Gary John McSwegan (born 24 September 1970) is a Scottish former 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 ...

. A striker, he began his career with Rangers, leaving to join

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

in England. He returned to Scotland and had spells with

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

, Heart of Midlothian and

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. ...

. Later in his career he went on to play for Ross County,

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional F ...

, and

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

. He made two international appearances for

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 ...

whilst a Hearts player.

Career

Domestic

McSwegan was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

and started his career with Rangers, where he scored 5 goals in only 24 appearances during his six years at Ibrox, including a goal against

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

in the 1992-93 Champions League. His first team opportunities at Rangers, however, appeared to be limited and in 1993 he joined

for £400,000. One of his highlights at Notts County was scoring twice as they knocked

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

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

out of the 1994–95 Football League Cup. After two seasons in England he returned to Scotland with

for £375,000 where he remained for three seasons, scoring 42 goals. He joined Hearts in 1998 on a free transfer where he scored 31 goals in 98 appearances. By 2002, however, McSwegan had fallen out of favour at Hearts and subsequently had loan spells in England with

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

and

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

before joining

where he remained for two seasons, scoring 17 goals. His next professional club was Ross County where he played 39 games, scoring just 1 goal against Queen of the South in two injury-ravaged seasons. Despite these problems, McSwegan returned to top flight football, when signed by Inverness Caledonian Thistle in September 2006 on a short-term deal. McSwegan left

at the end of the 2006–07 season and joined Peterhead. McSwegan joined

on 14 March 2008, after previously training with the club and appearing in reserve games. He made his debut the following day, in a 1–1 draw against

Stirling Albion Stirling Albion Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Stirling. The club was founded in 1945 following the demise of King's Park after World War II. The club currently competes in Scottish League Two as a member of the ...

in the

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as t ...

. He scored his first goal for the club in the final league game of the season, scoring the first in a 3–0 win over

. He then went on to score two goals in their successful relegation playoffs in ties against Alloa and Airdrie. In June 2008, McSwegan signed a one-year contract extension with the Broadwood side. He scored three goals in his second season, with two goals against Queen's Park in the League Cup and a late winner in the league against Livingston. This meant that all six of his goals for Clyde came in the

Broadwood Stadium Broadwood Stadium is a multi-use community stadium and sports complex in the Westfield area of Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire. The stadium is currently the home of Cumbernauld Colts and Open Goal Broomhill of the Scottish Lowland Football Lea ...

. McSwegan was released by Clyde in June 2009 along with the rest of the out of contract players, due to the club's financial position.

International

McSwegan won two caps for

in 1999. He won his first cap on 5 October 1999, coming on as a late substitute in a

EURO 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

qualifier against

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

, which Scotland won 1–0. His second and final cap came four days later, against

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

. McSwegan started the game, and scored Scotland's second goal in a 3–0 victory. McSwegan also coaches young people throughout Glasgow in his role with coaching and groupwork company A&M Training.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.''

Career statistics

''After 25 October 2008''

References

External links

Notts County ex-player interview: Gary McSwegan
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McSwegan, Gary Living people 1970 births Footballers from Glasgow Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's international footballers Rangers F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Dundee United F.C. players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. players Ross County F.C. players Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. players Clyde F.C. players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Preston North End F.C. non-playing staff Men's association football forwards