Early years in England Born in
Glasgow, McKinnon played youth football in
East Kilbride where his father coached a team. He began his career playing
Junior football with
Rutherglen Glencairn before turning professional in 1985 with
Newcastle United; however he only played one
league game for the
Magpies, a heavy defeat to
Tottenham in which he was replaced by
Paul Gascoigne (whose career was also in its infancy). where he helped the club achieve promotion from English football's fourth tier in
1990–91. He also spent a short time on loan at
Manchester United, although he did not play a competitive match for them. However, Motherwell could not afford the wages to keep the players, and McKinnon and Lambert decided to move to continental clubs on a
free transfer when their contracts expired in summer 1996 under the recently implemented
Bosman ruling. Lambert signed for
Borussia Dortmund, and McKinnon made the move to Dutch football, joining
FC Twente.
Eredivisie and return McKinnon played regularly with Twente in the
Eredivisie for two seasons – in
the first, the team finished third and qualified for the following year's
UEFA Cup. He returned to Scotland with
Hearts on another free transfer, but was unable to hold down a regular place in the side. He went back to Hartlepool on loan during
1999, before being released by Hearts. He then moved down the divisions with
Clydebank for two seasons, Finally he turned out for hometown club
East Kilbride Thistle at the age of 39.
International McKinnon was capped three times by
the Scottish national side between 1993 and 1995 while playing with Motherwell, as well as appearing for the
B side in the same period. ==Personal life==