21 assistant coach for a time.
An Irish Football Association spokesman said: "We are deeply shocked at the death of Alan, who won over 50 caps for Northern Ireland. To die at such a young age is terrible."
The former Northern Ireland manager Sammy McIlroy, a close friend and former team-mate of McDonald's, said: "I'm shell-shocked. Words can't even enter my head at the moment. Forty-eight is so young. Alan was always larger than life – during his career and after. I've just spoken to Norman Whiteside and he is devastated." Read More
انسخ الكود التالى و ضعه فى موقعك او مدونتك.
