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Ryan McGivern

Name: Ryan McGivern
Born: 8 January 1990, Damolly, Newry
Height: 6.00 ft
Weight: 13.02 st
Position: Left-Back

Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: Full Caps (2008-), 6 Under-21 Caps / 1 Goal (2009-2012), Under-19, 7 Under-17 Caps / 2 Goals (2006).
Club Honours: (with Man. City) FA Youth Cup Winner 2007/08; (with Hibs) Scottish Cup Runner-Up 2012/13; (with Linfield) ... (with Newry) NIFL Championship Winner 2021/22.

Club Career:
Teams.......... --Seasons-- Signed -Fee- -League- FA Cup FL Cup -Other-
Christian Eneavour ............... Youth (Carnbane League)
Drumcashlone ..................... Youth (Carnbane League)
Manchester City 08/09-12/13....... Youth .0 (1)/0
Morecambe ..... 08/09...... Oct-08 .Loan .5 (0)/1 ............. 1(0)/0
Leicester City. 09/10 ..... Aug-09 .Loan .9 (3)/0 2(0)/0
Walsall ....... 10/11 ..... Jul-10 .Loan 15 (0)/0 1(0)/0

Crystal Palace. 11/12 ..... Aug-11 .Loan .5 (0)/0 
Bristol City .. 11/12 ..... Aug-11 .Loan 26 (5)/0 1(0)/0
Hibernian ..... 12/13 ..... Aug-12 .Loan 25 (2)/1 5(0)/0
Hibernian ..... 13/14 ..... May-13 .Free 31 (2)/0 1(0)/0 1(1)/0 2(0)/0
Port Vale ..... 14/15-15/16 Jun-14 .Free 44 (4)/0 4(0)/0 2(0)/0 1(0)/0
Shrewsbury Town 16/17-17/18 Jun-16 .Free 14 (1)/0 1(0)/0 2(0)/0
Northampton T.. 17/18 ..... Nov-17 .Free .0 (1)/0 1(0)/0 ...... 1(0)/0 
Swindon Town .. 17/18 ..... Mar-18 .Free 
Linfield ...... 18/19-20/21 Jul-18 
Newry City .... 21/22- date Jun-21 

Biography:
A star of the Northern Ireland youth set-up, Ryan McGivern was part of the Under-19 side that defeated Chile in the 2008 Milk Cup Final. Just two weeks later he was called into the Northern Ireland squad for a match against Scotland by Nigel Worthington as cover for the injured George McCartney.

Although McGivern has yet to play a senior game for Manchester City he was a member of their 2008 FA Youth Cup winning squad and had just received his first call-up to the Under-21 squad. After the Milk Cup Worthington had said of McGivern: “I was very impressed with (him). I watched him closely — he is a good young professional with the right attitude and he is a very good player."

A surprise starter when he made his Northern Ireland debut against Scotland, McGivern's nerves showed as he received two bookings for clumsy challenges and was sent-off - the first ever Northern Ireland player to receive his marching orders on his debut. Worthington did not lose faith in the youngster and has retained him in the squad thereafter.

In October 2008 McGivern was farmed out on a month loan to Sammy McIlroy's Morecambe in order to gain firstteam experience. He made his League debut in a 2-1 defeat at Port Vale on 25 October and on 1 November he scored in a 2-0 win over Aldershot. McIlroy was disappointed when he was unable to extend McGivern's stay with The Shrimps beyond a month.

Although Manchester City manager Mark Hughes assured McGivern that he would be in his firstteam plans for the 2009/10 season, continued big-spending saw the youngster loaned out to Leicester City prior to the close of the August transfer window. The loan deal, initially set to expire in January, was extended to the end of the season and during his time with the Foxes he appeared at centre-back as well as left-back.

McGivern joined League One Walsall on a seasons loan in July 2010, however the loan deal was cut short in January as he was no longer guaranteed first team football. On 3rd February 2011 he made his Manchester City début as a second-half substitute in a convincing home win over Sunderland.

In August 2011 McGivern joined Crystal Palace on a 28 day loan. At the end of the month he joined Bristol City on loan for the remainder of the season. More impressive was a seasons loan at Hibernian, which culminated with a Scottish Cup final appearance and a permanent two-year deal. However, the following season Hibs suffered a serious mid-season collapse in form that saw them relegated from the Premiership via the play-offs, and McGivern was among those allowed to leave and he joined League One side, Port Vale.

Under Michael O'Neill's management, McGivern's international chances have been limited as initially Daniel Lafferty then Chris Brunt have been preferred for the left-back role. He appeared just twice during the successful Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, and was often not even included in squads. He also struggled for a a regular place at Port Vale and was released in the summer of 2016.

McGivern wasn't without a club for long as he signed for Shrewsbury Town in June 2016. Good early season form saw him re-called to the Northern Ireland squad, but subsequent injuries and a change of manager saw him on the periphery of the Shrews team. At the start of the 2017/18 season he was not awarded a squad number and before the close of the summer transfer window his contract was terminated by mutual consent. McGivern was without a club until agreeing a short-term deal with Northampton in November, however his contract was not extended beyond January.

Soccerbase


Northern Ireland Cap Details:
.1. 20-08-2008 Scotland...... A D 0-0 FR. sent-off 57
.2. 11-10-2008 Slovenia...... A L 0-2 WCQ sub
.3. 15-10-2008 San Marino.... H W 4-0 WCQ sub
.4. 19-11-2008 Hungary....... H L 0-2 FR
.5. 01-04-2009 Slovenia...... H W 1-0 WCQ sub
.6. 06-06-2009 Italy......... A L 0-3 FR
.7. 12-08-2009 Israel........ H D 1-1 FR. sub
.8. 14-10-2009 Czech Republic A D 0-0 WCQ

.9. 03-03-2010 Albania....... A L 0-1 FR
10. 26-05-2010 Turkey........ N L 0-2 FR
11. 30-05-2010 Chile......... A L 0-1 FR
12. 11-08-2010 Montenegro.... A L 0-2 FR
13. 17-11-2010 Morocco....... H D 1-1 FR
14. 11-10-2011 Italy......... A L 0-3 WCQ
15. 29-02-2012 Norway........ H L 0-3 FR
16. 02-06-2012 Netherlands... A L 0-6 FR. sub
17. 11-09-2012 Luxembourg.... H D 1-1 ECQ
18. 16-10-2012 Portugal...... A D 1-1 ECQ
19. 15-11-2013 Turkey........ A L 0-1 FR. sub
20. 05-03-2014 Cyprus........ A D 0-0 FR
21. 14-10-2014 Greece........ A W 2-0 ECQ sub
22. 14-11-2014 Romania....... A L 0-2 ECQ
23. 15-11-2016 Croatia....... H L 0-3 FR. sub
still active

Northern Ireland Under-21 Cap Details:
.1. 13-11-2009 Germany....... H D 1-1 ECQ
.2. 17-11-2009 Czech Republic H L 1-2 ECQ
.3. 03-09-2010 San Marino.... H W 4-0 ECQ 1 goal (pen)
.4. 07-09-2010 Germany....... A L 0-3 ECQ
.5. 09-02-2011 Wales......... A L 0-2 FR
.6. 10-05-2012 FYRo Macedonia A L 0-1 ECQ

Summary: 6/0. Won 1, Drew 1, Lost 4.


Picture by Roy Cathcart.

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