Billy McKay

William Robert Mckay (born 22 October 1988) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Scottish Championship club Inverness Caledonian Thistle. He has represented the Northern Ireland national team.

Mckay began his career with Leicester City, but was unable to break into the first team, spending some time on loan with Hinckley United. Released by Leicester in 2009, Mckay played for Northampton Town before joining Inverness Caledonian Thistle in Scotland in 2011. After scoring 62 goals for Inverness in three-and-a-half seasons, Mckay was signed by Wigan Athletic in January 2015. He did not hold a regular place with Wigan, and was loaned to Dundee United, Oldham Athletic and Inverness over the next two seasons. Mckay signed for Ross County in July 2017.

Born in England, Mckay qualifies to play for Northern Ireland through ancestry. After representing the country at various youth levels, he made his full international debut in 2013.

Club career

Leicester City

Mckay was born in Corby. He started his career at Leicester City after being spotted as a youth by scout Bev Ironmonger. At a young age, he was brought into the academy, started to push for the first team and signed a new contract in 2008. Despite impressing with a prolific goalscoring record at academy and reserve team level for Leicester, Mckay was released at the end of the 2008–09 season.

Hinckley United (loan)

He was loaned, for a month, to Hinckley United of the Conference North, in 2008.

Northampton Town

Northampton Town gave Mckay a trial during 2009 pre-season, where he impressed by scoring two goals, including an overhead kick, against Coventry City. After this match he was awarded a one-year contract from manager, Stuart Gray.

Mckay also claimed the honour of becoming the first Northampton Town player to score in the 'new' rivalry with Milton Keynes Dons. He netted in a 3–1 defeat at stadium:mk. His first senior goal came during a 3–0 win over Accrington Stanley. After a couple of months coming on as a substitute without scoring – often played out of position – Mckay scored the winner against Dagenham & Redbridge, in the 88th minute, during a 1–0 win on Boxing Day. Four weeks later, on 26 January 2010, he scored and provided an assist for Ryan Gilligan, in a 2–1 win over Darlington. This was followed up by in February 2010 when he grabbed a 'brace' in a 4–0 win over Accrington Stanley.

In late April, Mckay signed a new deal that kept him at Northampton, after the club invoked a clause in his contract to keep him. Afterwards, Mckay was happy to confirm his delight at remaining at Northampton Town. At the conclusion of the season, Mckay had made a total of forty-three appearances, including cups, and scored eight goals.

At the beginning of the following season, 2010/11, Mckay revealed his desire to double his scoring tally from the previous campaign. He was given the number 16 shirt, with his previous number 17 jersey being taken by Michael Jacobs. After four games without scoring, Mckay netted his first league goal of the season in a 1–1 draw against Aldershot Town. He also found the target in a 2–0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion in the first round of the League Cup.

On 22 September 2010, Mckay scored Northampton Town's first goal in a memorable League Cup victory over Liverpool at Anfield. Just three days later, he scored again and provided an assist for Ben Tozer in a 2–0 win over Bradford City.

Mirroring the previous season, he then suffered a goalscoring 'drought'. However, this was broken when he scored in consecutive games against Lincoln City and Cheltenham Town.

At the season's end, Mckay had made a total of forty-one appearances, including cup competitions, with a return of eight goals. At the culmination of the season, he was offered a new contract, despite eight players leaving the club on free transfers. Two months later, Mckay left Northampton Town, with rumours circulating that he had agreed to join a new club.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle

After leaving Northampton Town by mutual consent, Mckay signed for Scottish Premier League club Inverness Caledonian Thistle, along with Aaron Doran from Blackburn Rovers. Upon joining, his Inverness career got off to an unfortunate start after suffering an early injury.

He made his debut for the club on 27 August 2011, replacing Doran during the game, in a 2–1 win over Kilmarnock. However, Mckay's initial time at Inverness was mostly spent coming on as a sub – without scoring – and he was often played out of 'position'. Eventually, on 10 December 2011, he scored his first goal for the club, a header against Dundee United in a 3–2 home defeat. After netting his first goal, Mckay stated that he expected to score plenty more goals for the club. Unfortunately, he continued to find himself being used as a substitute. Nevertheless, his patience was rewarded when in April 2012, he scored twice in a 4–3 loss against Kilmarnock. At the end of the season, Mckay signed a two-year contract, just as his current deal was set to expire. In his first season, he made 24 appearances, scoring three times.

The following season, 2012–13, proved to be a breakthrough for Mckay as he went on a goalscoring run and became a key player for the club. In the opening game of the season, he scored in a 2–2 draw against St Mirren and shortly after, in the second round of the Scottish League Cup, he scored with a header during a 1–1 draw against Stenhousemuir – a game in which Inverness won on a penalty shoot-out. A few weeks later, on 19 October 2012, Mckay scored twice in a 4–1 win over Dundee, and from 19 October to 10 November, he hit four goals in three games. Soon after, he scored the winning goal in a 1–0 victory over Celtic. After the match, Manager Terry Butcher claimed that the success was 'magnificent'. In the Highland derby, fourth-round of the Scottish Cup