Gary McGinnis (born 21 October 1963) is a Scottish former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player.

Career

A versatile defensive midfielder, McGinnis made the breakthrough into the Dundee United first team during the 1983–84 season, making six appearances and scored his only goal in his full debut for the club in a 3–0 League Cup win 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 ...

at Fir Park. He found it hard to get a regular spot in a defence featuring Malpas,

Gough Gough ( ) is a surname. The surname probably derives from the Welsh (English: "red"), given as a nickname to someone with red hair or a red complexion or as a reduced form of the Irish McGough which itself is an Anglicized form of Gaelic , a patro ...

Hegarty Hegarty is an Irish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Anton Hegarty (1892–1944), British athlete who competed in cross country * Antony Hegarty (born 1971), English singer-songwriter, lead singer of Antony and the Johnsons * Bi ...

and Narey, being used as cover for all four over the next couple of seasons. McGinnis appeared in some of United's major European games, playing against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

in the second leg at

Tannadice Tannadice Park ( gd, Pàirc Thanachais), usually referred to as Tannadice, is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland. It is the home ground of Dundee United F.C., who have played at Tannadice since the club was founded as Dundee Hibernian in 1 ...

in the

1984–85 UEFA Cup The 1984–85 UEFA Cup was the 14th season of the UEFA Cup. It was won by Real Madrid, who gained an aggregate victory over Videoton of Hungary in a two-legged final. Changes *Spain +1 *Netherlands -2 *Scotland +1 *Czechoslovakia +1 *East German ...

, and spent most of the

1986–87 UEFA Cup The 1986–87 UEFA Cup was the 16th season of the UEFA Cup, a football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for clubs affiliated to its member associations. The competition was won by IFK Göteborg of Sweden, ...

run on the bench, making six appearances in the run to the Final against IFK Gothenburg. McGinnis played in a handful of games in each of the next three seasons and, after nine years at

, left for Tayside rivals

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 ...

in 1990. He became club captain during his five years at

McDiarmid Park McDiarmid Park is a stadium in Perth, Scotland, used mainly for association football. It has been the home ground of Scottish Premiership side St Johnstone since its opening in 1989. The stadium has an all-seated capacity of . As well as St Jo ...

. He later played in Hong Kong with Happy Valley, before finishing his career in English

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 ...

with Slough Town. As a youth, McGinnis won the Under-18 European Championship with Scotland in 1982 and reached the quarter-finals of the resulting 1983 Under-20 World Championships. He became a Scotland under-21 international, making his debut against Spain in November 1984. McGinnis played his final years as a professional in the Queensland State League with Bundaberg Waves, before becoming the Director of Coaching for Central Queensland. He joined the Australian National League side Northern Spirit in 2002 as Head of Youth before taking on the role of Director of Coaching for Kuringai in 2007. Played for Harbord Seasiders Utd in the Manly Warringah Football League in Sydney. McGinnis helped the senior men's team to the Grand Final of their competition in 2009, missing out on a winner's medal after a 1–0 loss. From 2011 to Present, he teaches in the Physical Education Department of St. Aloysius College, Milson's Point, Australia and teaches PE and PDHPE. As of 18 February 2012, McGinnis resides in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales. In 2013, he was appointed director of football for the

North Coast Football North Coast Football is an association football competition on the north coast of New South Wales extending from Iluka in the north to Macksville Macksville is a small town on the Nambucca River in the Nambucca Valley, New South Wales, Au ...

association.Prime News - New football director (Video)
/ref>

Honours

Country

* Under-18 European Championship: 1 :: 1982

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McGinnis, Gary 1963 births Living people Footballers from Dundee Men's association football defenders Scottish men's footballers Celtic F.C. players Dundee United F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players Slough Town F.C. players Happy Valley AA players Scottish Football League players Scottish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Hong Kong Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Hong Kong Scotland men's under-21 international footballers Scotland men's youth international footballers