Stephen John Paul McPhail (born 9 December 1979) is an Irish 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 ...

and the

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The ...

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 the

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Men's Premier Division (), also known as the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Republic of Ireland and the highest level of the Republic of I ...

. A play-making

central 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 ...

, McPhail started his career at

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

. He subsequently found success at Cardiff City, making over 150 appearances and being part of their promotion-winning

2012–13 Football League Championship The 2012–13 Football League Championship (known as the npower Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the ninth season of the league under its current title and twentieth season under its current league division format. The season began on 1 ...

side. McPhail was capped ten times for the Republic of Ireland national team, scoring one goal.

Early life

McPhail was born in

Westminster, London Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

, and raised in

Rush, Dublin Rush ( ), officially ''An Ros'', is a small seaside commuter town in Fingal, County Dublin, Ireland. Rush lies on the Irish Sea coast, between Skerries, Dublin, Skerries and Lusk, County Dublin, Lusk, and has a small harbour. It had a populati ...

, Ireland.

Club career

Leeds United

McPhail started his career by coming through the youth ranks at

. His playing style led former

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 ...

manager

George Graham George Graham (born 30 November 1944) is a Scottish former football player and manager. Nicknamed "Stroller", he made 455 appearances in England's Football League as a midfielder or forward for Aston Villa, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester Unite ...

to christen him "the new

Liam Brady William Brady (born 13 February 1956) is an Irish former footballer and pundit. He found success both in England with Arsenal, where he won an FA Cup in 1979, and in Italy with Juventus, winning two Serie A titles. Brady was capped 72 times for ...

". He began to make an impact on the first team during the 1997–98 season, making his debut in February 1998 against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, and went on to make several substitute appearances that campaign. The highlight of his debut season was a 50-yard lob pass to Leeds and future

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 ...

teammate

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink Jerrel Floyd "Jimmy" Hasselbaink ( ; born 27 March 1972) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. Born in Suriname, he and his family would later move to the Dutch city of Zaandam where he first played football, initially a ...

, which some Leeds fans described as "one of the passes of the season". He started to become a regular for the side during the 1999–2000 season, after making several sub appearances, when he was given a long run in the first team squad. McPhail was rewarded with a new five-year contract at the

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

club soon after. McPhail got his first Leeds goals in a league match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on 19 December 1999. After manager

David O'Leary David Anthony O'Leary (born 2 May 1958) is a football manager and former player. The majority of his 20-year playing career was spent as a central defender at Arsenal, where his tally of 722 appearances stands as a club record. He played 68 time ...

left, Leeds went on to have several different managers over the next few years. During this time, McPhail was hampered by injury, making it difficult to break into the team under

Terry Venables Terence Frederick Venables (6 January 1943 – 25 November 2023), often referred to as El Tel, was an English football player and manager who played for clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queens Park Rangers and won two caps for E ...

or his successor

Peter Reid Peter Reid (born 20 June 1956) is an English football manager, pundit and former player. A defensive midfielder in his playing days, Reid enjoyed a long and successful career. He built his reputation as one of England's brightest midfield tale ...

. He was loaned out to

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

as a means of maintaining match fitness. A second loan, this time at

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

, could have been made permanent as both McPhail and Forest manager Paul Hart felt the move would be beneficial to his career, but Leeds rejected Forest's bid. During his time at

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

, McPhail was involved in the club's

2000–01 UEFA Champions League The 2000–01 UEFA Champions League was the 46th season of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA's premier European club football tournament, and the ninth since it was rebranded from the "European Champion Clubs' Cup" or "European Cup". The competiti ...

run, appearing in memorable games against the likes of

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

and

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

as Leeds reached the semi-finals.

Barnsley

McPhail left Leeds in July 2004 to sign for

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 ...

on a free transfer, becoming the first international player from Ireland to sign for the club since Gary Fleming in 1990. McPhail made seventy-nine appearances for the Oakwell club in two seasons of League One football, the culmination of which coming with a victory over Swansea City in the League One Play-off final at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium (), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium () for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it has a retractable roof and is the home of the Wales national rugby union team; it has ...

. McPhail's Barnsley contract expired the following summer, and the midfielder departed the newly promoted club.

Cardiff City

saw off competition from numerous other clubs to secure McPhail's services. McPhail was an ever-present for Cardiff during his first season in Wales, and impressed to such an extent that he was handed a longer-term deal the following July. During the injury-forced absences of club captain Darren Purse and vice-captain Riccardo Scimeca, McPhail stood in as the club's skipper. On 27 October 2007 he scored for Cardiff for the first time by finding the net in a 1–1 draw with Scunthorpe United. On 30 November 2007, after an indifferent opening to the Bluebirds' campaign, McPhail spoke to local paper the

South Wales Echo The ''South Wales Echo'' is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Cardiff, Wales and distributed throughout the surrounding area. It has a circulation of 6,026. Background The newspaper was founded in 1884 and was based in Thomson House, C ...

, claiming that the team's poor start was "all my fault". McPhail found the net twice within the space of two months with goals against Hull City and

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

in the Championship. McPhail also had the honour of leading Cardiff City out at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

for the

FA Cup final The FA Cup Final is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...

