Patrick Richard McCarthy (born 31 May 1983) is an Irish 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 ...

who played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He is currently assistant manager of

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 ...

club

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building * ...

. Born in

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

, he began his football career as a junior with

Manchester City 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 Salford to the west. The tw ...

before joining

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

in 2005 where he spent three seasons before joining

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

in the summer of 2007. He remained with Charlton for just twelve months, joining

in the summer of 2008 where he remained until 2016. McCarthy has also played for

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...

and

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 ...

on loan during the early part of his career and

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

and

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

, also as a loan player. Having previously been the coach of Crystal Palace's under-18s side since 2016, in March 2023 McCarthy was interim manager of the first team, and then became the assistant manager.

Club career

McCarthy was born in

. He joined

in March 2005 for a fee of £100,000 from

, signing a three-year contract. He had never played for Manchester City's first team but had enjoyed loan spells at

and

during 2002 and 2003. Boston had made a bid to sign McCarthy on a permanent basis in February 2003. McCarthy became a favourite with the Leicester fans, due to his no-nonsense style of play, and in July 2006 was named club captain for the 2006–07 season. His season was cut short when he dislocated his shoulder in a training accident in February 2007. Nonetheless, McCarthy expressed his wish to leave Leicester before the start of next season, despite being offered a new contract. McCarthy moved to

for a fee of £650,000 in June 2007, but spent only a year at The Valley, moving across south-east London to sign for

in the summer of 2008, with Mark Hudson travelling in the opposite direction. McCarthy was troubled by a series of shoulder injuries which restricted him from playing in much of the 2008–09 and the 2009–10 seasons, but this did not stop him being named Palace captain in the run-up to the 2010–11 season. McCarthy missed the entire 2012–13 season with a groin injury, and made only one appearance in the subsequent

season. Despite this, he signed a one-year contract extension with Palace in September 2014. Despite being given a new deal, first-team chances remained limited, and so, on 3 October 2014, McCarthy joined

on an initial one-month loan deal and made his début the following day as United lost 3–2 away at

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

. His first goal for the Blades came in the next match in a 2–2 draw against

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramal ...

. At the end of the loan period McCarthy returned to Palace and was named amongst the substitutes for an away fixture 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 ...

on 8 November. However, on 11 November, it was confirmed that McCarthy's loan with the Blades had been renewed until 28 December 2014. In his first game back at United, McCarthy was sent off in a Yorkshire derby away at

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

with ten men United eventually going on to win 1–0. McCarthy signed for Bolton Wanderers on loan in March 2015, a prankster had telephoned the

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

manager

Tony Pulis Anthony Richard Pulis (; born 16 January 1958) is a Welsh football manager and former footballer who last managed Sheffield Wednesday. Pulis obtained his FA coaching badge at age 19, followed by his UEFA 'A' licence aged 21 – making him one ...

pretending to be Bolton manager

Neil Lennon Neil Francis Lennon (born 25 June 1971) is a Northern Irish football coach and former player. During his playing career he represented English clubs Manchester City, Crewe Alexandra and Leicester City. Lennon moved to Celtic in 2000, where he ...

weeks previously, with an enquiry for

Gareth McAuley Gareth Gerald McAuley ( ; born 5 December 1979) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He represented Northern Ireland at senior international level, being capped on 80 occasions and scoring nine times ...

as the main point of interest. Pulis himself recommended his old Palace captain McCarthy, whom Bolton duly signed in an unconnected incident later in the season. McCarthy made five appearances in a Bolton shirt, but had to return to Palace after picking up an injury in Wanderers 2–2 draw with

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground is in a predominantly residential area and was ...

. McCarthy signed for newly promoted

on 3 October on a 93-day loan, and went straight into the squad to make his debut against

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

on the same day. However, he was substituted after ten minutes due to injury. On 13 June 2016, it was announced that McCarthy would be released by Crystal Palace on expiry of his contract on 30 June.

International career

McCarthy represented the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

Under-16 team at the

2000 UEFA European Under-16 Championship The 2000 UEFA European Under-16 Championship was the 18th edition of UEFA's European Under-16 Football Championship. Israel hosted the championship, during 1–14 May 2000. 16 teams entered the competition, and Portugal defeated the Czech Republi ...

and the Under-19 team at the

2002 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2002 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the first edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship, after the previous Under-18 competition was reclassified. The tournament was held in Norway, between 21 July and 28 July 2002. The top t ...

. He appeared for the Under-21 and B side too. In September 2009 McCarthy received a call up by then manager

Giovanni Trapattoni Giovanni Trapattoni (; born 17 March 1939), sometimes popularly known as "Trap" or "Il Trap", is an Italian football manager and former player, considered the most successful club coach of Italian football. A former defensive midfielder, as a p ...

for a friendly against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

played in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

, where he was an unused substitute.

Coaching career

On 2 December 2016, six months after his retirement from playing, McCarthy was appointed under-18s coach at Crystal Palace, replacing Ken Gillard, who left the club in November to join Arsenal. On 17 March 2023, after the sacking of manager

Patrick Vieira Patrick Vieira (born 23 June 1976) is a French professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Crystal Palace. He is widely considered as one of the greatest midfielders of his generation. Vieira began his career at ...

, the club announced that McCarthy would take over as first-team manager on an interim basis. His only match in charge was a 4–1 away loss to league leaders

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. Following the re-appointment of

Roy Hodgson Roy Hodgson (born 9 August 1947) is a former English football manager and player. He managed 22 different teams in eight countries, beginning in Sweden with Halmstads BK in the 1976 season. He later guided the Switzerland national team to th ...

as first-team manager, McCarthy became assistant manager.

Career statistics

As a player

As a manager

Honours

Crystal Palace *

Football League Championship play-offs The English Football League Championship play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL Championship table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

* Crystal Palace ''Goal of the Season'': 2009

References

External links

Paddy McCarthy player profile
at cpfc.co.uk
Paddy McCarthy player profile
at cafc.co.uk

at lcfc.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:McCarthy, Paddy 1983 births Living people Association footballers from Dublin (city) Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland men's B international footballers Men's association football defenders Manchester City F.C. players Boston United F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players English Football League players Cherry Orchard F.C. players Premier League players Republic of Ireland association football managers Crystal Palace F.C. managers Premier League managers Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Republic of Ireland expatriate association football managers Expatriate football managers in England