McCourt playing for Celtic |
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Patrick James McCourt[1] | ||
| Date of birth | December 16, 1983 | ||
| Place of birth | Derry, Northern Ireland | ||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Left winger | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Celtic | ||
| Number | 20 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1998–2000 | Foyle Harps | ||
| 2000–2001 | Rochdale | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2001–2005 | Rochdale | 79 | (8) |
| 2005 | Shamrock Rovers | 17 | (7) |
| 2005–2008 | Derry City | 61 | (5) |
| 2008– | Celtic | 48 | (9) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2002–2004 | Northern Ireland U21 | 9 | (1) |
| 2002– | Northern Ireland | 9 | (2) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 26 November 2011. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Patrick James "Paddy" McCourt (born 16 December 1983) is a Northern Irish footballer who plays as a left winger for Scottish Premier League club Celtic and the Northern Ireland national football team.
He started his career with English Football League side Rochdale in 2001, before moving to League of Ireland side Shamrock Rovers in 2005. A year later he moved to fellow League of Ireland team, Derry City where he won the FAI Cup in 2006 and also won the League of Ireland Cup twice in 2006 and 2007. In 2008 he signed for Scottish Premier League club Celtic and won the Scottish Cup in 2011.
He made his Northern Ireland debut in 2002 but didn't play again until 2009. He scored his first two goals against the Faroe Islands on 10 August 2011.
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Born in Derry, Northern Ireland, McCourt was educated at Steelstown Primary School in Derry and began his career with an early move from Foyle Harps to Rochdale on a youth team contract. His potential quickly persuaded the Spotland club to sign him on a three-and-a-half-year contract in December 2001, shortly after making his debut against Kidderminster Harriers. His first season ended with 23 appearances and four goals. This came at the peak of McCourt's early career,[2] and he attracted the attention of several Premier League clubs during 2002–03, including Blackburn Rovers and Manchester City.[3]
In the 2003–04 season, McCourt managed just a handful of starts for the club and had two spells away on trial with First Division sides Norwich City[4] and Crewe Alexandra, though neither club followed up their initial interest in him. Despite scoring goals during his spell at Spotland Stadium, a combination of injuries and loss of form hastened his departure from Rochdale in February 2005.
After Rochdale manager Steve Parkin had informed him that he was to be released, McCourt headed for another trial, this time with Scottish Premier League outfit Motherwell. Again a move failed to materialise after a two-week stay at Fir Park.
In March 2005, McCourt was signed by Roddy Collins, manager of League of Ireland full-timers, Shamrock Rovers.[4]
He scored three goals in his first six appearances for the Dublin club and topped the goalscoring table by May 2005. As the club ran into financial difficulty, mainly due to the costs surrounding the building of Tallaght Stadium, the club were forced to place all their players on the transfer list for free, however, this excluded McCourt. After 7 goals in 17 appearances (3 of which were goal of the season contenders)[5] and following interest from Bristol City and Queen's Park Rangers, Shamrock Rovers, in need of funds, decided to let McCourt go. The player was signed by his home-town club, Derry City, for a fee thought to be around £60,000. He was Rovers top goalscorer that season and won the Professional Footballers Association of Ireland award of 'Young Player of the Year'.[6]
McCourt helped Derry City to the runners-up position in both the 2005 and 2006 League of Ireland seasons. In the 2006 season he played in their UEFA Cup run in wins over IFK Gothenburg and Gretna and helped Derry to the FAI Cup and League of Ireland Cup. McCourt scored six goals in 31 appearances for City in the 2007 season and won a League of Ireland Cup medal. His skill had reportedly interested West Bromwich Albion, and Derry City announced in June 2008 that they had reached agreement with the newly-promoted Premier League side.[7]
In June 2008, Derry agreed a fee with Celtic for McCourt. Premier League club West Brom had also agreed terms with both player and club, but the lure of joining Celtic, the club he supported as a boy, persuaded McCourt to move to Glasgow.[8] On 19 June, McCourt signed for the club for an undisclosed fee after agreeing a three-year contract.[8] He made his competitive debut for Celtic on 25 October 2008 in the 4–2 win over Hibernian.[9]
He has featured prominently for the Celtic reserve team, particularly in the game on 28 April 2009 against Rangers which clinched the Reserve League Title for the Hoops for the eighth season in succession, a career high point for him.[10] He also appeared at the inaugural Wembley Cup in which he excelled for Celtic. He featured in another of Celtic's pre-season friendly matches against Manchester City on 8 August 2009 at Eastlands.
