David Christopher McGhee (born 19 June 1976) is an English retired 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 le ...

, who made over 230 appearances as a

utility player In sports, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently. Sports in which the term is often used include association football, American football, baseball, rugby union, rugby league, softball, ice hockey, and water polo. The ...

in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

and Leyton Orient.

Playing career

Early years

McGhee was born in

Worthing Worthing () is a seaside town in West Sussex, England, at the foot of the South Downs, west of Brighton, and east of Chichester. With a population of 111,400 and an area of , the borough is the second largest component of the Brighton and Hov ...

. Starting out as a defender, he began his career in the youth system at

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

. He was not taken on as a scholar by first team manager Peter Shilton and dropped into

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

to sign for local

South Western League The South Western Football League was an English association football league composed of clubs from Cornwall and west and north Devon. It consisted of a single division at the eleventh overall tier of the English football league system, the seven ...

club

St Austell St Austell (; kw, Sans Austel) is a town in Cornwall, England, south of Bodmin and west of the border with Devon. St Austell is one of the largest towns in Cornwall; at the 2011 census it had a population of 19,958. History St Austell wa ...

Brentford

McGhee joined

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club

on trial in 1993, after the club responded to a contact request from his father. He signed a professional contract with the Bees in April 1994 and received his maiden call into the first team squad for a

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

first round match versus Brighton & Hove Albion on 19 October that year. He remained on the bench for the 1–0 victory. McGhee's professional debut came on 21 January 1995, when he replaced

Darren Annon Darren Carlton Annon (born 17 February 1972 in Chelsea, England) is an English retired professional footballer. He made appearances in the Football League for Brentford, but played the majority of his career with non-League clubs Enfield, Farn ...

during a 2–1 league win over Hull City. He was largely an unused substitute during the rest of the 1994–95 season, finishing with seven appearances and scored one goal. McGhee established himself in the first team during the 1995–96 season, wearing five different shirt numbers and proving to be an able

. He made 45 appearances and scored six goals. McGhee's best season for Brentford came in 1996–97, when he made a season-high 53 appearances and scored two goals. The Bees led the Second Division for much of the first two-thirds of the season, before dropping to fourth position and qualifying for the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

. After beating

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

4–2 on aggregate in the semi-finals, the Bees lost 1–0 to Crewe Alexandra at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. McGhee was again a regular pick during the 1997–98 season, making 33 appearances and scoring one goal in which Brentford's playoff hangover consigned them to relegation to the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

after a final-day defeat to Bristol Rovers. A succession of injuries saw McGhee miss the entire 1998–99 season, and he retired in January 1999. He made 138 appearances and scored 10 goals during his time at

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground is in a predominantly residential area and was ...

Stevenage Borough

McGhee came out of retirement to sign for

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club Stevenage Borough in August 1999. He made two appearances before departing

Broadhall Way Broadhall Way, known as the Lamex Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is an association football stadium in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. It has been the home ground of Stevenage (formerly Stevenage Borough and Stevenage Town) since the early 1960s, an ...

before the end of the first month of the season.

Leyton Orient

McGhee returned to the

to sign for struggling Third Division club Leyton Orient in November 1999. He quickly established himself in the side, making 23 appearances and scoring one goal during the remainder of the 1999–00 season to help the Os retain their league status. McGhee had an excellent 2000–01 season, making 51 appearances and scoring three goals as the Os finished in the playoff positions. As with Brentford in 1997, McGhee suffered heartbreak in his second appearance at Wembley Stadium, with Orient crashing to a 4–2 defeat to Blackpool in the

, after having twice taken the lead. Orient suffered a hangover in the 2001–02 season, though McGhee again featured in almost all the club's matches, making 45 appearances and scoring two goals. McGhee's run as a mainstay of the team came to an end on 10 September 2002, when he suffered a ruptured achilles tendon after 11 minutes of a 3–2 League Cup first round victory over Queens Park Rangers. He returned to match play just over a year later and was named

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, but managed just 12 appearances and one goal during the 2003–04 season, before leaving the club on 25 March 2004. McGhee made 135 appearances and scored seven goals during five years at

Brisbane Road Brisbane Road, originally known as Osborne Road, is a football stadium in Brisbane Road, Leyton, East London, England. It has been the home ground of Leyton Orient since 1937, before which it was the home of amateur football team Leyton F.C., w ...

. His performances earned him the nickname "Mad Dog".

Return to non-League football

On 25 March 2004, McGhee dropped into non-League football to join high-flying

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

Premier Division club

Canvey Island Canvey Island is a town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and reclaimed island in the Thames estuary, near Southend-on-Sea, in the Castle Point district, in the county of Essex, England. It has an area of and a population of 38,170.Office ...

on a contract running until the end of the 2005–06 season. Following the club's promotion to the

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

at the end of the 2003–04 season, McGhee failed to hold down a regular place in the team and made 47 appearances and scored one goal before departing at the end of the 2005–06 season. McGhee continued his descent down the

pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

with short spells at Isthmian League clubs Chelmsford City and

Wivenhoe Town Wivenhoe Town F.C. is an English football club based in Wivenhoe, Essex. The club are currently members of the and play at Broad Lane. History The club was established as Wivenhoe Rangers by Frank Slaughter and students from Colchester Gram ...

respectively during the first half of the 2006–07 season. McGhee returned to

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

in late 2006 to sign for South Western League club

Falmouth Town Falmouth Town Association Football Club is a football club based in Falmouth, Cornwall, United Kingdom. They are currently members of the and play at Bickland Park. The club were the first Cornish team to reach the first round proper of the F ...

. He signed for

East Cornwall League The East Cornwall Premier League (ECPL) is a football competition based in Cornwall and west Devon, England, in the United Kingdom. The league sits at level 12 of the English football league system and consists of 18 clubs. Due to a sponsorship ...

Premier Division club Lanreath in 2007 and played for the team until 2015. He re-emerged with the club's veterans' team 2017, playing as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Managerial career

McGhee has held coaching and assistant manager positions in the youth setup at local Cornish club Looe Town. He served as joint-

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

of East Cornwall League First Division club Lanreath during the 2014–15 season.

Personal life

McGhee's son Callum played under his management at Lanreath. In March 2015, McGhee was diagnosed with a brain tumour.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McGhee, David Living people 1976 births Footballers from Worthing English men's footballers Men's association football utility players Men's association football defenders English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players A.F.C. St Austell players Brentford F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Canvey Island F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players Wivenhoe Town F.C. players Falmouth Town A.F.C. players Player-coaches English football managers