Malcolm Macdonald: Reading hat-trick was a huge boost to reach dreaded 30-goal target set by Luton boss Alec Stock

Former Luton striker Malcolm Macdonald revealed how his hat-trick against Reading, scored 50 years ago today in 1970, was a welcome boost to his efforts in getting to the dreaded 30 goal target set by manager Alec Stock at the start of the campaign.

Going into the beginning of the season, Macdonald, then just 20, was one of the new boys in the Town squad, having signed from Fulham in the summer.

It was to be a brilliant debut campaign for the forward, who went on to achieve legendary status with Newcastle United, as they won promotion to Division Two, finshing second behind Orient.

Such was the schedule in those days that the clash against the Royals was Town’s seventh game in the month, as they had also played 24 hours earlier, beating Rotherham United 2-1 with goals from Keith Allen and Alan Slough, before also going to Barnsley a few days later, losing 2-1.

They eventually finished four points clear of Bristol Rovers in third, but on the Reading game, which saw 14,401 in attendance at Kenilworth Road, it was Macdonald who stole the show, scoring his second treble of the campaign having already got a trio in the 5-0 win over Bradford City back in December.

Speaking exclusively to the Luton News, he said: “We were second in the table to Leyton Orient, promotion was very much on the cards and so at the end of March it was a very important time and we were playing some cracking stuff for that level.

“Now the pressure was on us, because we were in this situation, of going for promotion, that had been our target literally from the day before the first game.

“We were on course, we’d had a couple of absolutely cracking games with Leyton Orient who were ahead of us, they beat us at their place, we beat them at ours, and along came Reading.

“Now we had played them earlier in the season and had beaten them 1-0 there and I had scored that goal to get us the points and now they were at Kenilworth Road.

“We had had a bit of a run, a really good run just before they arrived and we went ahead and our football for that level was quite scintillating, it really was.

“We finished up beating them 5-0 and by now Mike Keen, it was almost second nature for him to just slot the ball between centre halves and let me use my pace and get on to it.

“I think he made me two that day, and so, that hat-trick on the day gave me a real boost in numbers to get to that dreaded 30 target.

"The performance was as convincing as the scoreline suggested and Reading were a really good football side back then.

"We had taken all the points off them that season, home and away, so going into the last five weeks of the season, it came at just the perfect time and the whole side was just electrified by that performance.”

On just why the landmark of 30 goals was weighing so heavily on his mind that season, Macdonald said: “Now the thing is that we had a remarkable manager in Alec Stock.

“He is the only manager I’ve ever known who, before the season started, he would talk about promotion.

“No other manager does that, it’s almost as if they’re almost a bit suspicious and don’t tempt fate, Alec Stock did.

“It was the Friday after training before the first game of the season which was against Barrow Town, and Alec Stock, who had been a tank commander in the Second World War, so he had a military bearing about him and Jimmy Andrews the coach, got us all organised in the dressing room in numerical order.

“There was a bench that went around three walls, from the goalkeeper in one corner, to the outside left in the other.

"Alec Stock walked in, stood in the middle of us all and he said, ‘well, the good people of Luton Town are going to be coming in their droves tomorrow to see you lot play and the very least you can do is get them promotion, what do you say?’

“And so we all nodded dutifully, and he said ‘good, I’m pleased you agree, because now I’m going to tell you all how to do it.’

“He said, ‘we have 46 games in the Third Division and of those 46 games, we cannot afford to lose any more than nine, after that, the wins and the draws will look after themselves.’

“He said ‘to achieve that, at one end, we can only let in, 36 goals maximum. I’m not going to tell you how to do that, you defenders and midfield players, you’ll be working daily with coach Jimmy Andrews on making sure you keep things absolutely tight between you all.'

"'Now at the other end you have to score a minimum of 82 goals in those 46 matches and he said, I can tell you how you’re going to do that.’

“And he looked across at Tony Reid the goalkeeper, and said, ‘Tony Reid, I don’t expect you to score any goals, but I do expect you to save at least three penalties.

“Right back John Ryan, you love an overlap and I’ve got you down for five goals.

"Jack Bannister at left back, you poo your pants every time you cross the half way line, but nevertheless, I’ve got you down for three.

"Mike Keen, skipper of the side, you love a free kick and I've got you down for 10.’

“He gave centre halves their quota for the season, and he went round, five, six, seven, eight, nine, I was playing 10.

