Charlie MacDonald signed for the Boro’ at the same time as winger Michael Blackwood; brought in from Margate by boss Wayne Turner. He came in with the reputation of being a promising young talent and made a quick impact; scoring twice in our 5-1 win at Woking. But the following months were a bit of a let down. The striker didn’t really make a big impression on the Boro’ faithful, with just one more goal to his name.

Not the tallest person to grace the Broadhall Way turf, MacDonald had a good leap and off-the-ball movement. But the lack of that extra yard of pace needed for the Conference didn’t help. Nor did his poor return of goals. And nor did his lack of confidence when the ball was at his feet. That might explain why times were tough for the forward with us and the reason why goals were hard to come by.

And yet we knew that MacDonald had the talent to do the business at this level. While he wasn’t suited to Wayne Turner’s Boro’ squad and wasn’t considered by Graham Westley, his career still had a long way to run. MacDonald’s stats probably reflect the way that we were playing at the time when Turner was in charge. But MacDonald could still make an impact in the feeder leagues before returning to the Conference.

Author: Scott ‘Sooty’ Taylor

Charlie MacDonald: After Boro’

Make an impact is what he did too. After leaving us, he rebuilt his career at Crawley Town and Ebbsfleet United. Soon enough, he was catching the eye of clubs in the League. The first was Southend United, followed by Brentford and MK Dons. He’d feature for a number of other clubs in the coming years, still playing well into his late 30s – even though he had left the Football League behind when he left Barnet in 2015.

Image: Keith Mayhew (if incorrect, please contact us and we’ll happily credit you)