Joshua Brendan David Magennis (born 15 August 1990) is a Northern Irish footballer who plays as a striker for club Exeter City and the Northern Ireland national team. Having spent the majority of his youth career as a goalkeeper, he switched to striker in 2008 before turning professional in 2009. Magennis has previously played for Cardiff City, Grimsby Town,

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 ...

, St Mirren, Kilmarnock, Charlton Athletic,

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

, Hull City and

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 ...

Club career

Early career

Magennis began his career as an outfield player, playing up front, even representing

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

in the Milk Cup as a youngster, before eventually becoming a goalkeeper. He was a member of the Glentoran youth team before joining the youth team at Cardiff City.

Cardiff City

On 31 October 2007, Cardiff met

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in the

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

but, with David Forde and on-loan goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel ineligible, Magennis took a spot on the bench for the match. The decision to include Magennis was controversial because he had been called up to the Northern Ireland under-19 team but was not allowed to join the squad by manager Dave Jones due to the need to keep the youngster at Cardiff, with only one senior goalkeeper available for the match. In April 2008 he reverted to playing as a striker, just before the Welsh Youth Cup final where he came on as a substitute. Magennis signed his first professional contract on 10 April 2009 for Cardiff City, the only second year academy student to be offered a professional deal, and began working with reserve team coach Paul Wilkinson who had previously coached former Cardiff striker Cameron Jerome in a similar manner. On 8 August 2009, Magennis made his professional debut when he replaced Jay Bothroyd as a late substitute on the opening day of the 2009–10 season in a 4–0 win over Scunthorpe United. In his fourth appearance for the club, Magennis scored his first professional goal during a 3–1 win over Bristol Rovers in the second round of the League Cup. The return of Ross McCormack and

Warren Feeney Warren James Feeney (born 17 January 1981) is a Northern Irish football manager and former professional Association football, footballer who manages club Weymouth F.C., Weymouth. As a player he was a Forward (association football), forward who ...

from injury meant that Magennis fell down the pecking order at Cardiff and he was allowed to join League Two side Grimsby Town on a one-month loan deal on 15 October 2009 He made his debut against

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

on 17 October 2009, which was to be the last game managed by Mike Newell, who was sacked the following morning. Magennis made just one more appearance for the side before, on 29 October 2009, he was told that he and fellow loanee Arnaud Mendys loan contracts were to be terminated ahead of schedule. Caretaker manager Neil Woods commented that "''As the caretaker manager I think I need to be fair to the players that we've got here first. They've been a little bit of a victim of the circumstances of the last two weeks. They are not going to get in the eighteen and I don't think it is fair to keep loan players here.''" Magennis made his first start for Cardiff on 9 January 2010 in a 1–1 draw with

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

, but was forced off after just 35 minutes after suffering a fractured fibula. He made his comeback as a substitute on the last day of the regular season against Derby County. He was given a free transfer by Cardiff at the end of the season along with Peter Enckelman,

, Tony Capaldi and Aaron Morris.

Aberdeen

On 5 July 2010, Magennis signed a deal with

, on their first day of pre-season training. After signing for the club, Magennis said he was looking forward to developing at the club and that he believed that then-manager Mark McGhee could help him become a better striker. He started in Aberdeen's first game of the 2010–11 season at home to Hamilton Academical, where he hit the crossbar in a 4–0 win and played 90 minutes. On 6 November 2010, Magennis scored an own goal during a 9–0 defeat against Celtic, the scoreline was the biggest win in the SPL and also the biggest defeat in the history of Aberdeen. He scored his first goal for the Dons on 8 January 2011, the final goal of their 6–0

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Second Division club East Fife and also set up a goal for Scott Vernon. One month later, Magennis scored his first league goal in a 5–0 victory over Kilmarnock on 19 February 2011. Later in the season, Magennis scored against Dundee United (3–1 loss) and Hibernian (3–1 win) during the final games of the season. In the pre-season friendly against German side

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach () and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional Association football, football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-W ...

, which Aberdeen lost 5–2, Magennis scored from 45 yards. After the match, Magennis then criticised the referee Max Ebbels for errors he'd made during the match. He came on as a substitute in Aberdeen's first game of the 2011–12 season at home to St Johnstone in a 0–0 draw. Magennis scored his first goal of the season in a 3–3 draw against Dunfermline Athletic on 26 November 2011. Soon in January, Magennis was told by the club's management to look for a new club, but nothing happened in the transfer window. Magennis then vowed to try and earn a new contract. Towards the end of season, Magennis played in the right back position, He said about playing in this position: ''"I feel more comfortable because the game is in front of me and I'm able to dictate play with overlaps and what passes I'm picking. It's good for my football knowledge. I'm able to read the game better so it's a better position for me."'' At the end of the 2011/12 season, Magennis signed a contract extension at Aberdeen, to run until the end of the 2012–13 season. In the 2012–13 season, Magennis continued to play at right back after Rory McArdle left the club. On 23 September 2012, Magennis scored his first goal of the season, in injury time in a 3–3 draw against

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

. His impressive performance caught the attention of the club's legend Billy Williamson who said he believed Magennis can achieve same the level of success at the club that he did. Soon after scoring his first goal of the season, Manager Craig Brown began negotiating with Magennis to sign a new contract. Due to the club's injury crisis, Magennis said he was willing to play in any position if any players suffered an injury. On 27 November 2012, Magennis scored a brace in a 3–2 loss against Inverness Caledonian Thistle and on 16 March 2013, scored a brace in a 4–3 loss against Celtic. After the match, Craig Brown was confident that Magennis would sign a new contract at the club. Magennis, himself, said he was aiming to sign a new contract. Eventually, at the end of the season, Magennis was the only out of contract player to be offered a new deal as thirteen players were released and he signed one-year deal to stay with the club. The following 2013–14 season, Magennis started mostly coming on as a substitute and it wasn't until on 14 September 2013 when he scored his first goal of the season, in a 3–0 win over Partick Thistle. However, his season was overshadowed by his knee injury, forcing him to undergo surgery. At the end of the 2013–14 season, Magennis was released by the club. Upon his release, he was linked with a move to Scotland and England.

