Gavin Peter McCann (born 10 January 1978) is an English retired
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 ...
who played as a
midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
in the English Premier League. He has one
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
cap to his name, playing against
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
at
Villa Park
Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway station ...
in 2001. He is currently the First Team coach at
Hyde United
Hyde United Football Club is a semi-professional football club in Hyde, Greater Manchester, England. Formed in 1919, they were renamed Hyde F.C. between 2010 and 2015 as part of a sponsorship deal with Manchester City.Lytham St Annes. He signed for Everton where he was a product of their
academy
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...
. In 1998, he moved to Sunderland where he was a member of the side which won the Division One title and promotion to the Premiership with 105 points in 1999.
He signed for Aston Villa in 2003, where he had numerous injury setbacks. He scored one goal in the 2006–07 season in a 3–1 home loss to Manchester City. He was no longer guaranteed first team football, so decided to leave Villa Park, and in June 2007, he signed a five-year contract with Bolton Wanderers.
McCann scored his first goal for Bolton in their 1–0 UEFA Cup group win over
Red Star Belgrade
Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Bel ...
Reebok Stadium
The University of Bolton Stadium is the home ground of Bolton Wanderers F.C. in Horwich, Greater Manchester, England.
Opening in 1997, it was named the Reebok Stadium, after club sponsors Reebok. In 2014, Bolton Wanderers signed a naming ri ...
three months later in the knockout stage of the cup. He scored his first league goal for Bolton in a 1–0 victory over
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
at the
Riverside Stadium
The Riverside Stadium is a football stadium in Middlesbrough, England, which has been the home of Middlesbrough since it opened in 1995. Its current capacity is 34,742, all seated, although there is provisional planning permission in place t ...
on 19 April 2008.
In November 2008 he received high acclaim from the Bolton manager
Gary Megson
Gary John Megson (born 2 May 1959) is an English former football player and manager.
He has previously managed Norwich City, Blackpool, Stockport County, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, Nottingham Forest, Leicester City, Bolton Wanderers ...
who stated that the midfielder was playing some of the best football of his career since moving to the Reebok Stadium.
McCann's contract ran out at the end of June 2010, McCann had picked up a knee injury and
Owen Coyle
Owen Columba Coyle (born 14 July 1966) is a professional football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Scottish Championship club Queen's Park. He played as a striker for several clubs in England and Scotland, and made one ...
said that once he recovered from the injury, he would have a chance to earn a new contract.
In early 2011, teammate
Kevin Davies
Kevin Cyril Davies (born 26 March 1977) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker for Chesterfield, Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Millwall, Bolton Wanderers and Preston North End. He managed Southport in the 201 ...
confirmed on the social networking site Twitter that McCann had retired from the game having failed to overcome injury. McCann remained active at Bolton in the backroom at youth level until he left to join Hyde's management team in early 2015, and studied for his professional coaching badges.
McCann also worked for Wrea Green FC on a Sunday morning whilst also playing in a soccer sixes league back where he started at Lytham YMCA.
In late 2015, he was back at Bolton, coaching their U15 team. In 2018, he was promoted to coaching Bolton's U18 team. He left Bolton on January 29, 2021.
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
at
Villa Park
Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway station ...
in 2001.
Managing
In February 2008, McCann launched his own football academy in Lytham St Annes, the first one on the
Fylde coast
The Fylde () is a coastal plain in western Lancashire, England. It is roughly a square-shaped peninsula, bounded by Morecambe Bay to the north, the Ribble estuary to the south, the Irish Sea to the west, and the foot of the Bowland hills to ...
Jamie Milligan
Jamie Milligan (born 3 January 1980) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. He is the manager of Bamber Bridge F.C., Bamber Bridge.
Playing career
Milligan started his career in 1997 as a ...
, who has been at Fleetwood Town since 2004 and John Hills who also signed for Fleetwood Town in August 2008, both of whom were born in Blackpool and grew up with McCann, to create the academy. In October 2008 the academy landed a major sponsorship deal with Northern Care, with coaching sessions continuing at King Edward VII & Queen Mary School each weekend as well as week-long summer courses. The academy has also received a grant to encourage children to play "park football".
In May 2012, he was appointed as Assistant Manager and first team coach at Hyde, alongside manager
Scott McNiven
Scott Andrew McNiven (born 27 May 1978) is an English-born Scottish footballer. He started his career at Oldham Athletic in 1995 before moving on to Oxford United in 2002. He jointly managed Hyde with Steve Halford at the end of the 2010–11 se ...
.
After six years back at Bolton working with the Academy sides, he returned to Hyde United as the first team coach in February 2022, reuniting once again with his former Wanderers colleague
Nicky Spooner
Nicholas Michael Spooner (born 5 June 1971) is an English football coach and former professional association football, footballer who is the manager of Hyde United F.C., Hyde United.
As a player, he was a Defender (association football), defen ...
.https://www.tamesidecorrespondent.co.uk/2022/02/19/former-player-nicky-spooner-named-new-hyde-united-manager/, Former player Nicky Spooner named Hyde United manager, Tameside Correspondent, 19 February 2022
Personal life
McCann lives in Lytham St Annes with his wife and children.