Jamie Terence McGrath (born 30 September 1996) is an Irish 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 an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

or winger for

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 ...

club Hibernian, and the Republic of Ireland national team. He started his career with

St Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club, commonly known as Pat's or The Athletic, is a professional List of association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland, Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the League ...

and has since played for

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

, St Mirren,

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

and

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

Club career

Early career

A native of

Athboy Athboy () is a small agricultural town located in County Meath. The town is located on the ''Yellow Ford River'', in wooded country near the County Westmeath border. It is around 15 km west of Navan and 50 km north-west of Dublin. T ...

County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...

, McGrath played youth football for his local club Athboy Celtic before joining top

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

youth side Cherry Orchard. He played for UCD under 19's before joining

under 19 side on their scholarship scheme with

NUI Maynooth Maynooth University (MU) (), is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland in Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. Maynooth University was formerly known as National University of Ireland, Maynooth (NUIM; ). It was Ireland ...

. He played for Pats under 19's for two seasons, including a league winning campaign in which McGrath scored two goals against Derry City under 19's in the final. He progressed into the first team in 2014 whilst still playing for the club's under 19 side.

St Patrick's Athletic

2014 season

McGrath made his senior debut with the first team on 9 September 2014 as he played the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 win over

Longford Town Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It had a population of 10,952 at the 2022 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meeting of I ...

in the 2014 Leinster Senior Cup Final at

City Calling Stadium Strokestown Road, currently known as Bishopsgate for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Longford, Ireland which is the home of League of Ireland club Longford Town. History In the mid-1990s, Longford Town moved their home ground ...

. McGrath impressed Saints fans with his display, including an excellent through ball to set up Jack Bayly's winning goal in the 64th minute. His

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 ...

debut came on 17 October 2014 when he started against

Athlone Town Athlone Town Association Football Club is an Irish football club from Athlone who are playing in the League of Ireland. The club is the oldest in the League as it was founded in 1887. First elected to the League of Ireland in 1922, they play t ...

in a 2–0 loss at

Richmond Park Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of Royal Parks of London, London's Royal Parks and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I of England, Cha ...

2015 season

He was named as a first team player ahead of the 2015 season, with number 19 being assigned to McGrath as his squad number. Mid season when first choice striker Christy Fagan picked up a knee injury, McGrath had an extended run in the starting 11 as a striker and scored his first goals away to

Drogheda United Drogheda United Football Club is a professional Irish association football club based in Drogheda, County Louth playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They play their home matches at Sullivan & Lambe Park. The current club is the ...

and

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 consecutive away games to secure 2–0 and 3–0 wins respectively. McGrath made his first appearances in

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

competition when he came on from the bench both away and at home against

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

n side

Skonto Riga Skonto FC was a Latvian professional football club, active from 1991 until 2016. The club played at the Skonto Stadium in Riga. Skonto won the Virsliga in the first 14 seasons of the league's resumption (15 in total), and often provided the cor ...

in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

. McGrath came on at the start of extra time in the 2015 League of Ireland Cup Final as Pats drew 0–0 with

Galway United Galway United Football Club () is an Irish professional football club based in Galway. They play in the League of Ireland Premier Division following promotion from the First Division in 2023. They were founded as Galway Rovers F.C. during the ...

before winning 4–3 on penalties to win the League Cup at

Eamonn Deacy Park Eamonn Deacy Park, formerly known as Terryland Park, is an association football stadium in the Republic of Ireland based in the Terryland district of Galway. It is owned by the Galway Football Association and is the home ground of both Galwa ...

. McGrath received rave reviews from fans, pundits and the media alike for his breakthrough season, coming in a second behind Lee Desmond in the club's Young Player of the Year awards.

2016 season

Although he struggled with shin splints that kept him out of games at the beginning of the 2016 season, his importance to the team increased in a season where the team struggled to deal with the midfield losses of Chris Forrester,

Greg Bolger Greg Bolger (born 9 September 1988) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for League of Ireland Premier Division club Cork City. His previous clubs are UCD, Sporting Fingal, Dundalk, St Patrick's Athletic, Shamrock Rover ...

Killian Brennan Killian Brennan (born 31 January 1984) is an Irish retired footballer who played as a midfielder in the League of Ireland Premier Division. Career Early career Noted for his wing play and ability to fire in accurate crosses, Brennan was signe ...

and James Chambers. Those losses however, created an opportunity for McGrath to play a lot of games in the role of attacking midfielder throughout the season. His first goal of the season was an 89th-minute strike to rescue a point at home to relegation fighting

live on

Eir Sport Eir Sport (stylised as eir Sport; formerly Setanta Sports) was a group of Irish television sports channels operated by Eircom Sport Limited, a subsidiary of Eir. In December 2015, Eir purchased original Setanta Sports operations in the Republi ...

. His only appearance in Europe for the season came against Dinamo Minsk of Belarus as Pats lost 1–0 at home and were knocked out of the

in the second qualifying round. McGrath played a huge part in the Saints retaining their League Cup trophy as he played in every game, scoring away from home against

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 ...

in the quarter-finals,

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

in the semi's and

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

in the Final. Following a good season for McGrath, he was voted

Young Player of the Season by the club's supporters.

Dundalk

McGrath moved from

for an undisclosed transfer fee on 15 January 2017.

St Mirren

After winning back-to-back

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Men's Premier Division (), also known as the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Republic of Ireland and the highest level of the Republic of I ...

titles with Dundalk, McGrath signed a -year deal with

side St Mirren on 7 January 2020.

