Derek McGrath (born 21 January 1972 in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

) is a retired

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

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 ...

. Derek was a midfielder who played for Shamrock Rovers,

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

Waterford United Waterford Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Phort Láirge) formerly Waterford United Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Waterford who play in the League of Ireland First Division. The club was founded and elected to the ...

, Kilkenny City and

Monaghan United Monaghan United F.C. ( ga, Cumann Peile Mhuineacháin Aontaithe) is an Irish association football club based in Monaghan currently playing in the Ulster Senior League. The club joined the League of Ireland in 1983 and subsequently went on to pl ...

during his career in the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally use ...

. He signed for Rovers in January 1992 from

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

where he had made 6 appearances and made his debut at Bray Wanderers on 19 January. McGrath had made one appearance for Brighton in the 1990-91 FA Cup at

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 189 ...

. He scored 7 goals in 27 league appearances as Rovers won the League in 1994. He also made 2 appearances in the 1994-95 UEFA Cup for the Hoops. He moved to

in July 1996 and made his debut in a 1996-97 UEFA Cup tie against

FC Dinamo Minsk FC Dinamo Minsk ( be, ФК Дынама Мінск, ''FK Dynama Minsk''; russian: link=no, ФК Динамо Минск) is a professional football club based in the Belarusian capital city of Minsk. It was founded in 1927 as part of the Sovi ...

. He made 4 appearances for Bohs in Europe all in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

. His father

Joe Joe or JOE may refer to: Arts Film and television * ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle * ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage * ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971 * ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...

played and managed in the

. Derek was managed by his father briefly in 1998 while at Bohs and again at Kilkenny City.

International career

McGrath scored for the

Republic of Ireland national under-19 football team The Republic of Ireland national under-19 football team, is the national under-19 football team of the Republic of Ireland and is controlled by the Football Association of Ireland and competes in the biennial European Under-19 Football Championsh ...

in May 1989 in a

1990 UEFA European Under-18 Football Championship The 1990 UEFA European Under-18 Championship final tournament was held in Hungary. It also served as the European qualification for the 1991 FIFA World Youth Championship. Teams The following teams qualified for the tournament: * * * (host ...

qualifier against Malta. He was sent off in the final qualifier in Bulgaria as Ireland lost but qualified. Derek was capped nine times by Irish Under 21 team scoring once in October 1992 in a 1994 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualifier. He also represented his country at U15, U16 and youth level and played at the

and

1991 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1991 FIFA World Youth Championship was the eighth staging of the FIFA World Youth Championship, an international football competition organized by FIFA for men's youth national teams, and the eighth since it was established in 1977 as the FIFA ...

Honours

: 1 ** Shamrock Rovers 1993/94

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGrath, Derek 1972 births Living people Association footballers from Dublin (city) Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football midfielders League of Ireland players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Bohemian F.C. players Waterford F.C. players Kilkenny City A.F.C. players Monaghan United F.C. players Glenavon F.C. players Armagh City F.C. players NIFL Premiership players People from Lucan, Dublin Sportspeople from South Dublin (county)