Barrie McKay (born 30 December 1994) is a Scottish 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 ...
Greenock Morton
Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Green ...
,
Raith Rovers
Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leagu ...
,
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
Barrhead
Barrhead ( sco, Baurheid, gd, Ceann a' Bharra) is a town in East Renfrewshire, Scotland, southwest of Glasgow city centre on the edge of the Gleniffer Braes. At the 2011 census its population was 17,268.
History
Barrhead was formed when ...
and began his career as a youth player for Kilmarnock, where he spent seven years. He was released by Kilmarnock due to a hip problem which their medical staff feared would cause him long-term problems. McKay was then signed by Rangers in the summer of 2011. He played regularly in their under-19 side at the age of 16 and ended the season as top goalscorer.
Club career
Rangers
McKay made his first-team debut for Rangers on 13 May 2012, in a 4–0 win against St Johnstone. On 11 August 2012, he scored Rangers first goal in their first match in the Third Division, a 2–2 draw against
Peterhead
Peterhead (; gd, Ceann Phàdraig, sco, Peterheid ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is Aberdeenshire's biggest settlement (the city of Aberdeen itself not being a part of the district), with a population of 18,537 at the 2011 Census. ...
. On 11 September 2012, McKay pledged his future to Rangers for another five-years. After a great start to the season, his form dropped and as a result he was dropped to the bench with Fraser Aird taking his place. After a few matches on the sidelines, he reclaimed his place in the starting eleven with a stunning performance from the bench against
Alloa Athletic
Alloa Athletic Football Club is a Scottish association football semi-professional club based in the town of Alloa, Clackmannanshire.
Formed as Alloa in 1880, the football club shortly changed its name to Alloa Association, and then to Alloa Ath ...
, in which he scored two goals in a 7–0 win. From that point on, McKay established himself as a key player in the team, putting in several excellent performances, including in a 3–0 win against
Elgin City
Elgin City Football Club (also known as City or The Black and Whites) is a professional senior football club based in Elgin, Moray.
Elgin was founded in 1893 and originally played their football in the Highland Football League. The club was g ...
and a 4–2 win against Montrose, racking up a number of assists in the process.
On 27 December 2013, he joined
Greenock Morton
Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Green ...
on a one-month
loan
In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...
deal. As there were no U20 League fixtures until January 2014, this was to give him some much needed game time, with McKay expected to be available for five fixtures in his time at Cappielow. On 28 January 2014, his loan was extended until the end of the season.
McKay signed for
Scottish Championship
The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish Champio ...
club
Raith Rovers
Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leagu ...
on 1 September 2014, agreeing a loan move until 1 January 2015. On 31 December 2014, it was announced by Raith Rovers that McKay's loan deal had been extended until the end of 2014–15 season.
The arrival of new Rangers manager Mark Warburton in June 2015 saw McKay appear more frequently in the first team. On 19 August 2015, he scored his first goal for Rangers since November 2012, in a 2–0 win over
Ayr United
Ayr United Football Club are a football club in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Formed in 1910 by the merger of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., their nickname is ...
in the Scottish Challenge Cup. On 15 February 2016, McKay extended his Rangers contract until May 2018. On 17 April 2016, he scored a long-range goal to put Rangers 2–1 up against Celtic in the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,PFA Scotland Team of the Year from the Scottish Championship for his performances in the 2015–16 season.
Nottingham Forest
McKay signed a four-year contract with
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
on 5 July 2017 for a reported fee of £500,000, linking up with Warburton once again. He was assigned squad number 10. On his début on 4 August 2017, he scored the only goal of the game against
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 Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...
.
Swansea City
On 31 July 2018, McKay signed a three-year contract with Swansea City, having moved from Nottingham Forest for an undisclosed fee.
On 31 January 2020, McKay joined Fleetwood Town on loan until the end of the 2019–20 season. He returned to Fleetwood in September 2020, again on loan.
McKay was confirmed to be leaving the Welsh club at the end of the 2020–21 season.
Hearts
On 7 September 2021 McKay signed with Hearts on a two-year deal.
International career
McKay was a youth international, representing the Scotland national team at under-18,under-19 and under-21 levels.
McKay received his first call-up to the senior
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
squad in May 2016, along with Rangers teammate
Lee Wallace
Lee Wallace (born 1 August 1987) is a Scottish former professional footballer. He represented the Scotland national team with 10 caps.
Wallace started his career Heart of Midlothian, making his debut in 2005 at age seventeen, and joined Ran ...
, for friendlies against
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
and
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
and made his Scotland debut as an 84th-minute substitute during a 3–0 defeat to the latter on 4 June 2016.
Six years later, he received his second call-up for the
UEFA Nations League
The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body.
The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...
match against
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
after
Scott McTominay
Scott Francis McTominay (born 8 December 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Manchester United and the Scotland national team.
McTominay is a graduate of the Manchester United youth academy and made his sen ...
was suspended for picking up a booking against the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...
.
Personal life
He is the younger brother of fellow footballer Daniel McKay, and has two other brothers.
Career statistics
Club
International
Honours
Rangers
*
Scottish Third Division
The Scottish Football League Third Division was the fourth tier of the Scottish football league system between 1994 and 2013.
History
The Scottish football league system had operated with three divisions in the Scottish Football League (SFL) fro ...
:
2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
*
Scottish Championship
The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish Champio ...
PFA Scotland
The Professional Footballers' Association Scotland (PFA Scotland) is the association for professional footballers in Scotland. It was known as the Scottish Professional Footballers' Association (SPFA), but that organisation was dissolved and repl ...