Nicholas Paul McKoy (born 3 September 1986) is an English 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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Following a match fixing scandal, McKoy was banned from the sport for life by

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

in 2014.

Playing career

McKoy was born in

Newham The London Borough of Newham () is a London boroughs, London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of County Borough of West Ham, West Ham and County ...

and began his career as a trainee with

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

. He made his league debut on 13 December 2003 as a late substitute for Alex Tapp in a 1–0 defeat at home to

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 ...

. He remained with the Dons as they became

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football leag ...

until being released at the end of the 2005–06 season. After being released by the Dons, he was signed by

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

side

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

. He joined

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

on loan in January 2007 until the end of the 2006–07 season. He made his Torquay debut two days later in the 2–0 defeat at home to

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

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 ...

. He was released by Cardiff in May 2007, having only made one appearance for them during a 2–0 loss to

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) *Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; anc ...

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 ...

. He went on trial at

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

in December 2007, playing for their reserve team. This was followed by a trial spell with

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland. The team competes in the , the second division of Scottish football. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun (or Saint Johnstoun)—an old name o ...

during which he played in reserve matches against East Fife and

Livingston Livingston or Livingstonemay refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North Am ...

. After trial spells with clubs including

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil, a town in Somerset, England, with a council named Yeovil Town * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town W.F.C., an English women's football team affiliated with Yeovil T ...

and

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club (), often known simply as Dagenham and abbreviated when written to Dag & Red, is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England that play in the , the sixth level of the En ...

, McKoy signed a contract until the end of 2008 with St Johnstone on 21 August 2008. McKoy played in five league games for Saints before being released in December 2008. He signed for

Enfield Town Enfield is a large town in north London, England, north of Charing Cross. It had a population of 333,587 in 2021. It includes the areas of Botany Bay, Brimsdown, Bulls Cross, Bullsmoor, Bush Hill Park, Clay Hill, Crews Hill, Enfield Hig ...

on New Year's Day 2009. McKoy signed for

Grays Athletic Grays Athletic Football Club is a football club based in Grays, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Chadfields in nearby Tilbury. History The club was established as Grays Juniors in 1890, before merging with former ...

on 26 June 2009, along with

Serge Makofo Serge Makofo (born 3 September 1986) is a Congolese professional footballer, who plays as a midfielder and striker. He has previously played for Milton Keynes Dons, Kettering Town, Maidenhead United, Halesowen Town, Potters Bar Town, Croy ...

, Marcel McKie and Allan McLeod. He was released from Grays Athletic without making an appearance and joined

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is in the London metropolitan area, London commuter belt, near the border with Essex, just west of the ...

on trial in August. McKoy signed for

Sutton United Sutton United Football Club is a professional association football club from Sutton, South London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Sutton started out playing in junior, ...

on 22 December, making his debut in the 3–0 home win against Carshalton Athletic on 28 December. He left in January 2010, citing personal reasons. He joined

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Latimer Park. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in 1976, and have ...

in October 2010. He went on to make 30 league appearances for the club, before joining

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

in July 2011. He was sent off on 13 September 2011 against AFC Wimbledon, and this followed his sending off in his previous game. However, McKoy's contract was cancelled on 5 January 2012, by manager

Aidy Boothroyd Adrian Neil Boothroyd (born 8 February 1971) is an English former footballer who was most recently the manager of Indian Super League club Jamshedpur. At club level, he was manager of Watford from 2005 to 2008. During his time with Watford, he ...

who stated he "was not going to be a part of the future". Although, Boothroyd did state that McKoy did have "a move lined up". He signed for Tamworth a day later to link up with manager Marcus Law again, having worked under at Kettering Town. McKoy made his debut against Everton at

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a Association football, football stadium in Walton, Liverpool, Walton, Liverpool, England, it was the home of Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton from 1892 until 2025. It is now the home of Everton F.C. (women), Everton's ...

in a Third Round FA Cup tie, which Tamworth lost 2–0. McKoy resigned for

at the start of the 2012–13 season, and played nine times without being on the winning side. He was released on 2 October 2012. McKoy briefly signed with Australian

Victorian Premier League The Victorian Premier League (VPL) is an Australian soccer league based in Victoria that was founded in 2023 and administered by Football Victoria. It consists of two divisions that were named after the VPL's breakaway of the National Premier L ...

club Southern Stars in 2013 where he made several appearances, however due to his involvement in a match fixing scandal during that season, his appearances for the club were removed from official record. McKoy was later banned from the sport for life by

Match fixing

McKoy was arrested on 15 September 2013 on suspicion of match fixing while playing with the Southern Stars in the

in Australia. He pleaded guilty to three counts of "offering to engage in conduct to corrupt a betting outcome" at Melbourne Magistrates Court, and was subsequently banned from football by

for life and fined $1,500 by the courts. In 2016, he approached the FFA about having his ban overturned.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McKoy, Nick 1986 births Living people English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Wimbledon F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Potters Bar Town F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players Enfield Town F.C. players Grays Athletic F.C. players Sutton United F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Tamworth F.C. players Hornchurch F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players Footballers from the London Borough of Newham 21st-century English sportsmen