Sam Richard McClelland (born 4 January 2002) is a Northern Irish professional football player who plays for club

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 ...

and the Northern Ireland national team. He has had loan spells with Barrow and

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

Club career

Chelsea

McClelland began his youth career playing for Limavady Youths before moving to the Coleraine Academy. He made his Chelsea U18 debut against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in September 2018 and signed his first professional contract in July 2019. On 23 June 2022, he signed on a year long loan for League Two side Barrow. McClelland made his debut on 30 July, starting in a 3–2 away win against

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

. He scored his first career goal in a 2–1 win over Walsall on 16 August 2022. On 16 June 2023, Chelsea announced that McClelland would leave the club when his contract expired at the end of June.

St Johnstone

On 3 August 2023, McClelland signed for

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

club

. He moved on loan to

in February 2024.

International career

McClelland made his international debut for Northern Ireland on 3 June 2021 against

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

in a friendly.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McClelland, Sam 2002 births Living people Association footballers from County Londonderry Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Northern Ireland men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Sportspeople from Coleraine, County Londonderry Chelsea F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players English Football League players St Johnstone F.C. players Northern Ireland men's youth international footballers Dundee United F.C. players 21st-century sportsmen from Northern Ireland