Patrick John "Paddy" McClafferty (born 19 September 2004) is an association footballer who plays for

Northumbria University Northumbria University (legally the University of Northumbria at Newcastle) is a Public research university, public research university located in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England, North East of England. It has been a university since 199 ...

as a defender. Born in Ireland, he represents the

Gibraltar national football team The Gibraltar national football team represents Gibraltar in men's international football competitions, and is controlled by the Gibraltar Football Association. Gibraltar applied for full Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) membersh ...

at international level.

Club career

McClafferty primarily spent his youth career playing for numerous youth teams across the border in Spain, notably at

CD San Roque Club Deportivo San Roque is a Spanish football team based in San Roque, Cádiz, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1966, it plays in , holding home matches at '' Estadio Manolo Mesa'', with a 500-seat capacity. Season to seas ...

where he made his senior debut at 15 years old. In 2019, he spent a short period of time with hometown side St Catherine's while staying with family in Killybegs, playing in the

Foyle Cup The Foyle Cup is a youth soccer tournament held every year in Derry City, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Along with the SuperCupNI, which takes place around the same time, The Foyle Cup is one of Ireland and indeed Europe's premier youth to ...

. Upon moving to the UK to study at

, he joined

Northern League Division One The Northern League is a British men's football league in north east England. Having been founded in 1889, it is the second-oldest football league in the world still in existence after the English Football League. It contains two divisions; Di ...

side Newcastle Benfield, although his spell was cut short by injury. In March 2025, having spent the majority of the season with his university side in the BUCS Football League, he joined

Blyth Spartans Blyth Spartans Association Football Club is an association football club based in Blyth, Northumberland. They are currently members of and play at Croft Park. They were founded in September 1899 by Fred Stoker, who was the club's first secre ...

in the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

, making his debut on 8 March against

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast, south-west of Carlisle and north-east of Whitehaven. At the 2021 census the ...

. Despite the club originally stating that he had been retained at the end of the season, he left the club that summer.

International career

Born in the Irish town of

Letterkenny Letterkenny ( , meaning "hillside of the O'Cannons"), nicknamed the Cathedral Town, is a large town in County Donegal, Ireland, on the River Swilly in the north-west of Ulster. Along with the nearby city of Derry, Letterkenny is a regional eco ...

, McClafferty was initially raised in nearby Largy, near Killybegs, before moving to

Estepona Estepona () is a town and municipality in the comarca of the Costa del Sol, southern Spain. It is located in the province of Málaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. Its district covers an area of 137 square kilometers in a fertile ...

with his family as a child, then to

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

with his mother at the age of 11 when his parents separated. Subsequently, he was eligible to represent

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. ...

and

at international level. Having previously represented Gibraltar at under-16 level, he made his debut for the under-21s on 6 September 2023 against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. However, his campaign was cut short by injury while at Newcastle Benfield. He earned his first senior call-up in March 2025, appearing in

Scott Wiseman Scott Nigel Kenneth Wiseman (born 9 October 1985) is a current football manager and former professional footballer, who played as a defender, usually being deployed as a right-back. Born in England, Wiseman represented the country at youth le ...

's initial 31 man squad for their opening

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification will decide the 45 teams that will join hosts Canada men's national soccer team, Canada, Mexico national football team, Mexico, and the United States men's national soccer team, United States at the 2026 FIFA ...

matches. He made his debut as an 82nd-minute substitute in a 3–1 defeat to

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

on 22 March 2025.Match Report: Montenegro vs Gibraltar , European Qualifiers 2026
UEFA.com. 22 March 2025. Retrieved 22 March 2025.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McClafferty, Paddy 2004 births Living people Association footballers from County Donegal Gibraltarian men's footballers Gibraltar men's international footballers Gibraltar men's under-21 international footballers Gibraltar men's youth international footballers Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Irish emigrants to the United Kingdom Gibraltarian people of Irish descent Men's association football defenders St Catherine's F.C. players CD San Roque footballers Blyth Spartans A.F.C. players Gibraltarian expatriate sportspeople in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Gibraltarian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England 21st-century British sportsmen 21st-century Irish sportsmen People from Killybegs