Pat McCourt

Name: Patrick James McCourt
Born: 16 December 1983, Londonderry
Height: 5.10 ft
Weight: 11.00 st
Position: Winger

Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: Full Caps (2002-date), 1 B Cap (2009) 9 Under-21 Caps (2002-2005).
Club Honours: (with Derry) FAI Cup Winner 2006; FAI League Cup Winner 2005, 2006, 2007; (with Celtic) Scottish Premier League Champion 2011/12, 2012/13; Scottish Cup Winner 2010/11, 2012/13; (with Glenavon) ; NIFL Charity Shield Winner 2016.
Awards: PFAI Young Player of the Year 2005; Sky Sports SPL Goal of the Season 2009/10.

Club Career:

Teams	Seasons	Signed	Fee	League	FA Cup	FL Cup	Europe	Others
Foyle Harps			Youth	-	-	-	-	-
Rochdale	01/02-04/05	Aug-01	Youth	31(48)/ 8	2(4)/1	0(3)/0	-	1(5)/0
Norwich City	-	Sep-03	Trial	0 (0)/ 0	-	-	-	-
Crewe.Alexandra	-	-	Trial	0 (0)/ 0	-	-	-	-
Motherwell	-	Dec-04	Trial	0 (0)/ 0	-	-	-	-
Shamrock Rovers	2005	Jan-05	Free	17 (-)/ 7	-	-	-	-
Derry City	2005 - 2008	Jul-05	£60k	48 (-)/ 5	-	-	4(1)/0	-
Celtic	07/08-12/13	Jun-08	£200k	15(51)/ 9	2(6)/0	1(6)/1	2(6)/0	-
Barnsley	13/14	Aug-13	Free	15 (8)/ 2	-	-	-	-
Brighton & H.A.	14/15	Aug-14	Free	0(10)/ 0	-	2(1)/0	-	-
Notts County	14/15	Feb-15	Loan	11 (1)/ 1	-	-	-	-
Luton Town	15/16	Jul-15	Free	15 (9)/ 1	1(0)/0	-	-	-
Glenavon Finn Harps	16/17 2017- 2018	Jul-16 Feb-17	Free Free	10 (2)/ 1 0	- -	- -	- -	3(0)/1 -
TOTALS	-	£260k		-	-	-	-	-

Biography:
Paddy McCourt, the "Derry Pele", emerged as an incredibly exciting talent with Rochdale. He was just seventeen when he made his debut in a 2-0 win over Torquay in October 2001. The following February he made his Northern Ireland Under-21 debut in a 1-0 defeat by Germany at Windsor Park. Such was his early form that Manchester City reportedly had a £1.5 million bid rej-ected.

Just two months after his first Under-21 appearance, McCourt made his Full debut against Spain. The friendly game, organised to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of that “night in Valencia” proved a disaster. The Northern Ireland squad had been decimated by withdrawals and Sammy McIlroy’s hand had been forced into calling up a number of Under-21 players, including the Rochdale duo of Lee McEvilly and McCourt. By the time of their emergence from the bench as second-half substitutes the match was already lost and the 5-0 final score seemed almost inevitable.

From there on McCourt continued to prove himself as an exciting prospect, but one beset by inconsistencies and ill-discipline. Mid-way through the 2004/05 season he was made available by Rochdale, and after a trial at Motherwell signed for Shamrock Rovers in January 2005. The following July he moved on to his hometown club, Derry City. With the Candystripes McCourt proved himself as one of the best footballers in Ireland with spectacular goals a regular feature of his game.

McCourt was expected to complete a move to English Premier League new-boys West Brom in June 2008 for a fee reported to be between £90,000 and £150,000. However, although Norwich City also showed an interest it was his boyhood idols Celtic that stepped in to clinch a last-minute deal for a fee believed to be close to £200,000. In February 2009 he returned to the Northern Ireland squad after a near seven year absence. He won his second cap as a substitute against San Marino. 

Fitness worries and managerial instability saw McCourt make only sporadic appearances at Celtic, even still he was a real favourite and his goal against Falkirk was named SPL Goal of the Season 2009/10. A bright start to the 2010/11 season saw McCourt recalled to the Northern Ireland squad and his performance in the centre of midfield in a friendly against Morocco earned a great deal of praise, showing not only his customary skills on the ball, but also a previously unrecognised steel to his game. On a rainy-Windsor night in August 2011 he scored two goals that George Best would have been proud of against a stubborn Faroe Islands.

