Luke McCullough
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Luke McCullough (born 15 February 1994) is a Northern Irish
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
centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...
or
defensive 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. ...
for
Carrick Rangers Carrick Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional Northern Irish football club playing in NIFL Premiership. The club, founded in 1939, hails from Carrickfergus, County Antrim and plays its home matches at Taylors Avenue which is known as th ...
in the
NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and Irish Premiership colloquially, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football L ...
.


Club career

McCullough started his career with his local team, Loughgall Youth, before joining
Dungannon Swifts Dungannon Swifts Football Club is a Northern Irish semi-professional football club playing in the NIFL Premiership. The club, founded in 1949, has risen from the Mid-Ulster league to the top tier in Northern Ireland since its election to the I ...
where he played in the first team in the
IFA Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and Irish Premiership colloquially, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football L ...
at the age of 15.


Manchester United

He moved to England to play for
Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
in July 2010. He captained the academy side throughout the 2011–12 campaign, making 25 appearances. On 25 January 2013, he joined
Football League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English Football League (EFL ...
side
Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, ...
on a one-month loan deal. He made his league debut on 16 February 2013, in a 1–1 draw with
Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spr ...
, coming on as a substitute for Steve Elliott.


Doncaster Rovers

After spending time on trial during
pre-season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of S ...
, McCullough signed a two-year deal with
Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...
on 25 July 2013. He made his debut for Doncaster when he started in Rovers' 3–1 defeat to
Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...
in the Championship on 2 November 2013. On 23 July 2016, McCullough signed a new three-year contract. However, less than a month later, on 2 August 2016, it was announced that McCullough would miss the entire season with a
cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint, wrist joint and the atlanto-axial joint. In a fashion similar to the cords in ...
injury. He was released by Doncaster at the end of the 2018–19 season after spending much of it on loan at
Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...
.


Tranmere Rovers

McCullough re-signed for Tranmere on no-contract terms on 6 January 2020. The deal was made permanent 24 days later.


Glentoran

McCullough returned to his native Northern Ireland on 1 August 2020, by signing for East Belfast side,
Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club based in East Belfast, Northern Ireland, that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882 and has since won more than 130 major honours. They are one of three Northern Iris ...
. On 7 May 2024, it was announced that McCullough would be one of ten players departing Glentoran upon the expiry of their contracts.


International career

McCullough first represented Northern Ireland at under-16 level where he became captain. He was also captain of the under-17s. Although named in the squad twice before, his first appearance for the under-19s was a start in the 8–1 victory away to
Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...
on 15 October 2012. Although he didn't score in that game, he was credited with two assists. On the same day he signed a contract with Doncaster Rovers, he also received a call-up to play for the under-21 squad in the Milk Cup. McCullough senior debut came in a friendly loss against
Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
. McCullough has since become a regular feature of the Northern Irish squad, going to
Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...
. He did not make an appearance at the tournament.


Personal life

McCullough is a
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 ...
fan. His father, Dean McCullough, was also a footballer who played for Glenavon and
Portadown Portadown ( ) is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town is based on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population ...
. His brother, Neil McCullough, plays for Linfield with whom he won the Irish Premiership in 2025.


Career statistics


Club


International


References


External links

* *
Northern Ireland profile
at Irish FA {{DEFAULTSORT:McCullough, Luke 1994 births Living people Association footballers from County Armagh Sportspeople from Portadown Men's association football central defenders Men's association football midfielders Manchester United F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Tranmere Rovers F.C. players NIFL Premiership players English Football League players Northern Ireland men's youth international footballers Northern Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Northern Ireland men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2016 players Glentoran F.C. players Dungannon Swifts F.C. players 21st-century sportsmen from Northern Ireland Carrick Rangers F.C. players