Gary Matthew McDonald (born 10 April 1982 in

Irvine, North Ayrshire Irvine ( ; sco, Irvin,
gd, Irbhinn, IPA: 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 last played for Scottish Junior club Kilwinning Rangers. He also played for

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish association football, football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championshi ...

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

and

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. ...

Club career

McDonald started his career at

, playing there for five seasons between 2001 and 2006, where he played in 106 league matches, scoring 11 goals. On 18 June 2006, McDonald signed for English

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

, becoming John Sheridan's first signing as Oldham manager. On 5 January 2008, McDonald scored from in Oldham's 1–0 win over

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side Everton in the third round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

. Interviewed on ''

Match of the Day ''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights, during the Premier League season. The show's current presenter is former England international striker Gary L ...

'' after the match, McDonald described the goal as the best of his career. In late April 2008, McDonald agreed a pre-contract to sign for

in the summer. On 21 November 2009, McDonald was sent off during Aberdeen's 1–1 draw against

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

, shown a second yellow card having removed his shirt after scoring Aberdeen's equaliser. During his second season at Aberdeen, McDonald, along with teammate Mark Kerr was the subject of booing from some Aberdeen fans. McDonald said this didn't bother him, describing it as ''"water off a duck's back"''. McDonald left Aberdeen once his contract expired, and he joined fellow

SPL SPL may refer to: Association football * Saudi Professional League * Scottish Premier League * SportPesa Premier League, Kenya * Singapore Premier League * RoboCup Standard Platform League, matches between autonomous robots Computing Program ...

club

on 4 August 2010. On 14 May 2011, he was one of eight players released by Hamilton following their relegation to the First Division. On 23 June 2011, McDonald returned to England, signing for

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

. It was announced on 27 May 2013, that McDonald would be leaving Morecambe after turning down a new contract with the club. McDonald signed for

on 13 June 2013. He made his debut for the club on 18 July 2013, in a 1–0 win away to Rosenborg in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

. On 6 January 2014, McDonald signed a new contract, keeping him at St Johnstone until 2015, with an option for another year. He came on as a substitute as they won the

2014 Scottish Cup Final The 2014 Scottish Cup Final was the 129th final of the Scottish Cup, the most prestigious knockout football competition in Scotland. The match took place at Celtic Park on 17 May 2014 and was contested by St Johnstone and Dundee United. After wi ...

. On 2 February 2015, McDonald was released by St Johnstone. On 12 February 2015, McDonald signed for

until the end of the 2014–15 season. In July 2015, McDonald signed for

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

club Kilwinning Rangers on a one-year contract.

International career

McDonald has been

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

at Under-21 level. He was

in a Scotland B international against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, in 2005, at his then club ground,

Rugby Park Rugby Park, also known as The BBSP Stadium Rugby Park for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium situated in the Scottish town of Kilmarnock. It was first used in 1899 and is the home of Kilmarnock F.C. Rugby Park has also been used for con ...

, scoring the opening goal in a 2–0 victory.

Career statistics

:A. Other includes

Football League play-offs The English Football League play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the four association football teams finishing immediately below the automatic promotion places in the second, third and fourth tiers of the English football league ...

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 ...

and

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Gary 1982 births Living people Footballers from Irvine, North Ayrshire Men's association football midfielders Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's B international footballers Kilmarnock F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players Hamilton Academical F.C. players Morecambe F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players Peterhead F.C. players Kilwinning Rangers F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Professional Football League players