In 1887, William and another Scottish doctor, Robert Russell Ross, founded a sports club for Rio Tinto Company workers. The club was originally named ''Huelva Recreation Club'' and was intended to provide physical recreation for the workers in order to improve their health. It was officially established as ''Recreativo de Huelva'' on 23 December 1889.<ref>{{Citation|title=Recreativo de Huelva|date=2018-05-31|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Recreativo_de_Huelva&oldid=843857308|work=Wikipedia|language=en|access-date=2018-07-09}}</ref> Although the club is now known as Spain's oldest football club, their activities were not originally restricted to football: Mackay invited Ildefenso Martinez to play cricket in 1888 <ref name=":2" /> and the club organised rugby matches in 1910. <ref name=":0" />
