Aberdeen’s final-day clash with Dundee United was marred by an incident after the final whistle in which Dons star Jack MacKenzie was struck on the head by a seat through by his own fans
Aberdeen’s Jack Mackenzie requried medical treatment after being hit by a seat(Image: Pete Summers/Shutterstock)
Aberdeen star Jack MacKenzie was left in a bloodied mess after being struck by a seat thrown by his own team’s fans. The Dons travelled to Dundee United on the final day of the Scottish Premiership season on Saturday.
The hosts beat Jimmy Thelin’s side to leapfrog them in the table and claim fourth place. That handed them a spot in the second qualifying round of the Europa League, while Aberdeen will be forced to settle for the second qualifying round of the Conference League.
It marks a disappointing end to the season for Thelin’s men, who at one point had title aspirations. United’s fans were understandably delighted to book their place in Europe next season.
Home supporters streamed onto the pitch to celebrate the win and their fourth-placed finish. But trouble flared amid those celebrations, with MacKenzie the victim of a shocking piece of violence.
MacKenzie had been an unused substitute in the match, but was hit on the head by a seat. It appears the seat was thrown from a section of the Tannadice ground where visiting supporters are housed.
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Medical staff rushed to his aid and he was bandaged up, with blood gushing from his wound. He was eventually wheeled off and taken inside for further treatment, though it is understood he was not taken to hospital.
MacKenzie did have stitches put in to seal up his wound, with boss Thelin left furious. The Dons chief revealed his player would be ok but that he had suffered ‘quite a bad injury’.
“I just spoke with him, he’s okay but it’s quite a bad injury,” Thelin fumed to BBC Scotland. “It’s unacceptable it happened to a football player who is just playing football and gives so much for us.
The incident followed Aberdeen’s defeat to Dundee United on the final day of the Scottish Premiership season(Image: PA)
“This is unacceptable and can’t happen. We have to get all the facts of what actually happened. All we know is Jack got a really bad injury as a player doing his job, performing for Aberdeen football club. This cannot happen in this way.”
Aberdeen had taken the lead through Jeppe Okkels’ opener, but the hosts hit back through Declan Gallagher before Sam Dalby won the game with a penalty. Neither club are yet making a comment on the incident.
Instead, both want time to gather more information and assess what happened. For his part Dundee United boss Jim Goodwin labelled the horrific incident a ‘disgrace’ as he hit out at Aberdeen fans.
“I deliberately took myself off the pitch as quickly as I could because we’ve had previous with the Aberdeen supporters in the past – I’ve been hit with a number of objects in the fixtures we’ve played,” he said.
“I’m really disappointed to hear young Jack MacKenzie has been hit by an object thrown by his own supporters. He’s inside having stitches now, it’s an absolute disgrace.
“It’s probably taken something as serious as this to happen for the authorities to finally step in and do something about it to identify the idiots who let down a really good club.”
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