Rory McArdle

Rory McArdle

Personal information
Full name	Rory Alexander McArdle
Date of birth	1 May 1987 (1987-05-01)
Place of birth	Sheffield, England
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Aberdeen
Number	2
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2004–2007	Sheffield Wednesday	1	(0)
2005–2006	→ Rochdale (loan)	19	(1)
2006–2007	→ Rochdale (loan)	9	(0)
2007–2010	Rochdale	120	(4)
2010–	Aberdeen	43	(2)
National team‡
2006–2008	Northern Ireland U21	19	(1)
2010–	Northern Ireland	4	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 31 January 2012. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 9 February 2011

Rory Alexander McArdle (born 1 May 1987) is an English-born Northern Ireland international footballer, who plays for Scottish Premier League side Aberdeen. He plays in central defence, and has also played for Sheffield Wednesday and Rochdale.

Club career

Sheffield Wednesday

Rory McArdle first started out his professional career as a footballer with Championship side Sheffield Wednesday. McArdle struggled to break into the first team, only making one appearance for the Owls' in a 2-1 victory over Plymouth Argyle. As a result of his alienation from first team football, McArdle was loaned out to Football League One club Rochdale on two separate occasions.

Rochdale

On 8 January 2007, McArdle signed permanently for Rochdale for an undisclosed fee on a two and a half-year contract and went onto have a successful spell with the League One club making 120 appearances. McArdle was part of the Rochdale side that made it to the League Two play-off final against Stockport County at Wembley Stadium. McArdle scored the second goal in a 3-2 defeat to Stockport County. It was announced at the end of the 2009-2010 season that McArdle's contract was not to be renewed.

Aberdeen

On 19 May 2010, McArdle signed a contract with Scottish Premier League club Aberdeen. McArdle went onto become a regular in the first team during his first season with the SPL outfit. Due to the transfer of Richard Foster on loan to rivals Rangers, McArdle often played out of position at full back. Mid-way through the season Aberdeen changed managers as a poor run of form lead to the sacking of Mark McGhee, who was to be replaced by Motherwell manager Craig Brown. The former Scotland boss began playing McArdle at his more suited position of central defence alongside Zander Diamond. McArdle scored his first goal for Aberdeen away to Alloa Athletic in the Scottish League Cup. McArdle went onto score a further three goals during the course of the rest of the season against Kilmarnock and twice against St. Mirren. In fact, it was McArdle who scored a dramatic late equaliser in a quarter-final Scottish Cup tie against St. Mirren, which took the tie to a replay, which the Dons won at Pittodrie. McArdle only missed eleven games of the 2010-11 season partly due to a suspension he picked up after receiving a straight red card for a challenge on St. Johnstone's Sam Parkin.

International career

McArdle made his full debut for Northern Ireland on 26 May 2010 against Turkey in a friendly.. McArdle gained further caps for his country, coming on as a second half substitute four days later against Chile and later on in the year in November against Morocco. McArdle was selected to start his first ever international game, when Northern Ireland were beaten 3-0 by Scotland in the Carling Nations Cup on 9 February 2011.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Result	Competition
1.	26 May 2011	Veterans Stadium, Connecticut, USA	Turkey	0–2	Friendly
2.	30 May 2011	Estadio Municipal, Santiago, Chile	Chile	0–1	Friendly
3.	16 November 2011	Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland	Morocco	1–1	Friendly
4.	9 February 2011	Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Republic of Ireland	Scotland	0–3	2011 Nations Cup

External links

• "Rory McArdle profile". Aberdeen FC. http://www.afc.co.uk/articles/rory-mcardle-aberdeen_2212045_32097. Retrieved 27 September 2010. 
• Rory McArdle career stats at Soccerbase