Stephen John Paul McPhail (born 9 December 1979) 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 ...

and the

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

of Shamrock Rovers in the League of Ireland Premier Division. A play-making

central 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 ...

, McPhail started his career at

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

in the

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 Fo ...

. He subsequently found success at Cardiff City, making over 150 appearances and being part of their promotion-winning

2012–13 Football League Championship The 2012–13 Football League Championship (known as the npower Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the ninth season of the league under its current title and twentieth season under its current league division format. The season began on 1 ...

side. McPhail was capped ten times for the Republic of Ireland national team, scoring one goal.

Early life

McPhail was born in

Westminster, London Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

, and raised in

Rush, Dublin Rush ( ga, Ros Eó , meaning 'peninsula of the yew trees'), officially ''An Ros'', is a small seaside commuter town in Fingal, Ireland. It was one of the few towns of the historic County Dublin. Rush lies on the Irish Sea coast, between Sker ...

, Ireland.

Club career

Leeds United

McPhail started his career by coming through the youth ranks at

. His playing style led former Arsenal manager

George Graham George Graham (born 30 November 1944), nicknamed "Stroller", is a Scottish former Association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. In his successful playing career, he made 455 appearances in England's Football ...

to christen him "the new

Liam Brady William Brady (born 13 February 1956) is an Irish former footballer. He found success both in England with Arsenal, where he won an FA Cup in 1979, and in Italy with Juventus, winning two Serie A titles. Brady was capped 72 times for the Ireland ...

". He began to make an impact on the first team during the 1997–98 season, making his debut in February 1998 against

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 ...

, and went on to make several substitute appearances that campaign. The highlight of his debut season was a 50-yard lob pass to Leeds and future Cardiff City teammate

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink Jerrel Floyd "Jimmy" Hasselbaink ( ; born 27 March 1972) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of League One club Burton Albion. Born in Suriname, he and his family would later move to t ...

, which some Leeds fans described as "one of the passes of the season". He started to become a regular for the side during the 1999–2000 season, after making several sub appearances, when he was given a long run in the first team squad. McPhail was rewarded with a new five-year contract at the

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

club soon after. McPhail got his first Leeds goals in a league match against

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

at Stamford Bridge on 19 December 1999. After manager

David O'Leary David Anthony O'Leary (born 2 May 1958) is a football manager and former player. His managerial career began at Leeds United, subsequently managing Aston Villa. He most recently worked as the manager of Al-Ahli Dubai. The majority of his 20-yea ...

left, Leeds went on to have several different managers over the next few years. During this time, McPhail was hampered by injury, making it difficult to break into the team under

Terry Venables Terence Frederick Venables (born 6 January 1943), often referred to as El Tel, is an English former football player and manager, and an author. During the 1960s and '70s, he played for various clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queen ...

or his successor

Peter Reid Peter Reid (born 20 June 1956) is an English football manager, pundit and former player. A defensive midfielder in his playing days, Reid enjoyed a long and successful career. He built his reputation as one of England's brightest midfield tale ...

. He was loaned out to

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

as a means of maintaining match fitness. A second loan, this time at

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

, could have been made permanent as both McPhail and Forest manager Paul Hart felt the move would be beneficial to his career, but Leeds rejected Forest's bid. During his time at

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

, McPhail was involved in the club's

2000–01 UEFA Champions League The 2000–01 UEFA Champions League was the 46th season of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA's premier European club football tournament, and the ninth since it was rebranded from the "European Champion Clubs' Cup" or "European Cup". The competiti ...

run, appearing in memorable games against the likes of

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

as Leeds reached the semi-finals.

Barnsley

McPhail left Leeds in July 2004 to sign for Barnsley on a free transfer, becoming the first international player from Ireland to sign for the club since Gary Fleming in 1990. McPhail made seventy-nine appearances for the Oakwell club in two seasons of League One football, the culmination of which coming with a victory over Swansea City in the League One Play-off Final at the Millennium Stadium. McPhail's Barnsley contract expired the following summer, and the midfielder departed the newly promoted club.

