A former stalwart of Carrick Thistle Amateur Football Club died at the age of 59.  Johnny Mackie was one of Maybole’s characters and sadly died on New Year’s Day 2003 after a long illness. Born and bred in the town, football was a big part of his life and he scored 56 goals one year with the amateurs. As well as a goal scoring record there is a school of thought that says he also held the record for being sent off!

Legend has it he even scored an own goal so that he could claim a hat trick on one game. He was very proud of playing at Somerset Park in the Ayrshire Cup and the Supplementary Shield.

Johnny worked in the building trade and also at Wace Clyde. As well as playing for Carrick Thistle, he played for Dailly, their great rivals. He also enjoyed bowling as a member of Memorial Park, playing darts, his pigeons, and his holidays.

At his funeral, Rev Dave Whiteman said, "He lived life to the full, he had a happy and enjoyable life and leaves a great legacy to the world in his family. He had one great wish, however, that former Carrick Thistle players should have a reunion and get together again. He had talked about it for a while so today I want to make an appeal to any of them who are here today. Why not just do it?"

He is survived by his wife Jean, children Jaqueline, Joan and John, and grandchildren Amy John, Ross and Jamie.

THEY never reached the dizzy heights, but Carrick Thistle are fondly remembered by many amateur football fans in the Maybole area. And it was an ambition of former player Johnny Mackie to get the lads from the 1960s team together again for a reunion. Sadly, Johnny died on New Year’s Day, but old pals in the team asked his widow if she would be happy to see a reunion go ahead. Jean Mackie was delighted at the idea — especially as the players and friends wanted to raise cash for charity, in Johnny’s name. A fine total of £600 was raised from the reunion, and presented to the Ayrshire Hospice by Jean and her family. The money comes on top of £200 raised for the hospice from mourners who made donations at Johnny’s funeral. Jean Mackie told the Post: “I really can’t thank the hospice staff enough for all they did — they looked after Johnny so well.” She also thanks local shops and businesses for donations for the raffle, and everybody who helped — especially George Wallace and Ian Paterson. (From the Ayrshire Post May 2nd 2003)