Wigan Athletic

On 31 January 2022, transfer deadline day, McGrath signed for

EFL League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

club

on a two-and-a-half-year contract. After making four appearances for the club, he spent the 2022–23 season on loan at

, before on 26 July 2023, making the decision to terminate his contract due to repeated contractual breaches by the previous owners of Wigan, despite the club's efforts to retain him.

Dundee United loan

On 3 August 2022, he joined Dundee United on loan until the end of the 2022–23 season. He made his debut the following day, providing the assist for Glenn Middleton's goal in a 1–0 win over

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known internationally as AZ Alkmaar, or simply and most commonly as AZ () in the Netherlands, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan#The Zaan district, Zaan district. ...

in the

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

. McGrath made 32 appearances in all competitions over the course of the season, scoring 7 goals, but this was not enough to help his side avoid relegation to the

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 ...

as they finished bottom of the table.

Aberdeen

After leaving Wigan, McGrath returned to the

by signing a two-year contract with

on 22 August 2023. He made his debut two days later, coming off the bench in the 70th minute away to

BK Häcken Bollklubben Häcken, more commonly known as BK Häcken or simply Häcken (), is a Swedish professional association football, football club based in Gothenburg (Hisingen). It currently plays in Allsvenskan, the top tier of Swedish football. Forme ...

in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

, helping his side to comeback from two goals down to earn a 2–2 draw. On 30 September 2023, McGrath scored in a 3–1 win over

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

Ibrox Stadium Ibrox Stadium is a football stadium on the south side of the River Clyde in the Ibrox area of Glasgow, Scotland. The home of Scottish Premiership team Rangers, Ibrox is the third-largest football stadium in Scotland, with an all-seated ca ...

on his 27th birthday. On 9 November 2023, he scored his first career European goal when he found the bottom corner with a 30 yard free kick away to

PAOK PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...

to level the scores at 2–2 in his sides

draw at the

Toumba Stadium Toumba Stadium () is a multi–purpose stadium in Thessaloniki, Greece, mainly used for association football, football. It is property of P.A.O.K., AC PAOK and hosts PAOK FC since its completion in 1959. The official name of the stadium is simply ...

. In January 2025, he sustained a shoulder injury that required surgery, with the intensive rehabilitation period keeping him out of action for several months. McGrath signed a pre-contract agreement with Hibernian in February 2025.

Hibernian

McGrath joined Hibernian in June 2025, having agreed a four-year contract with the club earlier that year.

International career

McGrath's first taste of under-19's international football came when he was called up to the Republic of Ireland under-19s by

Paul Doolin Paul Doolin (born 26 March 1963) is an Irish former footballer and manager. Who mostly recently managed NIFL Premiership side Portadown. Career He played for Bohemians, scoring on his debut on 13 September 1981. In April 1983 he played for the ...

for their November 2014 games against

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

and Gibraltar. His first appearance came against Malta in a 1–0 win in

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

. He went on to make a total of six appearances for the 19's, scoring twice vs

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

Tallaght Stadium Tallaght Stadium () is an List of association football stadiums in the Republic of Ireland, association football stadium in Ireland based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club Shamrock Rovers F.C., Shamrock Rovers originally announced details of ...

. McGrath was called up to the Republic of Ireland under-21 squad for the first time by manager

Noel King Noel King (born 13 September 1956) is a former professional footballer and manager. For 10 years from 2000 until 2010 he was manager of the Republic of Ireland women's national team. He was appointed interim men's national team senior manager ...

on 8 November 2016, for their games against

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

and

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

La Manga Club La Manga Club is a sports and leisure resort located in the south-eastern region of Spain, Murcia, south of La Manga, and bordered by the Mar Menor and Calblanque Regional Park. The resort complex opened in 1972 and covers an area of 1,400 ...

, Spain. On 24 May 2021, McGrath received his first call up to the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

senior squad by his former

manager Stephen Kenny for the summer friendlies against

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

and

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, making his full international debut in the away fixture in

on 3 June 2021. His first senior start for Ireland came in a 2–1 loss in a 2022 World Cup qualifier against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

on 1 September 2021 at the

Estádio Algarve The Estádio Algarve (') is an association football stadium located between Faro and Loulé municipalities, in the Algarve region of Portugal. The stadium has a total capacity of 30,305 spectators and was purposely built for the UEFA Euro 2004 ...

in Faro, in which he provided the assist for John Egan's opening goal.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

St Patrick's Athletic *

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 ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

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 ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

* Leinster Senior Cup:

Dundalk *

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

* FAI Cup:

* League of Ireland Cup:

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

President of Ireland's Cup The President of Ireland's Cup, also known simply as the President's Cup, is an association football super cup featuring clubs from the Republic of Ireland football league system. It is a one-off match between the winners of the previous season's ...

* Champions Cup:

Wigan Athletic *

: 2021–22 Aberdeen *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2024–25 Individual *

Young Player of the Season:

PFAI Young Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland Players' Young Player of the Year (often called the PFAI Players' Young Player of the Year, the PFAI Young Player of the Year, or simply the Young Player of the Year) award is given to the footb ...

* St Mirren Player of the Year:

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:McGrath, Jamie 1996 births Living people Association footballers from County Meath Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association football midfielders Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Cherry Orchard F.C. players University College Dublin A.F.C. players St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players St Mirren F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Dundee United F.C. players League of Ireland players Scottish Professional Football League players English Football League players People from Athboy Aberdeen F.C. players Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland 21st-century Irish sportsmen Hibernian F.C. players