Gary Mackay-Steven has joined New York City FC on a free transfer after his contract with Scottish Premiership Club Aberdeen FC expired.
Here are ten things to know about our newest signing...
- Gary Mackay-Steven spent time in the youth setups at Fulham and Liverpool before going on to make his senior debut at Airdrie United.
- Prior to playing for Aberdeen, the winger spent three seasons with Celtic FC. He appeared in a Champions League match for the club against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
- Although soccer was his first love, he also shares a passion for playing the guitar and golfing in his free time.
- Mackay-Steven had followed Major League Soccer quite a bit before he signed with NYCFC, so when the club showed interest in him he couldn't turn them down, taking advantage of the opportunity. As he said, "Well in January there was interest, so it was back then and it was around the final day of the transfer window there was proper concrete interest. It didn’t happen then and it was a little bit disappointing, from my point of view. I just put my head down and worked the rest of the season. Thankfully it came up again and I grabbed it with both hands.”
- Another deciding factor for him was his friend, compatriot and former Dundee United teammate, Johnny Russell, who currently plays for Sporting Kansas City. Russell was one of Gary's first phone calls when NYCFC made their approach. Fortunately, Russell had nothing but good things to say about the league, which solidified Mackay-Steven's decision.
- Mackay-Steven has won two international caps with Scotland, spaced out by five years. He won his last cap vs. Portugal in October 2018 and assisted a goal for the Tartan Army.
- On the pitch, he is an explosive player who utilizes his speed and tight ball skills to make plays. Off the pitch, he is a very laid back and reserved guy, as he likes to say.
- He has spent a majority of his career playing soccer in Scotland, now the move to MLS may seem like a big change. But according to Mackay-Steven there are many similarities between the leagues. "There’s big games and big teams in Scotland. There are rivalries, and I know New York has obviously got a big rivalry between the Red Bulls and the City from afar so obviously looking forward to that. There’s that in Scotland where it’s a physical league, but there’s also a technical quality in it as well. I know from watching the games I’ve watched that there’s a lot of that in America as well so it’ll be interesting to see similarities," he said.
- In his career to date, he has made more than 226 appearances on the pitch, scoring 48 goals.
- To date, Gary has won three Scottish league titles and a Scottish League Cup, all with Celtic. Now he looks to help NYCFC to win trophies of their own.
Join us in welcoming Gary-Mackay Steven to the NYCFC Family! Don't miss out on seeing the winger in action this season, buy your tickets now...
