Callum McGregor

Callum William McGregor (born 14 June 1993) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Scottish Premiership club Celtic, which he captains, and the Scotland national team. He has previously played for Notts County on loan and has represented Scotland at every youth international stage and at senior level.

Club career

Celtic

Early career

McGregor began his career with Scottish club Celtic, coming through the club's youth system alongside Dylan McGeouch who was a teammate in youth Victory Shield internationals at Under-16 level. He scored a hat-trick for Celtic in the 8–0 2012 Scottish Youth Cup Final victory over Queen of the South at Hampden Park.
McGregor appeared in four successive Scottish Youth Cup finals between 2010 and 2013, with the club winning all of them.

McGregor has spoken of the influence that the late Tommy Burns had on him as a young footballer, stating that Burns had always indicated his belief that McGregor would be the next successful product of Celtic's youth academy. McGregor particularly cites a conversation with Burns as a 13-year old as staying with him throughout his whole career, where he urged him to match his ability with the correct attitude and a desire to prove himself.

2013–14 season: Loan to Notts County

McGregor joined English League One club Notts County on a five-month loan in August 2013. Among his teammates that season was fellow loanee midfielder Jack Grealish, a future England international. He scored on his debut for the "Magpies" on 7 August, in a 3–2 win over Fleetwood Town at Meadow Lane in the first round of the League Cup. Following a man of the match appearance against Crewe Alexandra where McGregor netted two goals, Notts County boss Chris Kiwomya challenged McGregor to reach 10 goals for the season in his loan spell.

McGregor played the full match in a memorable League Cup encounter for the club, facing off against a Liverpool side which featured future Rangers manager Steven Gerrard, Raheem Sterling, and Daniel Sturridge, as well as being managed by his future Celtic manager, Brendan Rodgers. County fought back from two goals down to bring the game to extra time, going on to lose the game 4-2.

McGregor's loan expired at the start of January 2014, with his 12 goals in all competitions making him the current top scorer for Notts County at that stage. Kiwomya's successor, Shaun Derry, described his departure as causing a sense of disappointment in the squad.

Following the expiry of his loan in January, clubs such as Wolverhampton Wanderers were credited with an interest in McGregor. After missing three games while waiting for negotiations to conclude, it was confirmed on 24 January 2014 that McGregor's loan had been extended until the end of the season. McGregor was put straight to the Notts County squad for their game against Walsall and marked his return with a goal, a 25-yard free kick into the top left corner.

McGregor ended the season with 14 goals in all competitions and as the club's top goalscorer. Shaun Derry has since praised McGregor's attitude, describing him as "brilliant to work with", and felt that the club would not have avoided relegation that season had it not been for the efforts of McGregor and Grealish. McGregor credits the loan spell for allowing him to develop as a player and learn the game, and felt that being involved in a relegation battle where his teammate's livelihoods were on the line caused him to "grow up a bit".

2014–15 season: Celtic debut and first goal

McGregor made his first team debut for Celtic against KR Reykjavík on 15 July 2014 in a Champions League qualifier and he scored the only goal of the game. He also scored against Legia Warsaw and NK Maribor in subsequent qualifying rounds. He made his Scottish Premiership debut against St Johnstone on 13 August 2014 and scored a goal in a 3–0 victory for Celtic. On 29 August 2014, McGregor signed a new five-year contract with Celtic.

2015–16 season

2016–17 season

McGregor made his 100th appearance for the club in a 2–1 win at Dundee on 19 March 2017. He scored in two successive Old Firm victories against Rangers in the space of a week in April 2017. In the 2017 Scottish Cup Final, he started in his usual midfield position but played the majority of the match at left back after an injury to Kieran Tierney. His replacement in midfield, Tom Rogic, scored the winning goal for Celtic.

2017–18 season

Having previously been on target in qualifying matches, on 31 October 2017 McGregor scored his first goal in the group stages of the Champions League, striking the equaliser at home to Bayern Munich ( James Forrest providing the assist), although the German team responded to claim a 2–1 win. Celtic then dropped into the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League, in which McGregor scored the only goal in the first leg of the last-32 tie with Zenit St Petersburg. On 19 May 2018, McGregor scored the opening goal in the Scottish Cup final. This secured a second consecutive domestic treble for Celtic, the first time this had been done in Scottish football history.

2018–19 season

McGregor signed a new contract with Celtic in December 2018, due to run until the end of the 2022–23 season. He made his 200th Celtic appearance against Hibernian at Easter Road in the same month. In May 2019, he was nominated for the season's PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year; the award was won by teammate James Forrest. However, McGregor beat Forrest to Celtic's club awards, winning both the official and the players' category accolades. He played more minutes than any other player in world football for club and country during 2018–19, as Celtic won a third consecutive treble.

2019–20 season

His contribution during 2019–20 was equally important, starting all 30 matches of the curtailed Premiership campaign (being off the field for just 26 minutes in total), all four of the League Cup fixtures and four of the five Scottish Cup