A resurgent Celtic won the Scottish Cup in 2011 and the SPL in 2012 with McCourt only a peripheral member of the squad. He was again merely a squad player as they claimed the Double in 2013. His appearance from the bench in the Scottish Cup final win over Hibernian, during which he wore the captain's armband, was to be his last for the Hoops as his contract expired that summer.

After trial spells with Hibs and Peterborough, McCourt signed with Barnsley early in the 2013/14 season. He showed glimpses of his talent with a wonder goal against Middlesbrough, but as the team struggled so did McCourt. He was released after relegation from the Championship was confirmed. He remained in the Championship however, signing for Brighton in the opening weeks of the following season.

Over the following few seasons McCourt remained on the periphery of the Northern Ireland squad as they qualified for Euro 2016. He had spells with Notts County and Luton but he secured a return to Northern Ireland at the end of the 2015/16 season, rejecting any chance of traveling to the Euro finals as his wife had fallen seriously ill. With his wife on the road to recovery he agreed to sign for Glenavon, however he struggled to adapt to part-time football and departed before Christmas.

After leaving Glenavon McCourt was unveiled as an Irish FA County Coach. In January he was reported to be signing for Dundalk but the move never materialised and he instead joined Finn Harps. He retired in November 2018 have helped Harps to promotion to the Premier League through the play-offs and joined the coaching staff at Derry City.

McCourt was accused of sexual assault in 2022 and initially convicted before being cleared in December 2023 in what his solicitor described as a "grave miscarriage of justice".

Celtic Site
Wikipedia
Irish FA
Soccerbase

Northern Ireland Cap Details:
17-04-2002 Spain........ H L 0-5 FR. sub 
11-02-2009 San Marino... A W 3-0 WCQ sub 
14-11-2009 Serbia....... H L 0-1 FR. sub 
17-11-2010 Morocco...... H D 1-1 FR 
09-02-2011 Scotland..... N L 0-3 CNC

25-03-2011 Serbia....... A L 1-2 ECQ sub

29-03-2011 Slovenia..... H D 0-0 ECQ sub

10-08-2011 Faroe Islands H W 4-0 ECQ 2 goals
07-10-2011 Estonia...... H L 1-2 ECQ
29-02-2012 Norway....... H L 0-3 FR. sub
14-11-2012 Azerbaijan... H D 1-1 WCQ sub
06-02-2013 Malta........ A D 0-0 FR. sub
26-03-2013 Israel....... H L 0-2 WCQ sub
05-03-2013 Cyprus....... A D 0-0 FR. sub
11-10-2014 Faroe Islands H W 2-0 ECQ sub
26-03-2015 Scotland..... A L 0-1 FR. sub
31-05-2015 Qatar........ N D 1-1 FR. sub

still active...

Northern Ireland B Cap Details:
06-05-2009 Scotland..... A L 0-3 FR

Summary: 1/0. Won 0, Drew 0, Lost 1.

Northern Ireland Under-21 Cap Details:
12-02-2002 Germany ...... H L 0-1 FR 
06-09-2002 Scotland ..... A W 1-0 FR sub 
11-10-2002 Spain ........ A L 0-1 EC 
15-10-2002 Ukraine ...... H D 1-1 EC 
11-02-2003 Finland ...... H W 3-1 FR sub 
28-03-2003 Armenia ...... A L 0-2 EC sub 
01-04-2003 Greece ....... H L 2-6 EC sub 
18-08-2004 Switzerland .. H D 0-0 FR 
16-08-2005 Rep of Ireland H D 2-2 FR

Summary: 5(4)/0. Won 2, Drew 3, Lost 4.

Pat McCourt's elder brother, Harry McCourt, was a striker with Limavady United (3 spells), Portadown, Cliftonville (twice), Tobermore United, Omagh Town (twice), Ards (twice) and Derry City. In a playing career spanning the late-1980s to early-2000s he scored 65 Irish League and League of Ireland goals in 218 games.

Picture courtesy of OJM from OWC. Corrections by Karl Reilly of League of Ireland History.