Scott Douglas McDonald (born 21 August 1983) is an Australian former professional footballer and is the current head coach for National Premier Leagues club Gold Coast Knights.

Born in Dandenong, McDonald commenced his senior footballing career with Gippsland Falcons in the National Soccer League before moving to Great Britain in 2001.

He subsequently played for a wide range of clubs, including representing Southampton in the Premier League and Celtic and Motherwell in the Scottish top flight.

McDonald famously scored two late goals against Celtic at the end of the 2004–05 season to deny them the Scottish Premier League title which was instead won by their arch-rivals Rangers.

A mistake by Spartak defender Roman Shishkin allowed McDonald to slip in and hit the ball first time past Stipe Pletikosa.

[16] Just days later in an away league match against St Mirren, McDonald latched onto a long Gary Caldwell pass to lob Chris Smith from a tight angle and score his first SPL goal for the club.

In a pulsating clash with Old Firm rivals Rangers on 16 April 2008, McDonald set up his Dutch strike partner Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink for a last minute goal that kept Celtic in the 2007–08 SPL title race,[19] before scoring a double and winning a penalty scored by Barry Robson in another vital 3–2 Old Firm victory eleven days later.

On 5 November 2008 McDonald scored the opening goal in a 1–1 draw with Manchester United at Celtic Park in the Champions League with a well executed lob over Ben Foster.

On 27 December 2008, he scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory at Ibrox during the Old Firm derby, helping his team bring the three points home.

On 27 January 2009, McDonald scored twice in the dramatic 11–10 penalty shoot-out victory against Dundee United[22] to send Celtic through to the League Cup final, which they won 2–0 against archrivals Rangers.

On 3 July, McDonald was handed the Celtic captaincy for a pre-season game against Brisbane Roar, due to the injury to Stephen McManus and the departure of vice-captain Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.

On 5 August, he scored the opening goal against Dynamo Moscow in Russia, a game which Celtic went on to win 2–0, to progress to the final qualifying round of the Champions League.

[24] He joined up with Gordon Strachan, whom he played under at Celtic and Southampton, and also rejoined four of his former teammates, Willo Flood, Barry Robson, Chris Killen and Stephen McManus.

[26] After a return from injury, McDonald scored three times in four games against Crystal Palace, Sheffield Wednesday and Coventry City.

[39] His form continued as he scored the winning goal in a Tees – Wear derby against Sunderland resulting in a 1–0 victory to the Boro.

[47] Later that month, Motherwell rejected an offer from an unnamed A-League side, later revealed to be the Western Sydney Wanderers,[48] for McDonald.

[55] McDonald went on to play a massive role in helping Partick Thistle avoid relegation from the Scottish Championship, scoring 7 goals in 13 appearances in all competitions for the Jags.

McDonald was a starter in the Australia squad that started off qualification for the 2010 World Cup with a 3–0 win over Qatar in February, setting up a goal for Mark Bresciano.

[62] McDonald's most recent appearance came on 15 August 2012 against Scotland coming on as a substitute in the second half, playing alongside fellow Middlesbrough teammate Rhys Williams.