Neil McCafferty

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Neil McCafferty
Neil McCafferty of Derry City.
Personal information
Full name Neil McCafferty
Date of birth July 19, 1984 (age 22)
Place of birth    Derry, Northern Ireland
Playing position Midfield
Club information
Current club Derry City
Number 20
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
2000–2005
2003–2004
2005–2005
2005-2006
2006–present
Charlton Athletic
Cambridge United (loan)
Rushden & Diamonds (loan)
Rushden & Diamonds
Derry City
2 (0)
5 (1)
16 (0)
19 (4)
1 (0)
   

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 17:37, 27 January 2007 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)

Neil McCafferty (born July 19, 1984, Derry, Northern Ireland) is an Irish footballer currently playing in the League of Ireland with Derry City F.C.

Contents

[edit] Career

McCafferty partaking in a training session during his time at Charlton Athletic.
McCafferty partaking in a training session during his time at Charlton Athletic.

McCafferty began his career at Charlton Athletic in 2000-01. He can play either central midfield or on the right-hand side. In 2001, McCafferty was called into Charlton's first-team squad to face Manchester United at Old Trafford at just 16 years of age.[1] He was a regular in both Charlton's under-19 and reserve teams and was captain of the reserve side in 2004-2005. Whilst under contract with Charlton, McCafferty also had loan spells at both Cambridge United and Rushden and Diamonds.

During his spell with Rushden and Diamonds, McCafferty helped the club avoid relegation from the Football League. Having originally signed a one-month deal at Nene Park toward the end of January, 2005, his stay was soon extended to three months after a number of impressive performances which aided in steadying the sinking ship.

McCafferty was so popular with Rushden and Diamonds fans that when he was released by Charlton Athletic at the end of the 2004-05 season after failing to break into Alan Curbishley's first-team plans, he was signed by the club that had previously loaned him.[2]

McCafferty signed for his home-town club in July 2006 and made his debut away to Bray Wanderers on 04 August, 2006. However, he only managed this one appearance as a substitute before injury ruled him out of the 2006 season. Prior to this and upon his arrival at the club, the Derry City manager at the time, Stephen Kenny was quoted as saying:

McCafferty in action for Charlton's reserves.
McCafferty in action for Charlton's reserves.
Neil is yet another member of a generation of young players who have come of age over the past few seasons at Derry City. Players such as Paddy McCourt, Barry Molloy, Mark McChrystal, Ruaidhri Higgins and Kevin Deery are all the same age as Neil and they all played in the Derry and District Youth Leagues before graduating to senior players be it here or in England. Therefore, when I came to Derry I had targeted a number of those players who had been playing in England - Barry Molloy, Ruaidhri Higgins, Paddy McCourt and McCafferty. At the start it was difficult to persuade them to return home but over the past season or so, a return to the Brandywell is now considered a viable option should their careers come to a halt across the Irish Sea.[3]
McCafferty on the Derry City bench.
McCafferty on the Derry City bench.

At international level, the player was a regular at youth levels from Under-16 to Under-19 with the Republic of Ireland. His appearances for Ireland included the 2003 Oporto Youth Tournament held in Portugal where he represented the Under-19s.

[edit] Personal life

McCafferty was once the boyfriend of Girls Aloud singer, Nadine Coyle.

[edit] External link

McCafferty's player profile on CityWeb

[edit] References

  1. ^ "McCafferty set to break record", Adrian Harte, BBC Sport, 10 April, 2001.
  2. ^ "McCafferty agrees Diamonds deal", Football.co.uk, 29 September, 2005.
  3. ^ Neil signs on the dotted line Derry Journal, Retrieved 10 July 2006.


Derry City F.C. - Current Squad

1 Tidman | 2 McCallion | 3 Hargan | 4 Hutton | 5 Rogers | 6 Kelly | 7 Higgins | 8 Martyn | 9 Beckett | 10 McHugh | 11 Brennan | 12 Oman | 14 McGlynn | 15 Deery | 16 Jennings | 17 Molloy | 18 Farren | 19 Bermingham | 20 McCafferty | 21 Moran | 22 O'Halloran | 23 McCourt | 24 Hynes | 25 Moore | 30 Ferry | Manager: Fenlon