Brad McKay (born 26 March 1993) is a Scottish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a defender for

Highland Football League The Scottish Highland Football League (SHFL, commonly known as the Highland League) is a senior football league based in the north of Scotland. The league sits at level 5 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the Scott ...

club

Brechin City Brechin City Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the townDespite the name of the football club, Brechin is not an official city. Brechin was historically known as a city because it has a cathedral. of Brechin in Angus. The club w ...

. McKay has previously played for Heart of Midlothian,

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland. The team competes in the , the second division of Scottish football. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun (or Saint Johnstoun)—an old name o ...

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, Inverness CT or just Inverness, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team competes in , the third tier of the Scottish Professional Footba ...

and

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

, as well as Penicuik Athletic,

Stenhousemuir Stenhousemuir (; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies within the Falkirk council area of Scotland. The town is north-northwest of Falkirk and directly adjoins to Larbert in the west, where the nearest rail access is located ...

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently compete in the after winning the 2022–23 Scottish League One title. Dunfermline play at ...

and Kelty Hearts on loan.

Career

Heart of Midlothian

McKay grew up supporting Heart of Midlothian (Hearts) and joined the club from local side Edinburgh City in July 2010, aged 17. During the 2010–11 season he gained some experience on loan at junior side Penicuik Athletic, winning their Players' Player of the Year award. McKay was included in the first team squad for the first time on 17 December 2011, when he was an unused substitute against

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...

. In May 2012, he signed a 12-month contract tying him to the club until at least the summer of 2013. In November McKay was loaned to Second Division side

on a month's loan deal, he returned to Hearts after making four league appearances. In February 2013, McKay signed a further one-year extension committing him to the club until the summer of 2014. On 10 March 2013, McKay made his first team debut coming on as a 38th-minute substitute at

Easter Road Easter Road is a football stadium located in the Leith area of Edinburgh, Scotland, which is the home ground of Scottish Premiership club Hibernian (Hibs). The stadium currently has an all-seated capacity of , which makes it the fifth-largest ...

in a

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

match against

Hibernian Hibernian may refer to: * Of Hibernia, Latin name for Ireland; hence ** Irish (disambiguation) Hibernian, Hibernians or The Hibernian may refer to: Sports clubs * Hibernian F.C., a Scottish football club, founded 1875 * Hibernian W.F.C., a Sc ...

, replacing the injured

Fraser Mullen Fraser Mullen (born 8 November 1993 in Glasgow, Scotland) is a professional footballer, who plays as a right-back for Johnstone Burgh. Mullen has previously played for both Edinburgh derby rivals, Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian, as well as ...

in a 0–0 draw. Throughout the pre-season of 2014–15 season McKay was given the opportunity to captain his boyhood club by head coach

Robbie Neilson Robbie Neilson (born 19 June 1980) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who was most recently the head coach of USL Championship club Tampa Bay Rowdies. Neilson, who played as a right-back, started his senior career with ...

when club captain Danny Wilson was not on the field. McKay played less frequently during the 2014–15 season, as he was unable to break a defensive partnership of Wilson and Alim Ozturk.

St Johnstone

In February 2015 it was announced that McKay had signed a pre-contract agreement with

. He moved there as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

on a two-year contract in the summer of 2015. and made his league debut against his former side Hearts on 2 August, his mistake costing an early goal as St Johnstone lost 4–3. After playing just 3 matches for the Saints, McKay was loaned out for the remainder of the season to

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foot ...

side

, primarily to provide cover for the recently injured

Marc McAusland Marc McAusland (born 13 September 1988) is a Scottish footballer who plays as a defender for Icelandic club Njarðvík. McAusland has had two spells with his local side St Mirren, and has also played for Queen of the South, Dunfermline Athle ...

. McKay made his debut for the Pars in a

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

side Ross County. His first half challenge on Alex Schalk conceded a penalty which allowed the Staggies to take a 2–1 lead at half time. McKay redeemed himself however by scoring a header from a

Michael Paton Michael Paton (born 25 March 1989) is a Scottish former professional football player and coach, who works as assistant manager for Kelty Hearts. Paton has previously played for Aberdeen, Dunfermline Athletic, Dumbarton, Stockport County and Q ...

corner in the 56th minute, with the match finishing 2–2. McKay's contribution to the side helped Dunfermline to win the

title, his second league title in as many years. McKay returned to

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

at the end of his loan spell, however he was released by St Johnstone on 29 August 2016, after being deemed surplus to requirements by manager Tommy Wright.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle

On 31 August 2016, McKay signed for

on a two-year contract after being released by fellow

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

side

Falkirk

On 28 May 2021, McKay agreed a move to League One outfit,

Kelty Hearts (loan)

In January 2024, McKay joined Kelty Hearts on loan until the end of the season.

Brechin City

Following his release from Falkirk, McKay signed with

club

in July 2024.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

;Heart of Midlothian *

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

: 2014–15

Club

;Dunfermline Athletic *

: 2015–16

Personal life

McKay is known by his nickname 'Angry Man', due to his dislike of losing.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McKay, Brad 1993 births Living people Footballers from Edinburgh Scottish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Edinburgh City F.C. players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Penicuik Athletic F.C. players Stenhousemuir F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Brechin City F.C. players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Scotland men's under-21 international footballers 21st-century Scottish sportsmen