Gary Matthew McDonald (born 10 April 1982 in

Irvine, North Ayrshire Irvine ( ;
; ) is a town and 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 lea ...

who last played for Scottish Junior club Kilwinning Rangers. He also played for

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, who currently compete in . They were established in 1874 from the school football team at Hamilto ...

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

, St Johnstone and

Peterhead Peterhead (; , ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is the council area's largest settlement, with a population of 19,060 at the 2022 Census for Scotland, 2022 Census. It is the largest fishing port in the United Kingdom for total landi ...

Club career

McDonald started his career at

, playing there for five seasons between 2001 and 2006, where he played in 106 league matches, scoring 11 goals. On 18 June 2006, McDonald signed for English League One side

, becoming John Sheridan's first signing as Oldham manager. On 5 January 2008, McDonald scored from in Oldham's 1–0 win over

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side Everton in the third round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

. Interviewed on ''

Match of the Day ''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a Association football, football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights during the Premier League season. ''Match of the Day'' is one of the BBC's longest-runn ...

'' after the match, McDonald described the goal as the best of his career. In late April 2008, McDonald agreed a pre-contract to sign for

in the summer. On 21 November 2009, McDonald was sent off during Aberdeen's 1–1 draw against

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

, shown a second yellow card having removed his shirt after scoring Aberdeen's equaliser. During his second season at Aberdeen, McDonald, along with teammate Mark Kerr was the subject of booing from some Aberdeen fans. McDonald said this didn't bother him, describing it as ''"water off a duck's back"''. McDonald left Aberdeen once his contract expired, and he joined fellow SPL club

on 4 August 2010. On 14 May 2011, he was one of eight players released by Hamilton following their relegation to the First Division. On 23 June 2011, McDonald returned to England, signing for

of League Two. It was announced on 27 May 2013, that McDonald would be leaving Morecambe after turning down a new contract with the club. McDonald signed for St Johnstone on 13 June 2013. He made his debut for the club on 18 July 2013, in a 1–0 win away to Rosenborg in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

. On 6 January 2014, McDonald signed a new contract, keeping him at St Johnstone until 2015, with an option for another year. He came on as a substitute as they won the 2014 Scottish Cup Final. On 2 February 2015, McDonald was released by St Johnstone. On 12 February 2015, McDonald signed for

until the end of the 2014–15 season. In July 2015, McDonald signed for Junior club Kilwinning Rangers on a one-year contract.

International career

McDonald has been capped by

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

at Under-21 level. He was capped in a Scotland B international against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, in 2005, at his then club ground,

Rugby Park Rugby Park, also known as The BBSP Stadium Rugby Park for sponsorship reasons, is a association football, football stadium which is the home of Scottish Premiership club Kilmarnock F.C. and is situated in the Scotland, Scottish town of Kilmarnoc ...

, scoring the opening goal in a 2–0 victory.

Career statistics

:A. Other includes

Football League play-offs The English Football League (EFL) play-offs are a series of play-offs, play-off matches contested by four association football teams finishing immediately below the automatic Promotion and relegation, promotion places in the second, third and four ...

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

and

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Gary 1982 births Living people Footballers from Irvine, North Ayrshire Men's association football midfielders Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's B international footballers Kilmarnock F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players Hamilton Academical F.C. players Morecambe F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players Peterhead F.C. players Kilwinning Rangers F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Professional Football League players 21st-century Scottish sportsmen