Jamie McGrath (footballer)

Jamie McGrath

McGrath in action for St Patrick's Athletic vs Sligo Rovers in the 2015 League of Ireland season.
Personal information
Full name Jamie McGrath
Date of birth (1996-09-30) 30 September 1996
Place of birth Athboy, County Meath, Ireland
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position
Club information
Current team
St Patrick's Athletic
Number 19
Youth career
Athboy Celtic
Cherry Orchard
2013 UCD
2013–2015 St Patrick's Athletic
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014– St Patrick's Athletic 47 (4)
National team
2014–2015 Republic of Ireland U19 7 (2)
2016– Republic of Ireland U21 1 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Jamie McGrath (born 30 September 1996) is an Irish professional footballer playing for League of Ireland club, St Patrick's Athletic.

Career

Early career

A native of Athboy, County Meath, McGrath played youth football for his local club Athboy Celtic before joining top Dublin youth side Cherry Orchard. He played for UCD under 19's before joining St Patrick's Athletic's under 19 side where he played two seasons, including a league winning campaign in which McGrath scored two goals against Derry City under 19's in the final.[1][2] He progressed into the first team in 2014 whilst still playing for the club's under 19 side.

St Patrick's Athletic

2014 season

McGrath made his senior debut with the first team on the 9th September 2014 as he played the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 win over Longford Town in the 2014 Leinster Senior Cup Final at City Calling Stadium. McGrath impressed Saint's fans with his display, including an excellent through ball to set up Jack Bayly's winning goal in the 64th minute.[3][4] His League of Ireland debut came on the 17th October 2014 when he started against Athlone Town in a 2–0 loss at Richmond Park.[5]

2015 season

He was named as a first team player ahead of the 2015 season, with number 19 being assigned to McGrath as his squad number.[6] Mid season when first choice striker Christy Fagan picked up a knee injury, McGrath had an extended run in the starting 11 as a striker and scored his first goals away to Drogheda United and Sligo Rovers in consecutive away games to secure 2–0 and 3–0 wins respectively.[7][8] McGrath made his first appearances in UEFA competition when he came on from the bench both away and at home against Latvian side Skonto Riga in the Europa League.[9][10] McGrath came on at the start of extra time in the 2015 League of Ireland Cup Final as Pats drew 0–0 with Galway United before winning 4–3 on penalties to win the League Cup at Eamonn Deacy Park.[11] McGrath received rave reviews from fans, pundits and the media alike for his breakthrough season,[12] coming in a second behind Lee Desmond in the club's Young Player of the Year awards and also being voted into pundit Dermot Keely's team of the season in his article in The Irish Sun.

2016 season

Although he struggled with shin splints that kept him out of games at the beginning of the 2016 season,[13] his importance to the team increased in a season where the team struggled to deal with the midfield losses of Chris Forrester, Greg Bolger, Killian Brennan and James Chambers. Those losses however, created an opportunity for McGrath to play a lot of games in the role of attacking midfielder throughout the season. His first goal of the season was an 89th-minute strike to rescue a point at home to relegation fighting Longfor Town live on Eir Sport.[14] His only appearance in Europe for the season came against Dinamo Minsk of Belarus as Pats lost 1–0 at home and were knocked out of the Europa League in the second qualifying round.[15] McGrath played a huge part in the Saints retaining their League Cup trophy as he played in every game, scoring away from home against Bray Wanderers in the quarter finals,[16] Shamrock Rovers in the semi's[17][18] and Limerick in the Final.[19][20] Following a good season for McGrath, he was voted St Patrick's Athletic Young Player of the Season by the club's supporters.[21]

International career

McGrath's first taste of under-19's international football came when he was called up to the Republic of Ireland under-19s by Paul Doolin for their November 2014 games against Malta and Gibraltar. His first appearance came against Malta in a 1–0 win in Waterford.[22] He went on to make a total of 6 appearances for the 19's, scoring twice vs Azerbaijan at Tallaght Stadium. McGrath was called up to the Republic of Ireland under-21 squad for the first time by manager Noel King on the 8th of November 2016, for their games against Czech Republic and Slovakia in La Manga, Spain.[23]

Honours

Club

Individual

Career statistics

Professional appearances – correct as of 14 November 2016.[24]

'Other' includes appearances in the Leinster Senior Cup.

Club Season League Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
St Patrick's Athletic 2014 100000001020
2015 23220402021333
2016 23231431000316
Career Total 47451833031669

References

  1. "Club News : St Patrick's Athletic Win Sse Airtricity U19 League". Stpatsfc.com. 2015-04-25. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  2. Duffy, Arthur (2015-04-25). "Heartbreak as Derry City lose out in dramatic U19 Elite League Final". Derry Journal. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  3. "Longford Town 1-2 St Patrick's Athletic: Saints lift Leinster Senior Cup". Goal.com. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  4. "Longford Town (1) – St Patrick's Athletic (2)". Stpatsfc.com. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  5. "Report – League of Ireland Premier Division – St. Patrick's Athletic -v- Athlone Town". Extratime.ie. 2014-03-18. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  6. "Club News : 2015 Squad No's Announced". Stpatsfc.com. 2015-01-15. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  7. "Club News : Saints Win And Extend Winning Streak To 5". Stpatsfc.com. 2015-07-17. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  8. "Sligo Rovers (0) – St Patrick's Athletic (3)". Stpatsfc.com. 2015-07-24. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  9. "Club News : Result: Skonto 2 – Saints 1". Stpatsfc.com. 2015-07-02. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  10. "Report – Europa League – St. Patrick's Athletic -v- Skonto Riga". Extratime.ie. 2014-03-18. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  11. "Report – EA Sports Cup – Galway United FC -v- St. Patrick's Athletic". Extratime.ie. 2014-03-18. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  12. "Rising Stars – Jamie McGrath". Sseairtricityleague.ie. 2015-06-03. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  13. Season, The. "Rising Star: Jamie McGrath – THE SEASON TICKET". Seasonticketsite.com. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  14. "Report – League of Ireland Premier Division – St. Patrick's Athletic -v- Longford Town". Extratime.ie. 2014-03-18. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  15. "UEFA Europa League 2017 – St Patrick's-Dinamo Minsk –". Uefa.com. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  16. "Report – EA Sports Cup – Bray Wanderers -v- St. Patrick's Athletic". Extratime.ie. 2014-03-18. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  17. "Jamie McGrath the mastermind as St Patrick's Athletic reach EA Sports Cup final". Irish Examiner. 2016-08-09. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  18. "Report – EA Sports Cup – Shamrock Rovers -v- St. Patrick's Athletic". Extratime.ie. 2014-03-18. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  19. "St Pat's retain EA SPORTS Cup after thrilling final | Football Association of Ireland". Fai.ie. 2016-09-18. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  20. "Report – EA Sports Cup – Limerick FC -v- St. Patrick's Athletic". Extratime.ie. 2014-03-18. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  21. "Club News: 2016 Awards Night Winners". stpatsfc.com. 2016-11-19. Retrieved 2016-11-20.
  22. "Club News : Mcgrath Gets Irish U19 Cap". Stpatsfc.com. 2014-11-13. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  23. Tue, Nov 08, 2016 @ 19:25 (2016-11-08). "Club News : Mcgrath Named In Ireland U21 Squad". Stpatsfc.com. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
  24. "Republic of Ireland – J. McGrath". Soccerway. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
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