Paul McVeigh

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Personal information
Paul McVeigh
Full name	Paul Michael McVeigh
Date of birth	December 6, 1977 (1977-12-06) (age 30)
Place of birth	Belfast, Northern Ireland
Height	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Luton Town
Number	28
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1996–2000 2000–2007 2007 2007–	Tottenham Hotspur Norwich City → Burnley (loan) Luton Town	003 0(1) 215 (36) 008 0(3) 025 0(0)
National team²
1998–1999 1999–2004	Northern Ireland U21 Northern Ireland	011 0(0) 020 0(0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11:23, 2 May 2008 (UTC). ² National team caps and goals correct as of 11:23, 2 May 2008 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Paul Michael McVeigh (born December 6, 1977 in Belfast) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who currently plays as a striker for Luton Town.

McVeigh started his career at Tottenham Hotspur where he made 3 appearances scoring 1 goal against Coventry City. He joined Norwich City in March 2000 on a free transfer. The following season he made 6 starts and 6 substitute appearances. He also scored his first goal for the club in a 1-0 home win against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The following season he scored 9 goals as Norwich reached the final of the division one play-offs. In the 2002-03 campaign he was the club's top scorer with 15 goals. Most of those goals came when he was partnering Iwan Roberts upfront, although later in the season swapped to left midfield. The following season he scored just 5 goals, but helped Norwich win promotion to the Premiership. During the 2004-05 season in the Premiership McVeigh made few first team appearances, although he did get on the scoresheet at Old Trafford.

McVeigh was Player of the Month for December & January during the 2005-06 season, and was voted by the supporters in third place in the player of the Season. At the start of that season McVeigh had been placed on the transfer list by manager Nigel Worthington. However, a run of injuries in the squad forced him to restore McVeigh to the side. He began the 2006-07 season on the substitute's bench, though an injury to Darren Huckerby briefly gave him an opportunity to play in the starting XI. He was sent off in Norwich's 1-0 win against Cardiff City at Carrow Road on 21 October 2006 following an altercation with Kerrea Gilbert in injury time and subsequently appeared to fall out of favour with Norwich manager Peter Grant.

Between 1999 and 2004 he was capped by Northern Ireland 20 times, first by Lawrie McMenemy in the 1-1 home draw with Canada on 27 April 1999 whilst a youngster at Tottenham, then on 11 occasions by Sammy McIlroy after McVeigh moved to Norwich and finally on eight more occasions by Lawrie Sanchez. He had previously won 11 caps for the under-21 side.^[1] McVeigh effectively retired from international football ("I'm putting my Northern Ireland career on hold") in order to concentrate on reviving his club career. In his international career, McVeigh only made 6 starts. By the time he opted out of international football, it seemed that opportunities would in any case have been limited and with Northern Ireland's later success (still managed by Sanchez, under whom McVeigh said he would not play again)^{[citation needed]} there seemed little chance that McVeigh would revive his international career.

On 22 March 2007, McVeigh signed on loan with Norwich's Championship rivals Burnley until the end of the 2006-07 season where his three goals helped to seal championship survival. At the end of that 2006-07 season, Norwich manager Peter Grant announced that McVeigh's contract with the club would not be renewed.

In July 2007 McVeigh trained with the Italian Serie B side Pisa^[2] before Plymouth Argyle manager Ian Holloway gave a trial to the former Norwich striker with a view to signing him. A deal was not concluded, however, and the following month he signed for Luton Town, the ninth player Luton manager Kevin Blackwell had signed in the summer.

[edit] References

v • d • e Luton Town F.C. – current squad

1 Brill • 8 Bell • 9 Parkin • 15 O'Leary • 17 Emanuel • 19 Talbot • 20 Andrew • 21 Keane • 22 Langley • 24 Underwood • 25 Spring • 26 Davis • 29 Furlong • 32 Charles • 37 Beavan • 38 Asafu-Adjaye • 39 Hogarth • 40 Howells • Manager: Harford