Life As A Footballer

Darren and myself in his Aberdeen days. (2009)

Darren Mackie started playing professionally for Aberdeen FC in 1998. Over the next 14 years He faced some tough opponents, Celtic, Rangers, Dnipro, Bayern Munich and many more.  His time at Aberdeen came to an end in 2012 and Darren moved across the ocean to play for Phoenix FC before moving back to Scotland to play for Turriff United.

I had the chance to ask Darren some questions about life as a player and what really goes on.

1. How do you prepare mentally for a game?

Nothing special, just try to stay relaxed as possible and focus on my opponents.

2. If your team lose an important game how do you deal with that?

Try and forget it as quick as possible! The good thing with football is the next game is never far away and you have to concentrate on it rather than one you can’t do anything about.

3. When you were playing at Aberdeen how did you prepare for the European games?

European games had an extra buzz so there was always a bit of nervous excitement, but I tried to just relax during the day and maybe have a couple hrs sleep in the afternoon before having a pre match meal, then as a team we would have a meeting before the game, find out who was starting and then identify any weakness in our opponents we could try to exploit
4. Injury is part of the game and obviously can have quite an affect how do you personally deal with this?

It’s part of the game, the small injuries that keep you out for a few days to a couple weeks are easy to deal with and don’t really effect you much it is more frustrating than anything. Serious long term injuries can be hard to deal as it can get quite depressing not being able to take part in training and games, but it is important to have a positive outlook, I always got really bored if I got injured and would end up playing pranks and messing about as it kept me in high spirits.

5. You went over to America, how did things differ there compared to over here?

America was a great experience with a few differences, mainly the weather especially in Phoenix, training and playing in 40-50 degrees C took a bit of getting use to. However it was also a much more relaxed environment as there wasn’t the same expectations as being at Aberdeen. Travel was another, as away games were normally 4-6 hrs flights or drives through the night.

6. What would you say is the best moment in your career so far?

Scoring the goal in Europe against Dnipro and also getting the chance to play against Bayern Munich in the last 32 of the UEFA cup

7. When you moved to Turriff United how did you feel being the new guy?

It was ok, i’m confident with meeting new people so was never an issue.

8. What would you say is the best thing about playing football?

The excitement it brings to yourself and others. It is also great exercise. Plus getting paid to do something you enjoy is a huge privilege.

I would like to thanks Darren for taking time to answer my questions, I am very grateful and wish him all the best for the future.