Paul Gerard McGee (born 19 June 1954) is an Irish former

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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. McGee was born in

Sligo Sligo ( ; ga, Sligeach , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of approximately 20,000 in 2016, it is the List of urban areas ...

, and started his career with

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí Shligigh) is an Irish professional football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 ...

, making his debut at 15 years of age on 15 November 1970. While at

Finn Harps Finn Harps Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Chláirsigh na Finne) are an Irish football club that play in the First Division of the League of Ireland, as of 2023. The club was founded in 1954 and elected to the league in 1969. However, it was te ...

he won the

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

in 1974. He then rejoined his home town club

winning the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally us ...

championship in 1977. After the league success he was purchased by

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

in November 1977. In his Ireland career, he scored 4 goals in 15 matches and also won 10 youth

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

and 2 U21 caps. In January 1977 he played for the

League of Ireland XI The League of Ireland XI, more recently referred to as the ''Airtricity League XI'' for sponsorship reasons, is the representative team of the League of Ireland, the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland. For much of its ...

team against Italian League B which included

Gaetano Scirea Gaetano Scirea (; 25 May 1953 – 3 September 1989) was an Italian professional footballer who is considered one of the greatest defenders of his generation and one of the greatest defenders of all time. He spent most of his career with Juventus ...

. He had 6 different spells during his career playing for Sligo. He played at

FC Haka FC Haka is a Finnish football club based in the industry town of Valkeakoski. It is currently competing in Finland's premier division of football, Veikkausliiga. It is one of the most successful clubs in Finland, with nine Finnish championships a ...

in the

1983–84 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1983–84 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup was won by Juventus in a final against Porto. The next year, the club went on to complete a full complement of European trophies with the European Cup. Universitatea Craiova, winners of the ...

. In played several summer months abroad in the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...

with

Toronto Italia The National Soccer League was a soccer league in Canada that existed from 1926 to 1997. Teams were primarily based in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The league was renamed to Canadian National Soccer League in 1993 following the folding ...

, and

Montreal Castors Montreal Castors was a Canadian Association football, soccer team, founded in 1975. The team played in the Canadian National Soccer League, National Soccer League, winning the championship in 1978 and 1979 before withdrawing from the league in 197 ...

. McGee signed for

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

in August 1984. He made a scoring debut with 2 goals on the 26th against Home Farm in a 4–2 win at Milltown. His last appearance was against his home town club in a 4–0 win on 11 November 1978. In total he played 15 times for the Hoops, including twice in the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

, scoring 5 goals. While at

Galway United Galway United Football Club (Irish language, Irish: ''Cumann Peile Ghaillimh Aontaithe'') is an List of association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland, Irish association football club based in Galway. They play in the League of Ireland Fi ...

he scored in 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, ...

FC Groningen Football Club Groningen () is a Dutch professional association football club based in Groningen, province of Groningen. Founded on 16 June 1971 as the successor of GVAV, the team compete in the Eredivisie, the highest tier of Dutch football. G ...

. His impressive displays earned him a move to

HFC Haarlem HFC Haarlem was a Dutch football club from the city of Haarlem, established in 1889 and dissolved in 2010. The club won the Eredivisie in 1946 and reached five Cup finals, winning in 1902 and 1912. Haarlem reached the second round of the 1982 ...

for the rest of the

1986–87 Eredivisie The Dutch Eredivisie in the 1986–87 season was contested by 18 teams. PSV Eindhoven won the championship. At the beginning of the season, AZ '67 from Alkmaar changed their name to AZ. League standings Results Play-offs This year, play-off ...

season. During his time there his opponents included

Marco van Basten Marcel "Marco" van Basten (; born 31 October 1964) is a Dutch football manager and retired professional player, who played for Ajax and AC Milan, as well as the Netherlands national team, as a striker. Widely regarded as one of the greatest pl ...

and

Ruud Gullit Ruud Gullit (; born Rudi Dil; 1 September 1962) is a Dutch footballer and subsequent manager who played professionally in the 1980s and 1990s as a defender, midfielder or forward. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all t ...

. He is currently Galway United's all-time top goalscorer in the League of Ireland. He was also the club's player-manager during the 1989–90 season. He moved to Derry City for the

1990–91 League of Ireland Premier Division The 1990–91 League of Ireland Premier Division was the sixth season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The Premier Division was made up of 12 teams. Overview The Premier Division was contested by 12 teams and Dundalk F.C. won the champ ...

season but by November he had moved back to his home town club. However, he did play in the

1990–91 UEFA Cup The 1990–91 UEFA Cup was won by Internazionale on aggregate over Roma. This tournament also marked the return of English clubs after a five-year ban resulting from the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985 The year 1985 was designated as the ...

for the Candystripes. In January 1993 McGee moved clubs for the 34th occasion, a record for an Irish player. In January 2007, McGee was appointed manager of Limerick 37 F.C. He was sacked in December despite an impressive 4th-place position In January 2008 he was appointed assistant manager to

Alan Mathews Alan Mathews (born 27 June 1965) is a former Irish football player and manager. He is currently technical director at St Patrick's Athletic. Coaching career Following a stint as assistant at Shelbourne, Alan Mathews became Longford manage ...

Cork City Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the island of Ireland. It is located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster. Following an extension to the city' ...

. In August 2008 he lost his job as Cork went into

examinership Examinership is a process in Irish law whereby the protection of the Court is obtained to assist the survival of a company. It allows a company to restructure with the approval of the High Court. To obtain the appointment of an examiner it i ...

. In May 2011 McGee was appointed manager of

Salthill Devon Salthill Devon Football Club is an Irish association football club originally based in Salthill, Galway. Their senior team currently plays in the Galway & District League. They have previously played in the Connacht Senior League, the A Champi ...

At the end of the

2012 League of Ireland The 2012 League of Ireland Premier Division was the 28th season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The division featured 12 teams. Sligo Rovers were champions, winning their first top league title since 1976–77. Drogheda United finis ...

season McGee is eleventh in the all-time League of Ireland goalscoring list with 143 league goals

Honours

– 1976–77 *

– 1974 *

League of Ireland Cup The League of Ireland Cup ( ga, Corn Sraithe na hÉireann), also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', is an annual knockout competition in men's football in the Republic of Ireland. It is contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited c ...

– 1985/86 *

League of Ireland First Division Shield The League of Ireland First Division Shield was an association football competition featuring teams from the League of Ireland First Division. The inaugural winners were Derry City. It was also the first competition Derry City won after they joi ...

– 1992/93 * English Football League Third Division **

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

– 1981–82

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McGee, Paul 1954 births Association football forwards Athlone Town A.F.C. players Ballymena United F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Derry City F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players Eredivisie players Expatriate soccer players in Canada Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Finn Harps F.C. players Galway United F.C. (1937–2011) players Hereford United F.C. players HFC Haarlem players Irish expatriate sportspeople in Canada Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Montreal Castors players NIFL Premiership players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players League of Ireland managers League of Ireland players League of Ireland XI players Living people People from Sligo (town) Preston North End F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland international footballers Republic of Ireland under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland youth international footballers Republic of Ireland expatriate association footballers Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Sligo Rovers F.C. players Association footballers from County Sligo English Football League players Toronto Italia players Torquay United F.C. players Waterford F.C. players Salthill Devon F.C. managers Galway United F.C. managers Canadian National Soccer League players Republic of Ireland football managers