John McGeady (born 17 April 1958) is a Scottish former 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 played as a
winger in Scotland, England and the United States. He is the father of
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. ...
international player
Aiden McGeady
Aiden John McGeady (born 4 April 1986) is an Irish former professional Association football, footballer. He was born in Scotland, and represented the Republic of Ireland national football team, Republic of Ireland national team from 2004 until 2 ...
.
Early life
McGeady was born in
Glasgow
Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
to parents originally from
County Donegal
County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...
,
[ and educated at Holyrood Secondary School. Residing in ]Govanhill
Govanhill () is an area of Glasgow, Scotland, situated south of the River Clyde between Pollokshields, the Gorbals, Strathbungo, Crosshill, Polmadie and Queen's Park. Historically part of Renfrewshire, Govanhill had the status of a police ...
, with his father and younger brother Pat he attended matches of Third Lanark, whose ground was located a few blocks from their home, until the club folded in 1967.
Playing career
Beginning as an amateur in Scotland with Third Lanark (the juvenile team having continued after the demise of the professional arm), McGeady signed professional terms with Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...
in 1975, making 16 league appearances. He was briefly a teammate of the famous former Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foot ...
winger Jimmy Johnstone
James Connolly Johnstone (30 September 1944 – 13 March 2006) was a Scottish footballer who played as an outside right. Known as "Jinky" for his elusive dribbling style, Johnstone played for Celtic for 13 years and was one of the Lisbon Lions, ...
, but suffered a serious injury to his knee aged 19.[
McGeady then spent time in the American Soccer League with the Southern California Lazers, before going to play with Newport County, where he made two league appearances between 1978 and 1979 before retiring aged 23.][
]
Career after football
After the end of his footballing career McGeady worked in the construction industry before becoming an English teacher['Mac' for the future]
Irish Independent, 14 November 2004 at Holyrood Secondary, where he had been a pupil.
References
1958 births
Living people
Scottish men's footballers
Footballers from Glasgow
Scottish expatriate men's footballers
Third Lanark A.C. players
Sheffield United F.C. players
Southern California Lazers players
Newport County A.F.C. players
English Football League players
American Soccer League (1933–1983) players
Scottish people of Irish descent
People educated at Holyrood Secondary School
Scottish schoolteachers
Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States
Men's association football wingers
People from Govanhill and Crosshill
20th-century Scottish sportsmen
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