Paul Joseph McGugan (born 17 July 1964) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a central defender for

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

and Chesterfield.

Career

McGugan signed for Celtic from Eastercraigs Amateurs in April 1980. He made his first team debut at 19 years of age in a 3–2 win over

Hibernian Hibernian may refer to: * Of Hibernia, Latin name for Ireland; hence ** Irish (disambiguation) Hibernian, Hibernians or The Hibernian may refer to: Sports clubs * Hibernian F.C., a Scottish football club, founded 1875 * Hibernian W.F.C., a Sc ...

on 28 April 1984. However it would be over a year later – season 1985–86 – before he got a sustained run in the first team. That season McGugan made 21 league appearances for Celtic and played in both legs of their first round European Cup Winner's Cup tie against

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

. A highlight for McGugan that season was his goal on 1 January 1986 in a 2–0 win over

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 ...

at Parkhead. The season also saw McGugan win a league championship medal in dramatic fashion as Celtic crushed St Mirren 5–0 on the last day of the season as title rivals Hearts lost 2–0 away at

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 ...

. McGugan also played regularly the following season, but the arrival of

Billy McNeill William McNeill (2 March 1940 – 22 April 2019) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He had a long association with Celtic F.C., Celtic, spanning more than sixty years as a player, m ...

as manager in the summer of 1987 saw him drop out of the first team. In October 1987, McNeill sold McGugan to Barnsley for £55,000. McGugan spent three years in Yorkshire playing for Barnsley, including a memorable 4–0 win over Chelsea in the third round of 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 ...

in January 1989, before moving to Chesterfield in 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGugan, Paul 1964 births Living people Scottish men's footballers Celtic F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Footballers from Glasgow Men's association football central defenders