Player Profile

Terry Mac was a spectacular midfield player. He needed two years to settle into the Liverpool side, but when he did, he blossomed. He scored some truly memorable goals and his wizardry in midfield was justly rewarded in 1980 when he became the first player to win the Football Writers' and Professional Footballers' Association's Player of the Year awards in the same season. Kirkby-born McDermott supported Liverpool as a boy but his first professional club was Bury, from where he moved to Newcastle United in February 1973. He played in 56 League matches for the Magpies and just like Alan Kennedy, played against Liverpool in the 1974 FA Cup final before moving to Anfield. McDermott returned to his native Merseyside in November 1974 when he was a few weeks short of his twenty-third birthday as one of Bob Paisley's earliest signings. Three days after his arrival McDermott played in six successive League games in place of Brian Hall, but it was a frustrating time for him as he was in and out of the team as he settled in at his new club. In 1975/76 he was selected in the starting 11 for the opening eight games but was then replaced by Hall whose place was taken by Jimmy Case later in the season. McDermott was stuck in the reserves as Liverpool captured the League title and the UEFA Cup and looked like a change of club would be the only way to resurrect his career.

McDermott's patience was wearing thin but his reward finally came in the memorable 1976/77 season when he was finally accepted not just as a good squad-player but an important member of the side itself. He started 36 games and was a firm fixture at the business end of the season when Liverpool successfully defended their title. The disappointment of again finishing on the losing side in an FA Cup final was soon forgotten as a typical run into space to collect Steve Heighway's pass saw McDermott fire the Reds ahead in the European Cup final against Gladbach. McDermott would add two more winners' medals to his collection in the world's most prestigious knock-out competition. McDermott also became a regular member of the England squad and was capped 25 times from 1977-1982. McDermott had scored eight goals for two seasons running when he reached double figures in 1979/80 and followed that with a goal-spree of 20 and 22 goals in the next couple of seasons which was outstanding for a midfielder. He credits a stunning hat-trick in only 16 minutes when Kevin Keegan returned with Hamburg for the second leg of the Super Cup on 6 December 1977 as the making of him at Liverpool. It wasn't like his goals were tap-ins either. His first goal of the 1978/79 season on 2 September 1978 was perhaps his most memorable when a sweeping move from one end of the pitch to the other saw him race 70 yards to powerfully head Steve Heighway's cross into the net for the final blow in Tottenham's 7-0 humiliation at Anfield. His long-range shooting became a feature of his game to add to his vision and tactical awareness and his chip in the replayed FA Cup semi-final with Everton in 1977 was voted "Goal of the Season" by the BBC. Another awesome strike dumped Spurs out of the FA Cup in 1980 when he took the ball over his shoulder on the right-hand corner of the penalty box and hit a volley that curved into the far top corner for the only goal of the game. Absolute magic! His runs from deep were very well timed and would often provide the finishing touch to a well-rehearsed attack.

By the start of the 1982/83 season, it was clear that McDermott would finally have to look elsewhere for first-team football and he returned to St. James' Park in September 1982. Newcastle got promoted to the First Division in the 1983/84 season and after one more season in the top-flight McDermott joined Cork City in 1985 and spent two years playing in Cyprus. He signed for Newcastle for the third time when he was appointed Kevin Keegan's assistant manager in 1992. Even when Keegan left McDermott stayed on as Kenny Dalglish's number two until he was sacked in September 1998 and Ruud Gullit took over. McDermott joined the coaching staff at Celtic in 1999 appointed by the ill-fated management-team of John Barnes and Kenny Dalglish. McDermott returned for his fourth spell at Newcastle in January 2005 as the assistant to Graeme Souness. After Souness' sacking, he continued to serve under managers Glenn Roeder, Sam Allardyce and then eventually Keegan again. Once Keegan departed in September 2008 McDermott followed suit. A couple of months later McDermott became Lee Clark's assistant manager at Huddersfield Town. He was controversially dismissed along with Clark in February 2012 with the club in fourth place in League One. When Clark was appointed manager of Birmingham City in June 2012, McDermott soon followed as his assistant.

Kenny Dalglish talked admiringly about McDermott in his autobiography, My Liverpool home: "What a player Terry was, blessed with unbelievable stamina. 'You've got two pairs of lungs,' I said to Terry and I'm sure he did. Terry could run and run and his mind shifted as quickly. As a footballer, Terry was a creature of instinct and intelligence, a killer mix. If I even hinted at darting into a particular area, Terry read my mind. The ball was waiting for me, almost smiling at me. Not only could Terry see a great pass, he could deliver it. Vision and execution are qualities found in only the very best of players and Terry had those strengths. Along with his keen eye for goal, what made Terry even more special was his full-on, committed attitude. Surrender was for cowards, not for men like Terry, who'd never give up."