William Alexander Mackay

William Alexander Mackay (10 July 1860 – 14 July 1927) was a Scottish medical doctor who worked for the Rio Tinto mining company and co-founded Spain's oldest football club, Recreativo de Huelva.

Early life William Mackay was born in Latheron, Caithness, on 10 July 1860, the son of Anglican priest Reverend John Mackay and Wilhelmina Sutherland. He graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a medical degree in 1882.

Medical career In 1883 William Mackay began practicing as a doctor for the Rio Tinto mining company in Minas de Riotinto Huelva, Andalusia, Spain. His brother, John Sutherland Mackay, was the company's chief medical officer and the president of the company's football team. In 1883 medical provision for Rio Tinto staff was limited to that provided by the Spanish Provincial Hospital. William inspected the Spanish Provincial Hospital in 1883 and reported to the Board of the Rio Tinto Company that the hospital was insanitary and crowded: "Small windows, placed near the roof, and clammy walls, complete the picture of a medieval prison". William's experiences of working as a doctor at the hospital, and in private practice, formed the basis of the MD thesis he submitted to the University of Edinburgh in 1889 with the title Surgery in Spain. He was soon joined in his work by another young doctor, Robert Russell Ross, and the two of them kept organizing football games between the miners and in 1888, they even began to organize matches against crews of English ships who docked in the port of Huelva, ranging from sailors to captains through officers. This entity became known in Huelva as Recreo de Huelva.

On 1 March 1888, Dr. Mackay sent a letter to Dr. Ildefonso Mártinez to invite the Spanish doctor to join Club de Recreo in order to play football and cricket games against the mariners of a merchant ship called Jane Cory, but most important than the invitation was its historical significance, as it made the first reference to a Recreation Club.

Personal life William Mackay's wife and their four children all died of a hereditary disease within six years of each other, between 1896 and 1902. His son Alexander died in 1896, his wife Catherine and son Juanito in 1898, and his daughters Anita and Molly in 1902. The book also described the work of the clinic.