On 23 September, McCourt opened his goalscoring account for Celtic with a memorable goal in a League Cup match at Falkirk,[11] in which he beat five defenders before chipping the ball over Bairns goalkeeper Robert Olejnik. He then scored his first SPL goal in his first league start three days later, against St Mirren on 26 September,[12] a goal very similar to his previous strike, which saw him ghost past six defenders before beating the goalkeeper in addition. On 24 January 2010, McCourt bagged his second league goal for Celtic against St Johnstone after a mazy run and supreme finish into the top right hand corner, from just inside the penalty box.[13] McCourt also scored the second of Celtic's goals in a 2–1 victory over Seattle Sounders in a friendly match in Seattle on 18 July.[14]
In the first game of the 2010–11 SPL season, McCourt scored the only goal of the game against newly-promoted Inverness CT with a typical solo run and shot, beating three defenders and then netting from the edge of the box.[15] He scored his second goal of the season – his first at Celtic Park – in Celtic's 3–0 victory over Hearts on 11 September, after spectacularly beating 3 players before chipping the goalkeeper. On 6 November, McCourt netted the final goal of Celtic's 9–0 demolition of Aberdeen from the penalty spot.[16] On 27 November, he scored Celtic's 600th home SPL goal[17] in a 2-2 draw with Inverness at Celtic Park, with another mazy run, and precise finish.[17] On 29 December, McCourt scored the winning goal in the a 1-0 win against Motherwell with another skillful run and 20-yard finish.[18] On 26 January, McCourt added another SPL goal, a 4-0 win over Hearts from just inside the penalty box.[19] On 15 August it was reported, after he had scored his first goals for Northern Ireland, that several English clubs, including Liverpool, were interested in buying him.[20]
McCourt has represented Northern Ireland at International level.[21] He received nine caps for Northern Ireland under-21s.[22]
In April 2002, Northern Ireland manager Sammy McIlroy handed him his senior international debut against Spain at Windsor Park.[23][24] His second cap came in February 2009 after he came on as a substitute against San Marino in a qualifying match for the 2010 World Cup.[25][26]
McCourt scored his first international brace with two exceptional solo goals, as he helped Northern Ireland to a 4-0 victory over the Faroe Islands in a 2012 European Championships qualification match on the 10 August 2011.[27]
| Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 August 2011 | Windsor Park, Belfast | Faroe Islands | 3-0 | 4-0 | UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying |
| 2 | 10 August 2011 | Windsor Park, Belfast | Faroe Islands | 4-0 | 4-0 | UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying |
McCourt is known for his exceptional ball control and dribbling ability, as well as his ability to score spectacular solo goals. This has led to him being nicknamed "the Derry Pelé" by players, fans and pundits.[28][29][30]
McCourt's older brother Harry also played for and won the FAI Cup with Derry City and was joint top scorer in the League of Ireland in 1991/92.[31] He is also a Derry City director.[32]
On 12 January 2011, bullets were sent in the post to McCourt, from an address in Northern Ireland. Celtic manager Neil Lennon and teammate Niall McGinn were sent similar packages earlier in the same week.[33]
| Club | Season | League | Cups[34] | Europe | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Rochdale | 2001–02 | 23 | 4 | 3 | 0 | - | - | 26 | 4 |
| 2002–03 | 26 | 2 | 3 | 0 | - | - | 29 | 2 | |
| 2003–04 | 24 | 2 | 4 | 0 | - | - | 28 | 2 | |
| 2004–05 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | - | 8 | 0 | |
| Total | 79 | 8 | 12 | 0 | - | - | 91 | 8 | |
| Shamrock Rovers | 2005 | 17 | 7 | - | - | - | - | 17 | 7 |
| Total | 17 | 7 | - | - | - | - | 17 | 7 | |
| Derry City | 2005 | 15 | 1 | 4 | 0 | - | - | 19 | 1 |
| 2006 | 21 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 30 | 3 | |
| 2007 | 17 | 2 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 6 | |
| 2008 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | 9 | 0 | |
| Total | 61 | 5 | 22 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 88 | 10 | |
| Celtic | 2008–09 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 2009–10 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 3 | |
| 2010–11 | 25 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 7 | |
| 2011-12 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 0 | |
| Total | 48 | 9 | 9 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 63 | 10 | |
| Career total | 205 | 29 | 43 | 6 | 11 | 0 | 259 | 35 | |
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