Josh Magennis

Josh Magennis

Personal information
Full name	Joshua Brendan David Magennis
Date of birth	15 August 1990 (1990-08-15)
Place of birth	Bangor, Northern Ireland
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Aberdeen
Number	21
Youth career
2005–2006	Lisburn Distillery
2006–2007	Glentoran
2007–2009	Cardiff City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2009–2010	Cardiff City	9	(1)
2009	→ Grimsby Town (loan)	2	(0)
2010–	Aberdeen	46	(4)
National team‡
2007	Northern Ireland U17	2	(0)
2008–	Northern Ireland U19	4	(1)
2009–	Northern Ireland U21	5	(2)
2010–	Northern Ireland	3	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 28 January 2012. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17 November 2010

Joshua Brendan David "Josh" Magennis (born 15 August 1990 in Bangor, Northern Ireland) is a Northern Irish footballer who currently plays as a striker for Scottish Premier League club Aberdeen. Having spent the majority of his youth career as a goalkeeper, he switched to striker in 2008 before turning professional in 2009. He has been described by Cardiff City academy manager Neal Ardley as having "lightning-quick pace, a great leap and powerful in the air".

Club career

Early career

Born in Bangor, County Down, Magennis began his career as an outfield player, playing up front, even representing County Down in the Milk Cup as a youngster, before eventually becoming a goalkeeper. He was a member of the Glentoran youth team before joining the youth team at Cardiff City.

Cardiff City

On 31 October 2007 Cardiff met Liverpool in the Football League Cup but with David Forde and on-loan goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel ineligible Magennis took a spot on the bench for the match. Despite not making it on to the pitch in the game he still enjoyed the experience later stating:

"It was an unbelievable experience from start to finish, and hopefully I can play in the first team in the future."

The decision to include Magennis was controversial because he had been called up to the Northern Ireland under-19 team but was not allowed to join the squad by manager Dave Jones due to need to keep the youngster at the team with only one senior goalkeeper for the match.

In April 2008 he reverted to playing as a striker, just before the FAW Welsh Youth Cup final where he came on as a substitiute.

Magennis signed his first professional contract on 10 April 2009 for Cardiff City, the only second year academy student to be offered a professional deal, and began working with reserve team coach Paul Wilkinson who had previously coached former Cardiff striker Cameron Jerome in a similar manner. On 8 August 2009 Magennis made his professional debut when he replaced Jay Bothroyd as a late substitute on the opening day of the 2009–10 season in a 4–0 win over Scunthorpe United. In his fourth appearance for the club, Magennis scored his first professional goal during a 3–1 win over Bristol Rovers in the second round of the League Cup.

The return of Ross McCormack and Warren Feeney from injury meant that Magennis fell down the pecking order at Cardiff and was allowed to join Football League Two side Grimsby Town on a one-month loan deal on 15 October 2009 He made his debut against Rochdale on 17 October 2009 which was to be the last game managed by Mike Newell, who was sacked the following morning. Magennis made just one more appearance for the side before, on 29 October 2009, he was told that his, and fellow loanee Arnaud Mendy, loan contract was to be terminated ahead of schedule. Caretaker manager Neil Woods commented that "As the caretaker manager I think I need to be fair to the players that we've got here first. They've been a little bit of a victim of the circumstances of the last two weeks. They are not going to get in the eighteen and I don't think it is fair to keep loan players here."

Magennis made his first start for Cardiff on 9 January 2010 in a 1–1 draw with Blackpool, but was forced off after just 35 minutes after suffering a fractured fibula. He made his comeback as a substitute on the last day of the regular season against Derby County. He was given a free transfer by Cardiff at the end of the season along with Peter Enckelman, Warren Feeney, Tony Capaldi and Aaron Morris.

Aberdeen

On 5 July 2010, Magennis signed a deal with Aberdeen, on their first day of pre-season training. He started in Aberdeen's first game of the 2010–11 season at home to Hamilton Academical, where he hit the crossbar in a 4–0 win. He scored his 1st goal for the Dons on 8 January 2011, when he scored the final goal of their 6-0 Scottish Cup win over Second Division club East Fife.

International career

While still playing as a goalkeeper, Magennis featured twice for the Northern Ireland Under-17 side, in a 2–0 defeat to Scotland under-17's and as a substitute in a 1–0 defeat to Netherlands under-17's. His step up to the under-19 side came following his change of position and he was handed his debut on 8 October 2008 in 3–1 defeat to Serbia under-19's. In July 2009, Magennis helped Northern Ireland retain their Milk Cup crown, scoring the first goal in their 2–0 final victory against Denmark.

On 11 August 2009, Magennis made his debut for the Under-21 side, playing in a 2–1 defeat to Portugal. He grabbed his first two goals for the Under-21 side after coming off the bench in their 6–2 defeat to Iceland on 8 September 2009.

He made his full debut for Northern Ireland on 26 May 2010 against Turkey in a friendly.

Career statistics

As of 14 May 2011

Club statistics

Club	Season	League		National Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Cardiff City	2009–10	9	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	10	1
Grimsby Town (loan)	2009–10	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Aberdeen	2010–11	29	3	4	1	2	0	0	0	35	4
Total		40	3	4	1	3	1	0	0	47	5

Personal life

His uncle Mark Currently plays for Northern Irish side Harland and Wolf Welders, but has played for Linfield and Bangor.

External links

• Josh Magennis player profile at cardiffcityfc.co.uk
• Josh Magennis career stats at Soccerbase