Stephen McGinn

Stephen McGinn

Personal information
Date of birth	(1988-12-02) 2 December 1988
Place of birth	Glasgow, Scotland
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Sheffield United
Number	14
Youth career
	St. Mirren Boys Club
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2006–2010	St. Mirren	74	(7)
2010–2013	Watford	38	(2)
2013	→ Shrewsbury Town (loan)	18	(2)
2013–	Sheffield United	20	(0)
National team‡
2007	Scotland U19	1	(0)
2009–2010	Scotland U21	8	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:48, 1 February 2014 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17:04, 13 October 2013 (UTC)

Stephen McGinn (born 2 December 1988) is a Scottish footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for Sheffield United. Born in Glasgow, McGinn started his career with St. Mirren in his native Scotland, before moving south of the border to sign for English Championship side Watford. He spent three and a half years at Watford but spent over a year of that on the sidelines following a knee injury, before being loaned to Shrewsbury Town on his return to fitness. He has also represented Scotland at Scotland under-19 and Scotland under-21 level.

Career

St. Mirren

McGinn started out at St. Mirren FCBC, (formerly the Football Club's Boys Club, now Youth Football Club) aged seven. He signed professional forms with St. Mirren in July 2006, making his debut as a substitute on 1 January 2007 against Inverness CT. His first full appearance was in a 5–1 loss to Celtic on 20 January 2007, also scoring his first goal.

For the 2007–08 season, McGinn started on bench before making his first start of the season against Celtic at Parkhead on 8 December, he scored the opening goal in a 1–1 draw. His second goal of the season came as the only goal against Hearts. He made his first ever Scottish Cup appearance against Dumbarton on 12 January 2008, coming on in the 88 minute.

McGinn was named in the starting XI for the 2008–09 season, making a start against Celtic on the opening day. On 5 October 2008 McGinn scored a vital goal against Rangers, where St Mirren won 1–0, the team's first home league win over Rangers in 22 years.^[1]

McGinn started the 2009–10 season on bench in the Scottish League Cup game but then went on to score on his first start of the season in a 2–1 loss to Hibernian on 15 August 2009.^[2] McGinn continued his fine start to the season with a brace against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park, where The Buddies came from behind to win 2–1.

Watford

McGinn signed for Watford in January 2010, for an undisclosed fee.^[3] He made his first Watford appearance as a substitute against Newcastle United on 27 February 2010,and finished the season making two starts and seven sub appearances.

The following season McGinn established himself as a first-team regular for Watford, missing just four games between August and the end of February, before damaging his knee ligaments in a 1–1 draw against Doncaster Rovers. He was ruled out for the rest of the season and underwent knee surgery. McGinn returned to fitness a year later, playing 45 minutes in a reserve game, insisting afterwards that he felt good and stronger than when he got injured.^[4]

In July 2012, McGinn signed a new contract to keep him at Vicarage Road for another year, with a one-year option held by the Hornets to extend the deal.^[5]

Having failed to make an appearance for Watford during the first half of the following season, in January McGinn signed for Shrewsbury Town on loan until the end of April.^[6] He scored his first goal for Shrewsbury in a 2–1 home loss to Sheffield United on 9 February.^[7] In June 2013, Watford announced that McGinn's contract would not be renewed and that he was due to be released as a free agent.^[8]

Sheffield United

Following his release from Watford, McGinn signed for League One side Sheffield United in June 2013, agreeing a two-year contract with the option of a third year.^[9] McGinn made his debut for the Blades in the opening fixture of the following season, in a 2–1 home defeat of Notts County.^[10]

Career statistics

As of 4 February 2014.^[11]

International career

McGinn played for Scotland under-19s in a goalless draw against Slovakia in 2007,^[12] and marked his debut for the under-21s by scoring in a 5–2 win against Albania in April 2009.^[3] He went on to make a total of 8 appearances at under-21 level.^[13]

Personal life

Stephen's younger brother John McGinn is also a footballer, he currently plays for Stephen's former club St. Mirren in Paisley.^[14]

References

External links

• Stephen McGinn career stats at Soccerbase
• Sheffield United FC Official Player Profile