Aberdeen’s Jack MacKenzie could play for Scotland in the days ahead – despite a common disease robbing him of two-and-a-half crucial years of his football development as a youngster.
Left-back MacKenzie, 24, has grown into a mainstay of the Pittodrie side over the past two campaigns.
He has played in all 13 victories under Jimmy Thelin in what has been phenomenal start to the season by the Dons – with four assists and one goal to MacKenzie’s name so far this term.
While the Red Army clamour for the club to tie up a contract extension for the marauding homegrown defender, MacKenzie has been rewarded for his form with a belated maiden call-up to Steve Clarke’s Scotland squad for the Uefa Nations League clashes with Croatia and Portugal.
A decade ago, the prospect of north-east native MacKenzie starring for Scotland one day looked remote.
On Aberdeen’s books since the age of nine, MacKenzie began a battle with a growth-related knee condition around the same time he joined the Hazlehead Academy SFA Performance School – as part of the inaugural intake – in 2013.
He was dogged by Osgood Schlatter Disease from the age of 13 until beyond his 15th birthday, and though it is a common condition in children who play sport, the years of disruption could easily have put paid to his hopes of a football career at the top level.
Former Aberdeen Youth Academy chief Gavin Levey – who revealed the young MacKenzie was “a left winger, getting a lot of assists and goals” in his early days – said: “Osgood Schlatter Disease is growth-related knee pain.
“He was literally in and out (of football) for about two-and-a-half years, so he basically didn’t have any run of activity for a two-and-a-half-year period.
“To come through a period like that as a young academy player, between the under-13s and 15s age group, that says a lot about the resilience that he would have to have – to get through all that.
“When we speak about Jack MacKenzie – the guys who all worked together around that time – we all talk about his resilience to get through that period, where he’d come back, play a couple of games and then break down again just with the pain around his knees.”
Levey says, throughout MacKenzie’s teenage years, the Dons staff maintained a “really close” relationship with his mum Alex – a physiotherapist – and dad John, as the club and his family helped “manage” the young talent “through that process”.
However, former Reds youth boss Levey added: “It was never easy for him and the family, knowing he wasn’t always going to be training, but going through his rehab and managing that painful period.”
Levey explained how MacKenzie’s approach to his knee issues, and how he dealt with the setback, became an example to other Aberdeen Youth Academy players whose development was interrupted.
Of “clever lad” and “straight-A student” MacKenzie, Levey also said: “What is quite significant with Jack, and is the same as (ex-Aberdeen centre-back) Scott McKenna actually, is he didn’t come in on a full-time basis until his second year at U18s.
“Jack remained (at school) and worked hard studying to get his Highers, and then came and trained whenever he could around his education – possibly because there was a doubt in his mind at that point, because he’d missed so much football, that there might’ve been a risk of him falling out of the professional set-up.
“Once he’d got through that period of discomfort and he had his education out of the way, that’s when we really started seeing Jack excelling again.”
‘Jack resembles what I remember as a young boy’
Though he now plays at left-back, Levey thinks MacKenzie has retained the same basic footballing identity from his youngest days – through his knee issues, the period in 2020 where a Covid-scuppered loan to Atlanta United 2 was followed by a slightly less glamorous temporary switch to League One Forfar Athletic, and then since his Aberdeen first-team debut at Dundee United in March 2021.
Levey said: “I see Jack just as I’ve always seen Jack.
“I think he resembles what I remember as a young boy – that desire to get forward, he’s a strong-tackler, he’s aggressive and he always had that in him.
“The only difference now is that he’s moved further back.
“But you can see by the way he plays he’s happy to go forward, and his competitiveness and his desire is the biggest thing with Jack – he hates losing, he wants to win and he would channel all of his energy and aggression into dominating one v one duels, which is what you’re seeing week in, week out now.
“I think with the right opportunity and the right support around him, he’ll just keep growing to be a top player.
“In terms of his technique and explosiveness when I’ve watched him of late… it’s just the Jack I remember!”
MacKenzie goes under Scotland radar ahead of senior call-up
Should MacKenzie – called up for Scotland alongside Dons team-mates Nicky Devlin and Kevin Nisbet – win his first cap during the current international break, it will be against the odds – with several niggling injuries to contend with since his first-team debut as well.
Levey thinks the achievement would bring immense pride to his family, saying: “When he was younger, because he missed so much football, he missed out on Scotland age groups, so he’s gone under the radar.
“The fact he’s going straight into this (the senior squad) now is a credit to him.
“He’s obviously had a proper run, he’s got people who believe in him, and it shows that every young player’s journey is bespoke.
“If he can hopefully get a debut, then I know how proud his mum, dad and sister will be.”
‘Hopefully Jack’s part of something this year which can be really special’
Levey – who left Aberdeen’s youth setup in 2023 after 17 years to become Swansea City’s academy director – revealed he has continued to follow the Dons as a fan.
He thinks Reds key man MacKenzie can be part of something “really special” this season following the flawless start under new Swedish gaffer Thelin.
“Naturally I still follow, support and watch what they’re doing, and check in on the men’s and women’s teams when I can,” Levey said.
“When I saw Jack’s little flick last weekend that he did – I love things that catch the eye like that – it shows he’s not just a tough-tackling left-back, he’s got that level of creativity that’s stuck with him from his early days at pre-academy when you’d have seen him do something like that and you can play with that level of freedom.
“That just shows the confidence he’s playing with right now. I’m really impressed with him just now – and also the way Aberdeen are.
“The Pittodrie atmosphere still gets my hairs on end, even the way it was a couple of weeks ago against Motherwell, with all the displays, and Simmy(Neil Simpson)’s one last week.
“The club’s in a good place just now and hopefully Jack’s part of something this year which can be really special!”
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