[5] In July 1961 MacLeod was signed by Arsenal for £40,000 (then a record fee for a winger) and made his debut against Burnley on 19 August 1961.
In total, he made 112 appearances for Arsenal, scoring 27 goals, despite manager Billy Wright's policy of usually employing only one winger on the pitch.
Arsenal were not particularly successful at this time, usually finishing around mid-table, although they did make their European debut, in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, in 1963–64.
[6] In September 1964, with the young George Armstrong pushing for a place in the side, Arsenal found MacLeod surplus to requirements and sold him to Aston Villa for £35,000.
He spent four seasons at Villa Park making 123 league appearances, before moving to Belgium to play for KV Mechelen in 1968.