St Mirren (loan)

On 30 January 2014, it was announced that Magennis signed a loan deal with St Mirren until the end of season 2013–14. Magennis made thirteen appearances for the club, scoring zero goals, before his loan spell came to an end.

Kilmarnock

Magennis signed a three-year contract with Kilmarnock in July 2014. He made his debut on 9 August 2014, in a 1–1 draw with

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

and scored his first goal on 16 August 2014, as Kilmarnock won 2–1 away at Ross County. Magennis went on to start every single league game of his first season scoring eight goals. In February 2016, Magennis, was the subject of racist abuse from Hearts supporters at their Tynecastle ground in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. A statement from Hearts clarified that Magennis had been abused because he is Northern Irish, not because he is black. On 6 August 2016, Kilmarnock announced they had turned down an offer of £100,000 possibly rising to £200,000 for Magennis from Charlton Athletic. Earlier that day he had been left out of Kilmarnock's squad to play

, with manager Lee Clark saying Magennis had told him he "didn't feel right for today's game." Earlier in the week, Kilmarnock had also rejected a bid from Oldham Athletic.

Charlton Athletic

On 11 August 2016, Magennis joined League One side Charlton Athletic on a two-year deal. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–2 draw with Fleetwood Town on 10 September 2016. On 2 January 2017, Magennis bagged a hat-trick against Bristol Rovers, his first in English football.

Bolton Wanderers

On 30 July 2018, Magennis joined

for an undisclosed fee later revealed to be £200,000. This was Bolton's first cash signing in three and a half years. He made his debut on the opening day of the season, 4 August, starting against newly relegated West Bromwich Albion and opened the scoring in the 18th minute. Bolton went on to win the game 2–1. He scored for the second game in a row, scoring Bolton's second in a 2–2 home draw against Bristol City on 11 August. He scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

third round in a 5–2 win against

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

on 5 January 2019.

Hull City

On 8 August 2019, Magennis joined Hull City on a two-year deal. Magennis made his first appearance for Hull City in the first round of the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

in the 0–3 away win against Tranmere Rovers. In April 2021, after scoring six goals in the month, Magennis was awarded the League One Player of the Month award, a month that finished with Hull achieving promotion back to the Championship with a 2–1 victory over Lincoln City, a match where Magennis opened the scoring. On 18 May 2021, the club announced that they had exercised the option of a one-year contract extension for Magennis.

Wigan Athletic

On 13 January 2022, Magennis joined

on a two-and-a-half-year deal, for an undisclosed fee. He scored his first goal for the club on 15 March 2022 in a 2–0 win against Crewe Alexandra. On 10 May 2024 the club announced he would be released in the summer when his contract expired.

Exeter City

On 27 June 2024, Magennis was signed 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 ...

by Exeter City on a one-year deal. On 5 May 2025, Exeter City announced that Magennis had activated a one-year extension to his contract.

International career

While still playing as a goalkeeper, Magennis featured twice for the Northern Ireland Under-17 side, in a 2–0 defeat to

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and as a substitute in a 1–0 defeat to

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. His step up to the under-19 side came following his change of position and he was handed his debut on 8 October 2008 in 3–1 defeat to Serbia under-19's. In July 2009, Magennis helped Northern Ireland retain their Milk Cup crown, scoring the first goal in their 2–0 final victory against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. On 11 August 2009, Magennis made his debut for the Under-21 side, playing in a 2–1 defeat to

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 ...

. He grabbed his first two goals for the Under-21 side after coming off the bench in their 6–2 defeat to

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

on 8 September 2009. He made his full debut for Northern Ireland on 26 May 2010 against Turkey in a friendly. On 8 October 2015, Magennis scored his first international goal in a 3–1 defeat of

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

Windsor Park The National Football Stadium at Windsor Park (officially the Clearer Twist National Stadium at Windsor Park for sponsorship reasons), or the National Football Stadium, also known as Windsor Park is a association football, football stadium in B ...

which ensured Northern Ireland's qualification for UEFA Euro 2016, the country's first appearance at an international tournament in 30 years.

Personal life

Magennis was born in

Bangor, County Down Bangor ( ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in County Down, Northern Ireland, on the southern side of Belfast Lough. It is within the Belfast metropolitan area and is 13 miles (22 km) east of Belfast city centre, to whic ...

. His uncle Mark was also a footballer who played for Ballymena United, Linfield and Bangor. As a teenager, Magennis revealed he once nearly quit football for rugby after struggling as a goalkeeper before eventually switching position to striker. On 28 January 2013, Magennis became a father after his girlfriend, Amy, gave birth to a son.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first.''

Honours

Hull City * EFL League One: 2020–21 Wigan Athletic * EFL League One: 2021–22 Individual * EFL League One Player of the Month: April 2021 *

: 2024–25 top scorer

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Magennis, Josh 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from Bangor, County Down Association footballers from County Down Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Men's association football goalkeepers Men's association football forwards Men's association football utility players Cardiff City F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Professional Football League players Northern Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Black British sportsmen Northern Ireland men's international footballers Lisburn Distillery F.C. players Glentoran F.C. players Northern Ireland men's youth international footballers St Mirren F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players UEFA Euro 2016 players Black Irish sportspeople 21st-century Irish sportsmen 21st-century sportsmen from Northern Ireland