Patrick Joseph McLaughlin (born 14 January 1991) is a Northern Irish 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 plays 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 ...

for club York City. He has played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for the club. McLaughlin previously played for

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

, Grimsby Town,

Harrogate Town Harrogate Town A.F.C. is a professional association football club in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, which competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the Sulphurites, due to the ...

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

and

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team compete in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. Formed in ...

. He has represented Northern Ireland at levels up to under-21.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the United Kingdom census, 2011, 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight Roll-on/ro ...

, County Antrim, McLaughlin began his career at

in July 2007. He signed a professional contract a year later but he never played a match at St James' Park. In June 2011, McLaughlin was released by Newcastle after four years at the club. McLaughlin signed for

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

club York City on 30 June 2011 on a two-year contract. McLaughlin said "I thought York was the best club for me. The gaffer has given me the chance to come down here and play some football." He made his debut for York on the opening day of the 2011–12 season in a 2–1 away win against

Ebbsfleet United Ebbsfleet United Football Club is a professional football club based in Northfleet, Kent, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the club competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 1946 from ...

. McLaughlin started in the York team that beat Newport County 2–0 at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

in the

2012 FA Trophy Final The 2012 FA Trophy Final was the 43rd final of the Football Association's cup competition for levels 5–8 of the English football league system. The match was contested by Newport County and York City. York City were beaten finalists in 2009, b ...

. Eight days later, he came on as an 86th-minute substitute in the 2–1 win over Luton Town in the

2012 Conference Premier play-off Final The 2012 Conference Premier play-off Final, known as the 2012 Blue Square Bet Premier play-off Final for sponsorship purposes, was a football match between Luton Town and York City on 20 May 2012 at Wembley Stadium in London. It was the tenth Con ...

at Wembley Stadium, seeing the club win promotion to

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 ...

after an eight-year absence from

. He finished the season with 55 appearances and scored 13 goals. After making 33 appearances and scoring four goals for York in

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, he was released by the club.

Grimsby Town and Gateshead

McLaughlin signed for Conference Premier club Grimsby Town on 28 June 2013 on a two-year contract. Following 2013–14, in which he was a regular in the team that was defeated in the semi-final of both the Conference Premier play-offs and the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

, McLaughlin found himself less involved with the first team during 2014–15. This prompted him to join Conference North club

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

in March 2015. He was released by Grimsby at the end of the season. McLaughlin signed for

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

club

on 10 July 2015 on a one-year contract. After scoring 4 goals in 41 appearances during 2015–16, McLaughlin signed a new two-year contract with Gateshead in May 2016.

Hartlepool United and York City return

McLaughlin signed for Gateshead's National League rivals

on 26 June 2018 on a contract of undisclosed length. He rejoined York City on 23 January 2019 on loan until the end of the 2018–19 season, with the club now in the

National League North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

. He signed for the club permanently on 30 April 2019 on a two year-contract. On 14 November 2022, McLaughlin signed for

on a month's loan.

International career

McLaughlin has represented Northern Ireland at various youth levels, up to under-21 level. He earned 10 caps for the under-21 team from 2010 to 2012.

Career statistics

Honours

York City *

: 2011–12 *

play-offs:

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

References

External links

Profile
at the York City F.C. website
Profile
at the Irish Football Association website * {{DEFAULTSORT:McLaughlin, Paddy 1991 births Living people People from Larne Sportspeople from County Antrim Association footballers from Northern Ireland Association football midfielders Newcastle United F.C. players York City F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Harrogate Town A.F.C. players Gateshead F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players Northern Ireland youth international footballers Northern Ireland under-21 international footballers