Paul Gerard McGee (born 19 June 1954) is an Irish former

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 forward.

Career

McGee was born in

Sligo Sligo ( ; , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of 20,608 in 2022, it is the county's largest urban centre (constituting 2 ...

, and started his career with

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional association football, football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 and have been in ...

, making his debut at 15 years of age on 15 November 1970. While at

Finn Harps Finn Harps Football Club is an Irish football club that play in the First Division of the League of Ireland, as of 2023. The club was founded in 1954 and elected to the league in 1969. They hail from Ballybofey, County Donegal and play their ho ...

he won the

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...

in 1974. He then rejoined his home town club

winning the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

championship in 1977. After the league success he was purchased by

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

in November 1977. In his Ireland career, he scored 4 goals in 15 matches and also won 10 youth

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

and 2 U21 caps. In January 1977 he played for the

League of Ireland XI The League of Ireland XI, more recently referred to as the Airtricity League XI for sponsorship reasons, is the representative team of the League of Ireland, the national association football league of Ireland. For much of its history, the League ...

team against Italian League B which included

Gaetano Scirea Gaetano Scirea (; 25 May 1953 – 3 September 1989) was an Italian professional footballer who is considered one of the greatest ever defenders. He spent most of his career with Juventus. Scirea is one of only six players in European football hi ...

. He had 6 different spells during his career playing for Sligo. He played at FC Haka in the

1983–84 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1983–84 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup was won by Juventus in a final against Porto. The next year, the club went on to complete a full complement of European trophies with the European Cup. Aberdeen were the defending champions, bu ...

. In played several summer months abroad in the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

with Toronto Italia, and

Montreal Castors Montreal Castors was a Canadian Association football, soccer team, founded in 1975. The team played in the Canadian National Soccer League, National Soccer League, winning the championship in 1978 and 1979 before withdrawing from the league in 197 ...

. McGee signed for

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

in August 1984. He made a scoring debut with 2 goals on the 26th against Home Farm in a 4–2 win at Milltown. His last appearance was against his home town club in a 4–0 win on 11 November 1978. In total he played 15 times for the Hoops, including twice in the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

, scoring 5 goals. While at Galway United he scored in the

1986–87 UEFA Cup The 1986–87 UEFA Cup was the 16th season of the UEFA Cup, the third-tier club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The final was played over two legs at the Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden, and at ...

FC Groningen Football Club Groningen () is a Dutch professional association football club based in Groningen, Groningen (province), Groningen province. Founded in 1971 as the successor of GVAV-Rapiditas, GVAV, Groningen compete in the Eredivisie, the first t ...

. His impressive displays earned him a move to

HFC Haarlem HFC Haarlem was a Dutch football club from the city of Haarlem, established in 1889 and dissolved in 2010. The club won the Eredivisie in 1946 and reached five Cup finals, winning in 1902 and 1912. Haarlem reached the second round of the 1982� ...

for the rest of the

1986–87 Eredivisie The Dutch Eredivisie in the 1986–87 season was contested by 18 teams. PSV Eindhoven won the championship. At the beginning of the season, AZ '67 from Alkmaar changed their name to AZ. League standings Results Play-offs This year, play-off ...

season. During his time there his opponents included

Marco van Basten Marcel "Marco" Van Basten (; born 31 October 1964) is a Dutch former football manager and player who played as a striker for Ajax and AC Milan, as well as the Netherlands national team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all t ...

and

Ruud Gullit Ruud Gullit (; born Rudi Dil; 1 September 1962) is a former Dutch Association football, footballer and subsequent manager. Regarded among the greatest footballers of all time, he was also noted for his Utility player#Association football, abili ...

. He is Galway United's all-time top goalscorer in the League of Ireland. He was also the club's player-manager during the 1989–90 season. He moved to Derry City for the 1990–91 League of Ireland Premier Division season but by November he had moved back to his home town club. However, he did play in the

1990–91 UEFA Cup The 1990–91 UEFA Cup was the 20th season of the UEFA Cup, the secondary club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The final was played over two legs at San Siro, Milan, Italy, and at the Stadio ...

for the Candystripes. In January 1993 McGee moved clubs for the 34th occasion, a record for an Irish player. In January 2007, McGee was appointed manager of Limerick 37 F.C. He was sacked in December despite an impressive 4th-place position In January 2008 he was appointed assistant manager to Alan Mathews at

Cork City Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...

. In August 2008 he lost his job as Cork went into

examinership Examinership is a process in Law of the Republic of Ireland, Irish law whereby the protection of the Court is obtained to assist the survival of a company. It allows a company to restructure with the approval of the High Court (Ireland), High ...

. In May 2011 McGee was appointed manager of Salthill Devon At the end of the 2012 League of Ireland season McGee is eleventh in the all-time League of Ireland goalscoring list with 143 league goals

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McGee, Paul 1954 births Men's association football forwards Athlone Town A.F.C. players Ballymena United F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Derry City F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players Eredivisie players Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Finn Harps F.C. players Galway United F.C. (1937–2011) players Hereford United F.C. players HFC Haarlem players Irish expatriate sportspeople in Canada Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Montreal Castors players NIFL Premiership players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players League of Ireland managers League of Ireland players League of Ireland XI players Living people Association footballers from Sligo (town) Preston North End F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Sligo Rovers F.C. players English Football League players Toronto Italia players Torquay United F.C. players Waterford F.C. players Salthill Devon F.C. managers Galway United F.C. managers Canadian National Soccer League players Republic of Ireland association football managers 20th-century Irish sportsmen