Michael McGlinchey

Michael Ryan McGlinchey (born 7 January 1987) is a New Zealand international footballer who plays for Wellington Phoenix in the A-League.

McGlinchey played youth football with Scottish club Celtic, where he made his professional debut. After spending time on loan to Dunfermline Athletic, McGlinchey joined Central Coast Mariners in the A-League, where he made over 100 appearances. In his time at the club he spent periods on loan at Motherwell in 2010 and with Vegalta Sendai in 2014. He joined Wellington Phoenix in 2014 after securing a release from the Mariners.

McGlinchey represented Scotland at under-20 and under-21 level, but changed allegiance to New Zealand, his country of birth, at senior level. He was a member of the New Zealand national team squad at the 2010 World Cup and was one of New Zealand's over-age players at the 2012 Summer Olympics.^[1] He has made over twenty-five appearances for New Zealand, scoring four goals.

Club career

Celtic

McGlinchey, a midfielder, was brought through the ranks at Scottish giants Celtic and was persuaded by then-manager Martin O'Neill at the age of 17 to resist the temptation to sign a professional contract with Manchester United and sign with the club he supported as a youngster. McGlinchey made his Celtic debut against Livingston as a substitute in December 2005.^[2] It was his sole appearance for the Scottish Premier League team, as O'Neill was replaced by Gordon Strachan and McGlinchey found himself moving to the fringes.

During the 2007–08 season he was then loaned out to Scottish First Division club Dunfermline Athletic until 20 January 2008.^[3] Although McGlinchey was successful during his loan deal at the First Division club, his loan was terminated early after he suffered a groin injury.^[4] He was released by Celtic in May 2009.^[4]

Central Coast Mariners

McGlinchey then had a successful trial with Central Coast Mariners in the A-League, signing a two-year deal with the club.

He made his Mariners debut against Melbourne Victory in the A-League season opener on 6 August 2009, and also scored his first goal for the club on debut in the 2–0 upset win over the reigning champions.^[5] It was also his first professional goal ever.

With the 2009–10 A-League season drawing to a close, McGlinchey decided to seek more first team football in the off season as buildup to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, signing a season-long loan deal with Scottish Premier League club Motherwell.

Dispute

McGlinchey tried to leave the Central Coast Mariners on a free transfer but in August 2014, it was ruled that the player was still contracted to the Mariners.^[6] The PFA argued unsuccessfully that McGlinchey should be able to move to Wellington Phoenix on a free transfer as the club had been sold to new owners. However, on 11 September 2014, Central Coast Mariners conceded they would no longer pursue McGlinchey's services for the upcoming A-League season, citing his personal desire to no longer be involved with the club as a major contributing factor, and that following the receipt of compensation from McGlinchey his contract was terminated.^[7]

Motherwell

McGlinchey signed a loan contract with the Scottish side in February 2010 for the remainder of the 2009–10 season,^[8] and made 8 appearances.

Vegalta Sendai

On 23 December 2013, Central Coast Mariners announced McGlinchey would be going on a year loan spell to Vegalta Sendai, following Graham Arnold who had been recently appointed head coach.^[9] On 11 June 2014 Vegalta Sendai announced that they had terminated McGlinchey's loan.^[10]

Wellington Phoenix

On 12 September 2014, McGlinchey signed a two-year contract with Wellington Phoenix after securing his release from Mariners the day before.^[11]

International career

McGlinchey was eligible to play for Scotland, the Republic of Ireland and New Zealand. His father, Norrie McGlinchey was a footballer playing in New Zealand, he represented Stop Out and Hutt Valley United during his career. The McGlinchey family returned to Scotland when Michael was one year old.^[12]

McGlinchey played two games for Scotland at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup against Costa Rica^[13] and Nigeria.^[14]

In 2009 he took advantage of a FIFA Congress resolution which removed the age limit for changing associations for players who had already played for a country's national team at age group level^[15] and declared himself available for selection for the New Zealand All Whites. He was then included by New Zealand manager Ricki Herbert in the squad to face Jordan, before the 2010 World Cup play-off matches against Bahrain.^[16] McGlinchey made his New Zealand debut on 9 September 2009, in the match against Jordan.^[17][18]

McGlinchey played a pivotal role in the Inter-confederation play-off match against Bahrain in both the away leg in Ar Rifa` off the bench as a second-half substitute with his creative play and made the starting XI in the home fixture in Wellington which New Zealand went on to win 1–0 thanks to a first half goal from striker Rory Fallon.