Cardiff City

Cardiff City saw off competition from numerous other clubs to secure McPhail's services. McPhail was an ever-present for Cardiff during his first season in Wales, and impressed to such an extent that he was handed a longer-term deal the following July. During the injury-forced absences of club captain

Darren Purse Darren John Purse (born 14 February 1977) is an English former professional footballer who now coaches the Cardiff City U23s. A centre-back, he began his career at Leyton Orient, before winning a £100,000 move to Oxford United in July 1996. ...

and vice-captain

Riccardo Scimeca Riccardo Scimeca (born 13 June 1975) is an English football coach and professional footballer. He who played as a defender notably in the Premier League for Aston Villa, Leicester City and West Bromwich Albion. He also played in the Footbal ...

, McPhail stood in as the club's skipper. On 27 October 2007 he scored for Cardiff for the first time by finding the net in a 1–1 draw with Scunthorpe United. On 30 November 2007, after an indifferent opening to the Bluebirds' campaign, McPhail spoke to local paper the

South Wales Echo The ''South Wales Echo'' is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Cardiff, Wales and distributed throughout the surrounding area. It has a circulation of 7,573. Background The newspaper was founded in 1884 and was based in Thomson House, ...

, claiming that the team's poor start was "all my fault". McPhail found the net twice within the space of two months with goals against

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

and Blackpool in the Championship. McPhail also had the honour of leading Cardiff City out at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

for the

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...

, where City were beaten by a goal to nil by

side

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

. The start of the 2008–09 season saw McPhail make his one hundredth appearance in all competitions for Cardiff in a 1–1 draw with

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 ...

on 16 August. Two months later, he completed a centenary of league appearance in a 2–1 defeat against

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

. On 23 September, Cardiff met rivals Swansea City in a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

encounter at the Liberty Stadium in the first

South Wales derby The South Wales derby is a local derby between Welsh association football clubs Cardiff City and Swansea City. The fixture has been described by ''The Independent'' as one of the fiercest rivalries in British football. Although based in Wales, b ...

to take place in seven years. McPhail was sent off in the 75th minute for a second bookable offence, as Jordi Gomez's goal won the tie for

Roberto Martínez Roberto Martínez Montoliu (born 13 July 1973) is a Spanish football coach and former professional player, currently as head coach of the Portugal national team. Martínez played as a defensive midfielder and began his career at Real Zaragoza ...

's Swansea. McPhail was dismissed once again when the two sides met at the same venue in the league, again for collecting two yellow cards. Cardiff manager Dave Jones publicly criticised McPhail, stating that "he probably cost us all three points", in his post-match press conference. McPhail picked up an injury early on in the 2009–10 season, keeping him out of the side for one month. Returning to the side on in the league encounter with

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

, McPhail was sent off for a foul on Jem Karacan. Following the end of his suspension, McPhail returned in a thumping 6–1 win against

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

Cardiff City Stadium The Cardiff City Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Dinas Caerdydd) is a stadium in the Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales. It is the home of Cardiff City Football Club and the Wales national football team. Following expansion of the Ninian Stand in July 2 ...

, playing a part in four of City's goals. Four weeks later, he fell victim to another injury while playing against

. He was originally scheduled to be out for between six and eight weeks but, on 20 November 2009, he was diagnosed with

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enla ...