, where City were beaten by a goal to nil by

side

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

. The start of the 2008–09 season saw McPhail make his one hundredth appearance in all competitions for Cardiff in a 1–1 draw with

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

on 16 August. Two months later, he completed a centenary of league appearance in a 2–1 defeat against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

. On 23 September, Cardiff met rivals Swansea City in a League Cup encounter at the Liberty Stadium in the first South Wales derby to take place in seven years. McPhail was sent off in the 75th minute for a second bookable offence, as Jordi Gomez's goal won the tie for

Roberto Martínez Roberto Martínez Montoliu (; born 13 July 1973) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of the Portugal national team. Martínez played as a defensive midfielder and began his career at Re ...

's Swansea. McPhail was dismissed once again when the two sides met at the same venue in the league, again for collecting two yellow cards. Cardiff manager Dave Jones publicly criticised McPhail, stating that "he probably cost us all three points", in his post-match press conference. McPhail picked up an injury early on in the 2009–10 season, keeping him out of the side for one month. Returning to the side on in the league encounter with

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

, McPhail was sent off for a foul on Jem Karacan. Following the end of his suspension, McPhail returned in a thumping 6–1 win against

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

Cardiff City Stadium The Cardiff City Stadium () is a stadium in the Leckwith, Cardiff, Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales. It is the home of Cardiff City F.C., Cardiff City and the Wales national football team, Wales national team. Following expansion of the Ninian S ...

, playing a part in four of City's goals. Four weeks later, he fell victim to another injury while playing against

. He was originally scheduled to be out for between six and eight weeks but, on 20 November 2009, he was diagnosed with

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). The name typically refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlarged lymph node ...

, the disease forcing him to miss a considerably longer period. McPhail returned to Cardiff's starting eleven on 5 February 2010 in a 5–1 defeat to

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

, playing 75 minutes before being substituted. In the summer of 2011, McPhail changed his number to 37, the number he wore in his first season as a professional with Leeds United. After missing the first month of the 2011–12 season, McPhail returned in a

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 ...

game against

, to be taken off after 29 minutes with a groin injury. He returned from the injury in October, when he made the bench on 18 October against Peterborough United. Despite a difficult season for McPhail (he again missed a large proportion of City's matches with illness), he was awarded the club's Clubman of the Year Award at the season's end. McPhail was restricted to just two cup appearances in 2012–13, with manager Malky Mackay declaring midway through the season that McPhail was available for a short-term loan. He was released at the end of the 2012–13 season.

Sheffield Wednesday

On 19 September 2013, McPhail joined

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

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

on a contract running until January 2014.

Shamrock Rovers

On 13 February 2014,

announced that they had signed Stephen on a contract for the 2014 season. McPhail scored on his debut in the

2014 Setanta Sports Cup The 2014 Setanta Sports Cup was the ninth and final staging of the Setanta Sports Cup, an annual Association football, football competition featuring clubs from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. It commenced on 24 February 2014 and con ...

and made his league debut on the opening day of the 2014 League of Ireland season. On 5 July 2014, McPhail was sent off in a derby day win against St Pat's. In his first season McPhail made 19 league appearances for the ''Hoops''. McPhail retired from playing in October 2016; and shortly afterwards was appointed Sporting Director of Shamrock Rovers.

International career

McPhail played in the 1996 UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship scoring the winner in a group game against Poland in May 1996 and played for the Republic of Ireland U19 national team in the 1997 UEFA European Under-18 Football Championship finals in Iceland. He also played for the Ireland U21. He received his first call-up to the Republic of Ireland senior national team in May 2000 when manager

Mick McCarthy Michael Joseph McCarthy (born 7 February 1959) is a professional Manager (association football), football manager, pundit and former Association football, footballer. He was most recently the head coach of Blackpool F.C., Blackpool. McCarthy b ...

selected him in the squad for a match against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. He earned ten caps making his last appearance in a match against

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

in 2004. Due to some good form at Cardiff he had publicly declared his hopes of returning to the international scene due to the return of an Ireland B team. In October 2006 he was named in the Republic of Ireland B squad for a match against Scotland B and captained the side in a 0–0 draw. In May 2008, new manager

Giovanni Trapattoni Giovanni Trapattoni (; born 17 March 1939), popularly nicknamed "Trap" or "Il Trap", is an Italian former Association football, football manager and former player, considered the most successful club coach of Football in Italy, Italian football ...

selected McPhail for his first squad for the friendly games against

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

and

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. His only goal for Ireland came on 11 June 2000 against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in a 2–1 win in the 2000 U.S. Cup.

Personal life

McPhail suffers from Sjögren's syndrome and

Raynaud's phenomenon Raynaud syndrome, also known as Raynaud's phenomenon, is a medical condition in which the spasm of small arteries causes episodes of reduced blood flow to end arterioles. Typically the fingers, and, less commonly, the toes, are involved. Rare ...

. His son Joel plays for underage for

and scored on his U15 international debut in 2024

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Ireland's goal tally first''

Honours

Leeds United *

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

: 1996–97 Barnsley * League One Play-off: 2005–06 Cardiff City *

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 ...

: Runner-up 2007–08 * Football League Championship Play-off: Runner-up 2009–2010 *

: Runner-up 2011–12 Individual * Cardiff City Clubman of the Year:

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

References

External links

* *
Stephen McPhail player profile
at football.co.uk
Republic of Ireland profile
at Soccerscene {{DEFAULTSORT:McPhail, Stephen 1979 births Living people Footballers from the City of Westminster People from Westminster Association footballers from County Dublin Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Republic of Ireland men's B international footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Home Farm F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players League of Ireland players Shamrock Rovers F.C. non-playing staff