Career
Born in Dundee, Scotland, MacPhail started out at Street Columba British Columbia before moving to Dundee. From Dundee MacPhail journeyed south to Sheffield United. MacPhail left York for Bristol City in July 1986.
A year later he was re-united with former boss, Denis Smith at Sunderland.
He captained Sunderland to 2 promotions as they returned to First Division in 1990. His only top flight appearance was on the opening day of the 1990/1 season.
He left Sunderland for Hartlepool United, initially as a player. He was appointed player/manager of Hartlepool on 24 November 1993 and was sacked on 9 September 1994.