, the disease forcing him to miss a considerably longer period. McPhail returned to Cardiff's starting eleven on 5 February 2010 in a 5–1 defeat to Newcastle United, playing 75 minutes before being substituted. In the summer of 2011, McPhail changed his number to 37, the number he wore in his first season as a professional with Leeds United. After missing the first month of the 2011–12 season, McPhail returned in a Football League Cup game against

, to be taken off after 29 minutes with a groin injury. He returned from the injury in October, when he made the bench on 18 October against

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

. Despite a difficult season for McPhail (he again missed a large proportion of City's matches with illness), he was awarded the club's Clubman of the Year Award at the season's end. McPhail was restricted to just two cup appearances in 2012–13, with manager

Malky Mackay Malcolm George Mackay (born 19 February 1972) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player, who is currently the manager of Ross County. Mackay, who played as a defender, began his playing career in Scottish football with Quee ...

declaring midway through the season that McPhail was available for a short-term loan. He was released at the end of the 2012–13 season.

Sheffield Wednesday

On 19 September 2013, McPhail joined

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

side

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 ...

on a contract running until January 2014.

Shamrock Rovers

On 13 February 2014, Shamrock Rovers announced that they had signed Stephen on a contract for the 2014 season. McPhail scored on his debut in the

2014 Setanta Sports Cup The 2014 Setanta Sports Cup was the ninth and final staging of the annual all-Ireland football competition. It commenced on 24 February 2014 and concluded on 10 May 2014 with the final. Shamrock Rovers were the defending champions, following a ...

and made his league debut on the opening day of the 2014 League of Ireland season. On 5 July 2014, McPhail was sent off in a derby day win against St Pat's. In his first season McPhail made 19 league appearances for the ''Hoops''. McPhail retired from playing in October 2016; and shortly afterwards was appointed Sporting Director of Shamrock Rovers.

International career

McPhail played in the 1996 UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship scoring the winner in a group game against Poland in May 1996 and played for the Republic of Ireland U19 national team in the

1997 UEFA European Under-18 Football Championship The 1997 UEFA European Under-18 Championship Final Tournament was held in Iceland. Teams The following teams qualified for the tournament: * * * (host) * * * * * Group stage Group A ---- ---- Group B Third place match F ...

finals in Iceland. He also played for the Ireland U21. He received his first call-up to the Republic of Ireland senior national team in May 2000 when manager

Mick McCarthy Michael Joseph McCarthy (born 7 February 1959) is a professional football manager, pundit, and former player. He was last in charge of EFL Championship club Cardiff City. McCarthy began his playing career at Barnsley in 1977, and he later had ...

selected him in the squad for a match against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. He earned ten caps making his last appearance in a match against

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

in 2004. Due to some good form at Cardiff he had publicly declared his hopes of returning to the international scene due to the return of an Ireland B team. In October 2006 he was named in the Republic of Ireland B squad for a match against Scotland B and captained the side in a 0–0 draw. In May 2008, new 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 ...

selected McPhail for his first squad for the friendly games against

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

and Colombia. His only goal for Ireland came on 11 June 2000 against

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

in a 2–1 win in the 2000 U.S. Cup.

Personal life

McPhail suffers from Sjögren's syndrome and

Raynaud's phenomenon Raynaud syndrome, also known as Raynaud's phenomenon, eponymously named after the physician Auguste Gabriel Maurice Raynaud, who first described it in his doctoral thesis in 1862, is a medical condition in which the spasm of small arteries cau ...

Career statistics

:''Scores and results list Ireland's goal tally first''

Honours

Leeds United * FA Youth Cup: 1996–97 Barnsley * League One Play-off: 2005–06 Cardiff City *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

: Runner-up 2007–08 * Football League Championship Play-off: Runner-up 2009–2010 * Football League Cup: Runner-up 2011–12 Individual * Cardiff City Clubman of the Year:

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 gat ...

References

External links

* *
Stephen McPhail player profile
at football.co.uk
Republic of Ireland profile
at Soccerscene {{DEFAULTSORT:McPhail, Stephen 1979 births Living people Footballers from Westminster Association footballers from County Dublin Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland youth international footballers Republic of Ireland B international footballers Republic of Ireland under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland international footballers Association football midfielders Home Farm F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players League of Ireland players Expatriate footballers in England Irish expatriates in the United Kingdom FA Cup Final players