He was a friend of John Houlding who founded the club and a self-made businessman.
McKenna used his Scottish contacts to build a team of players and Liverpool were became known as the 'team of macs'. Liverpool were soon elected to the second division and then promoted to the first.
McKenna expanded the ground, building new stands to accomodate the growing crowds and bringing in Tom Watson from Sunderland to become the club's assistant secretary and took over managerial duties from 1896.