“I wasn’t sure whether I was going to be in the side or not and the team sheet had gone up and there I was at 10, so I was in.

“He got to the nine and he said Lawrie Sheffield, ‘by heaven's old son, you've been about a bit, you've had more clubs than Jack Nicklaus, but you can still run a bit, you can still jump a bit and I've got you down for 18.’

“And he looked then to one side and I’m rapidly thinking, 'he's given the old head 18, me, the young legs in the side, he’s going to give me maybe 20.

"Can I get 20? Yes I can get 20, I'm sure I can, 20 in 46? Yes I can do that.

“He averts his gaze from a few inches and he looks straight at me and said, ‘Macdonald the new boy, 30’ and went straight on to the outside left.

“Who scores 30 in a season? And I nudged Lawrie Sheffield under the ribs and said ‘Lawrie, did I hear him right? Did he give me a target of 30?’

“And he said ‘you heard him right boyo and good luck to you.’

“I couldn't get it out of my head, that’s all I could think about, ‘gee whiz, this target of 30 goals in a season, who scores 30 goals?’

“I didn't sleep well that night, and I got into the ground the next day and we were playing Barrow Town.

"At the end of the game, I've trooped into the dressing room, we’ve beaten Barrow 3-0, I've made two, but I haven’t scored and I’m sitting there getting into a right panic, thinking 'there's only 45 games to go now and I've still got 30 to score.'

“The players were brilliant with me, they realised that this was a hell of a target for a young footballer and they really rallied.

"They worked hard with me through the week, worked on my finishing and we went to Bournemouth for the first away game of the season.

“It was 0-0 with about 20 minutes go go, and Mike Keen the skipper knocked a great ball between the two centre halves and away I went, using my pace, went round the keeper, slid it in the net, thank you very much that goal won the game for us.

“More importantly for me, it got me off that dreaded 30 figure, 29 to get and now all of a sudden instead of skiing uphill, I was skiing downhill.”

After that, Macdonald went on a fine fun, scoring in his next five games and bagging six in his opening eight matches.

He eventually fell just short of his target, but still finished easily as top scorer with 29 goals that term from 54 matches, as he started every match of the campaign.

When promotion was finally secured, Macdonald remembers his chat with Stock, as he said: “We got to the last away game of the season and we were playing away at Mansfield.

“All we needed to do was get a point and it didn’t matter what happened anywhere else, we would get promotion.

“So, myself and the fellow centre forward, we dropped back and we played a 10 man wall on the edge of our box and just booted the ball out of the ground.

“It wasn’t pretty at all, we had been a really good footballing side until that last game, we just made certain we got a point, we stopped Mansfield from scoring, it finished 0-0 and that was us promoted.

“So in the dressing room afterwards, the directors of Luton Town in their utter generosity, sent us two bottles of champagne to celebrate, two bottles amongst a dressing room of about 16 people.

“I got two plastic cups and I poured a little champagne into each and I went across to Alec Stock and I gave him one of the plastic cups.

"I lifted mine and said, ‘well here’s to you boss, you said that we’d get promoted and that’s exactly what what we’ve done, but I’ve got an apology to make to you.’

“He said, ‘what’s that old son?’

"I said, 'well you gave me a target of 30 goals, and I’m sorry but I let you down, I only got 29.'

"He looked at me and he said ‘well, you see old son, there are those that when given a target, they go over and beyond and they get more than you asked for, there are those who have the ability to just get it smack on and then, there are people like you,’ and he just left it, he just left it.

“But what Alec Stock taught me was,never, ever, be satisfied with what you’ve got, you can always do better.

“Going back to the Reading game, if I scored one, I was hungrier for the second, if I scored a second, I became hungrier for the third, and that was the mentality that Alec Stock had instilled into me.”

Despite finishing at the top of the scoring charts, Macdonald admitted he wasn’t allowed to rest on his laurels going into the following Division Two season.

The attacker, who ended with 58 goals in 101 games before his move to Newcastle United, said: “Then before the first game of the following season, now in the second division, he came into the dressing room, had a load of new faces in the side and he’s done the same thing.

“Goalkeeper, right back, left back, he’s given us all targets and come around, and now Lawrie Sheffield had moved and I was playing upfront with Matt Tees, who Luton have bought from Charlton.

“This time, I was nine, and Matt Tees was 10, and he’s got to me and said ‘Macdonald, the not so new boy, 30, and don’t forget, you owe me one from last season.’