Gary McCabe (born 1 August 1988) is an Irish retired

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 last played for

Bray Wanderers Bray Wanderers Football Club are an Irish association football club playing in the League of Ireland First Division. The club in its present form was founded in 1942 in Bray, and was known until 2010 as ''Bray Wanderers A.F.C.'' It was elect ...

as a winger.

Career

McCabe began his youth career at Leinster Senior League side Crumlin United. His impressive performances in the youth and intermediate ranks did not go unnoticed and attracted interest from a number of

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

clubs. McCabe was eventually snapped up by Premier Division outfit

for the 2007 season. McCabe broke straight into Bray's first team that season making 24 league and cup appearances and scoring 2 goals helping the Seagulls to league safety with a 9th place league finish. He scored his first Bray goal at the age of 18 during a 2–1 victory over UCD at the

Carlisle Grounds The Carlisle Grounds is a football stadium in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided ...

on 29 May 2007. The 2008 season started as a difficult season for McCabe. Despite Bray flying as high as 4th in Premier Division table, the left sided winger struggled for form and discipline getting sent off twice in just 9 league appearances. To regain first team football, Bray sent the young winger out on loan to

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

title chasing side Shelbourne for the remainder of the 2008 season. McCabe made his Shelbourne debut as a second-half substitute during a 2–0 defeat to

Limerick 37 Limerick Football Club was an association football club based in Limerick, Ireland who played in the League of Ireland and currently have teams competing in the underage National League of Ireland. The first Limerick Football Club was founded ...

Tolka Park Tolka Park () is an Ireland, Irish association football ground located in the Northside Dublin, north Dublin suburb of Drumcondra, Dublin, Drumcondra, on the northern banks of the River Tolka. It is currently the home ground of League of Irelan ...

on 11 July 2008. McCabe made 9 competitive appearances for Shelbourne during his loan spell and he impressed the Shelbourne faithful with his pace and skill. During this time he represented

Republic of Ireland national futsal team The Republic of Ireland national futsal team has represented the Republic of Ireland in the UEFA Futsal Championship. The Republic of Ireland has, to date, never qualified for the final stages of a major tournament. It has, however, taken part i ...

in the qualifying rounds of the

2010 UEFA Futsal Championship The 2010 UEFA Futsal Championship was the seventh official edition of the UEFA-governed European Championship for national futsal teams. It was hosted by Hungary, between January 19 and January 30, 2010, in two venues located in Budapest ( Papp L ...

. He returned to Bray Wanderers following his loan spell at Shelbourne. McCabe had a revitalised season in 2009 as he finished Bray's top scorer contributing 8 goals in 38 league and cup appearances. At the end of the season McCabe signed for

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional association football, football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 and have been in ...

in December 2009. In 2010 McCabe played a vital part in Sligo Rovers' hugely successful season as they finished in 3rd place in the league and also won the League of Ireland Cup and the FAI Cup. However, McCabe's contract expired at the end of the 2010 season and he signed for The Hoops in January 2011. He made his League debut for the Hoops in the opening night win over Dundalk. He won the Setanta Cup in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

and played in the

2011–12 UEFA Europa League The 2011–12 UEFA Europa League was the third season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 41st edition overall including its predecessor, the UEFA Cup. It began on 30 June 2011 with ...

netting a memorable equaliser against

Partizan Belgrade Jugoslovensko sportsko društvo Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, Југословенско спортско друштво Партизан, lit=Yugoslav Sports Society Partizan), commonly abbreviated as JSD Partizan ( sr-Cyrl, ЈСД Партизан, lin ...

in August 2011 McCabe scored in the 2–1 away defeat against

FK Ekranas Panevėžio Ekranas is a Lithuanian football club, from the city of Panevėžys. It won 7 top-tier champion and 5 national cup titles throughout its existence. History The club was founded in 1964 and for 24 years competed in the top tier of L ...

on 25 July 2012 in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

qualifying rounds. This goal was the 100th all time goal in this competition for League of Ireland clubs. He signed a two-year contract in November 2012.

Personal life

His sister

Katie Katie is an English female name. It is a form of Katherine, Kate, Caitlin, Kathleen, Katey and their related forms. It is frequently used on its own. People Sports * Katie Boulter (born 1996), British tennis player * Katie Clark (born 1994), ...

is captain of the

Republic of Ireland women's national football team The Republic of Ireland women's national football team () represents the Republic of Ireland in competitions such as the FIFA Women's World Cup and the UEFA Women's Championship. The team played in their first World Cup at the 2023 FIFA Women' ...

Career statistics

''Professional appearances – correct as of 27 August 2019.''

Honours

;Sligo Rovers *

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...

(1):

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

League of Ireland Cup The League of Ireland Cup, also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', was an annual knockout competition in men's football in Ireland. It was contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited clubs from the lower levels of the Irish footb ...

(1):

;Shamrock Rovers *

(1):

Setanta Sports Cup The Setanta Sports Cup was a club football (soccer), football competition featuring teams from both football associations on the island of Ireland. Inaugurated in 2005, it was a cross-border competition between clubs in the League of Ireland from ...

(2):

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

References

External links

Gary McCabe's profile at www.shelbournefc.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCabe, Gary Living people 1988 births Association footballers from Dublin (city) Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's futsal players Men's association football midfielders League of Ireland players Bray Wanderers F.C. players Shelbourne F.C. players Sligo Rovers F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Crumlin United F.C. players Leinster Senior League (association football) players 21st-century Irish sportsmen