Skip to main content

Niall McGinn

Name: Niall McGinn
Born: 20 July 1987, Donaghmore
Height: 5.08 ft (1.73m)
Weight: 11.08 st (73kg)
Position: Winger

Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: Full Caps, 1 B Cap (2009), 1 Under-23 Cap (2007).
Club Honours: (with Derry) Football League of Ireland Cup Winner 2008; (with Aberdeen) Scottish Cup Runner-Up 2016/17; League Cup Winner 2013/14, Runner-Up 2016/17.
Awards: PFAI Young Player of the Year 2008; SPL Player of the Month October 2012; Scottish Premiership Plater of the Month September 2015.

Club Career:

Teams

Seasons

Signed

Fee

League

FA Cup

FL Cup

Europe

Other

Donaghmore.Celtic

-

-

Youth

Dungannon Swifts

-

 -03

Youth

42

-

4

 

 

 

 

 

 

1

(1)

0

12

-

0

Derry City

2008  

Jan-08

Undis

24

(9)

6

6

(0)

0

2

(2)

4

7

(0)

0

Celtic

08/9-11/2

Dec-08

£200k

12

(16)

4

1

(0)

1

1

(1)

1

1

(4)

0

 

 

 

Brentford

11/2  

Jul-11

Loan

27

(10)

5

1

(1)

0

1

(1)

0

Aberdeen

12/3-16/7

Jun-12

 Free

165

(14)

58

12

(2)

4

12

(1)

1

16

(0)

4

 

 

 

Gwangju

2017  

Jul-17

 Free

4

(3)

0

1

(0)

Aberdeen

17/8-21/2

Jan-18

 Free

67

(33)

13

13

(5)

4

5

(2)

1

8

(2)

1

 

 

 

Dundee

21/2-22/3

Jan-22

 Free

9

(10)

1

2

(0)

1

4

(1)

2

Glentoran

22/3-date

Jan-23

 Free

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

£200k

350

(95)

91

36

(8)

10

24

(7)

9

26

(7)

5

20

(1)

0

* all cup games

Biography:
A highly-rated winger with Derry City, Niall McGinn was linked with a move across the water, with Chelsea, Celtic and Swansea City among the potential suiters. An all-round sportsman, he also played Gaelic football for Donaghmore and Tyrone Under-21s. He won Ulster and All-Ireland championships with Tyrone minors.

A product of the successful Dungannon Swifts youth set-up, McGinn signed his first professional contract in 2007 after helping the reserves to successes in the Bob Radcliffe Cup, George Wilson Cup and Reserve League during the 2005/06 season. In January 2008 he transferred to Derry City and in September he scored twice in a 6-1 rout of Wexford Youths in the League Cup Final. His season was rounded off with the PFAI Young Player of the Year award.

McGinn's continued good form, primarily on the right-wing, saw him included in the Northern Ireland squad for an international friendly against Hungary in November 2008. McGinn was thus the first Derry player to earn a call-up to the Northern Ireland squad since Liam Coyle in 1989. He impressed during his second-half appearance despite a disappointing 2-0 defeat.

On 16 December 2008 McGinn sealed a move to Celtic for a fee in the region of £200,000. He joined up with ex-Candystripes teammate Pat McCourt at Parkhead. A match-day regular at Celtic Park through the 2009/10 and first half of 2010/11, McGinn appeared to fall from the firstteam picture due to injury. He joined League One side Brentford on a season-long loan deal for 2011/12 and was released the following summer.

McGinn remained in Scotland, signing for Aberdeen. Dons' manager Craig Brown stated that he saw McGinn as a forward, and his faith was rewarded with a good early-season goal scoring run. That form also transferred to the international stage as he scored his first Northern Ireland goal in a famous 1-1 draw in Portugal. His performances through the 2012/13 season saw him shortlisted for the SPFA Player of the Year award. In 2013/14 he won his first major honour in Scotland as Aberdeen defeated Inverness on penalties in the League Cup Final at Celtic Park.

2016/17 brought Aberdeen runners-up spots in the Scottish League, Cup and League Cup as McGinn was heavily linked with a move away from Pittodrie. He made a surprise move to Korean side, Gwangju, becoming the first Irish footballer to play in the country. His time in South Korea was ultimately frustrating as he struggled to settle with a club who were doomed to relegation from the K League. In December he agreed a three-and-a-half year deal to return to Aberdeen.

With his place in the Aberdeen first-team coming under pressure from Matty Kennedy, McGinn joined Dundee in their unsuccessful battle to avoid relegation from the Premiership in 2022. In January 2023 he returned to the Irish League, signing for Glentoran.