On 10 May 2010, McGlinchey was named in New Zealand's final 23-man squad to compete at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.^[19]

He was one of New Zealand's three over-age players at the 2012 Summer Olympics, playing in all three of their matches in group C.^[1]

Career statistics

Club

As of 19 June 2016

International

International goals

As of match played 31 May 2016. New Zealand score listed first, score column indicates score after each McGlinchey goal.^[20]

International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	25 March 2011	Wuhan Sports Center Stadium, Wuhan, China	8	China PR	1–1	1–1	Friendly
2	16 October 2012	Rugby League Park, Christchurch, New Zealand	20	Tahiti	1–0	3–0	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
3					3–0
4	31 May 2016	Sir John Guise Stadium, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea	35	Vanuatu	3–0	5–0	2016 OFC Nations Cup

Honours

Club

Central Coast Mariners !Central Coast Mariners:

• A-League Premiership: 2011–12
• A-League Championship: 2012–13

Country

New Zealand

• OFC Nations Cup: 2016

Individual

• PFA A-League Team of the Season: 2012–13

See also

• List of Central Coast Mariners FC players
• List of foreign Scottish Premier League players
• List of Motherwell F.C. players
• List of New Zealand international footballers
• List of Wellington Phoenix FC players

References

External links

• Michael McGlinchey – FIFA competition record
• Michael McGlinchey career statistics at Soccerbase
  
• Michael McGlinchey profile at Soccerway

New Zealand squads
New Zealand squad – 2010 FIFA World Cup 1 Paston 2 Sigmund 3 Lochhead 4 Reid 5 Vicelich 6 Nelsen (c) 7 Elliott 8 Brown 9 Smeltz 10 Killen 11 Bertos 12 Moss 13 Barron 14 Fallon 15 McGlinchey 16 Clapham 17 Mulligan 18 Boyens 19 Smith 20 Wood 21 Christie 22 Brockie 23 Bannatyne Coach: Herbert New Zealand squad – 2012 OFC Nations Cup Third Place 1 O'Keeffe 2 Myers 3 Lochhead 4 Sigmund 5 Smith (c) 6 Hogg 7 Bertos 8 McGlinchey 9 Smeltz 10 Killen 11 Rojas 12 Moss 13 Gleeson 14 Fallon 15 Vicelich 16 Brockie 17 Barbarouses 18 Clapham 19 Boxall 20 Wood 21 Howieson 22 Payne 23 McGeorge Coach: Herbert New Zealand men's football squad – 2012 Summer Olympics 1 Gleeson 2 Payne 3 Hogg 4 Myers 5 Smith 6 Nelsen (c) 7 Barbarouses 8 McGlinchey 9 Smeltz 10 Wood 11 Rojas 12 Thomas 13 Feneridis 14 Musa 15 Howieson 16 Lucas 17 McGeorge 18 O'Keeffe Coach: Emblen New Zealand squad – 2016 OFC Nations Cup Winners (5th title) 1 Marinovic 2 Colvey 3 Ridenton 4 Tzimopoulos 5 Boxall 6 Tuiloma 7 Barbarouses 8 McGlinchey 9 Wood (c) 10 Prelevic 11 Rojas 12 Crocombe 13 Patterson 14 Fallon 15 Brockie 16 Fenton 17 Adams 18 Brotherton 19 Doyle 20 Hudson-Wihongi 21 Rogerson 22 Dyer 23 Williams Coach: Hudson