Irish FA

Club

Season

Div

League

FA Cup

FL Cup

Europe

Other

D'n Swifts

05/06

NIR-1

1

-

0

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

D'n Swifts

06/07

NIR-1

23

-

0

-

-

-

-

-

-

1

(0)

0

-

-

-

D'n Swifts

07/08

NIR-1

18

-

4

-

-

-

-

-

-

0

(1)

0

-

-

-

Derry City

2008

IRL-1

24

(9)

6

6

(0)

0

2

(2)

4

 

 

 

7

(0)

0

Celtic

08/09

SCO-1

0

(0)

0

Celtic

09/10

SCO-1

6

(11)

2

1

(0)

1

0

(1)

0

1

(4)

0

 

 

 

Celtic

10/11

SCO-1

6

(5)

2

1

(0)

1

Celtic

11/12

SCO-1

0

(0)

0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bentford

11/12

ENG-3

27

(10)

5

1

(1)

0

1

(1)

0

Aberdeen

01/12

SCO-1

33

(2)

20

3

(0)

1

2

(0)

0

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aberdeen

13/14

SCO-1

35

(1)

13

3

(1)

1

4

(0)

0

Aberdeen

14/15

SCO-1

34

(2)

5

1

(0)

0

2

(0)

0

6

(0)

2

 

 

 

Aberdeen

15/16

SCO-1

33

(3)

10

1

(0)

0

1

(0)

0

6

(0)

2

Aberdeen

16/17

SCO-1

30

(6)

10

4

(1)

2

3

(1)

1

4

(0)

0

 

 

 

Gwangju

2017

KOR-1

4

(3)

0

1

(0)

0

Aberdeen

17/18

SCO-1

10

(1)

2

3

(2)

0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aberdeen

18/19

SCO-1

22

(5)

5

3

(2)

3

2

(1)

0

2

(0)

0

Aberdeen

19/20

SCO-1

22

(6)

6

4

(1)

0

1

(1)

0

6

(0)

1

 

 

 

Aberdeen

20/21

SCO-1

12

(13)

0

3

(0)

1

1

(0)

1

0

(1)

0

Aberdeen

21/22

SCO-1

1

(8)

0

 

 

 

1

(0)

0

0

(1)

0

 

 

 

Dundee

21/22

SCO-1

8

(7)

1

2

(0)

1

Dundee

22/23

SCO-2

1

(3)

0

 

 

 

4

(1)

2

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glentoran

22/23

NIR-1

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Glentoran

23/24

NIR

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

350

(95)

91

36

(8)

10

24

(7)

9

26

(7)

5

8

(1)

0


(courtesy of Roy Cathcart)

Northern Ireland Cap Details:
19-11-2008 Hungary....... H L 0-2 FR. sub
06-06-2009 Italy......... A L 0-3 FR. sub
12-08-2009 Israel........ H D 1-1 FR. sub
09-09-2009 Slovakia...... H L 0-2 WCQ sub
14-10-2009 Czech Republic A D 0-0 WCQ
14-11-2009 Serbia........ H L 0-1 FR
03-03-2010 Albania....... A L 0-1 FR
08-10-2010 Italy......... H D 0-0 ECQ sub
12-10-2010 Faroe Islands. A D 1-1 ECQ
17-11-2010 Morocco....... H D 1-1 FR
09-02-2011 Scotland...... N L 0-3 CNC
24-05-2011 Rep of Ireland A L 0-5 CNC sub
27-05-2011 Wales......... N L 0-2 CNC
10-08-2011 Faroe Island.. H W 4-0 ECQ sub
02-09-2011 Serbia........ H L 0-1 ECQ sub
06-09-2011 Estonia....... A L 1-5 ECQ
11-10-2011 Italy......... A L 0-3 ECQ sub
02-06-2012 Netherlands... A L 0-6 FR. sub
16-10-2012 Portugal...... A D 1-1 WCQ 1 Goal
14-11-2012 Azerbaijan.... H D 1-1 WCQ
06-02-2013 Malta......... A D 0-0 FR
26-03-2013 Israel........ H L 0-2 WCQ
14-08-2013 Russia........ H W 1-0 WCQ
06-09-2013 Portugal...... H L 2-4 WCQ
10-09-2013 Luxembourg.... A L 2-3 WCQ
11-10-2013 Azerbaijan.... A L 0-2 WCQ sub
15-10-2013 Israel........ A D 1-1 WCQ
15-11-2013 Turkey........ A L 0-1 FR
05-03-2014 Cyprus........ A D 0-0 FR
30-05-2014 Uruguay....... A L 0-1 FR
04-06-2014 Chile......... A L 0-2 FR. sub
07-09-2014 Hungary....... A W 2-1 ECQ sub 1 Goal
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-23 Cap Details:
11-12-2007 Belgium A L 1-2 ICT

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

Comments