Jump to content

Aiden McGeady

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 94.193.48.97 (talk) at 19:01, 16 December 2008 (→‎Club career). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Aiden McGeady
Personal information
Full name Aiden McGeady
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
 Celtic
Number 46
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12:00, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

Aiden McGeady (born 4 April 1986 in Glasgow) is a Scottish born Irish professional footballer, who currently plays for Celtic. Born and raised in Scotland, he represents the Republic of Ireland, his grandmother's country of birth, at international level. He plays as both a left and right winger.

Club career

The Celtic support had heard exciting rumours about McGeady's potential, and he was handed his debut as an 18-year-old against Hearts at Tynecastle, late in the 2003/04 season, after progressing through the Celtic youth and reserve teams. He made his UEFA Champions League debut the next season in a game against Serie A giants AC Milan.

Since then, McGeady's career at Celtic Park has continued to improve under the current manager, Gordon Strachan. McGeady's season was hampered by a persistent knee injury, but he played a significant role in Celtic's second title winning season under Gordon Strachan, contributing 5 goals and 7 assists.

The 2007/08 season was better for McGeady earning him praise from the media.[1]

This has been underlined by his some good displays throughout the season. One of his most devastating performances came against Aberdeen, scoring a goal and contributing three assists, setting up a second goal for striker Scott McDonald. He continued to provide goals for his team, most importantly Scott McDonald's equalising goal against rivals Rangers, a match that Celtic went on to win 3–2. A win which proved to be crucial in Celtic successful defence of their title.

He was awarded the SPFA Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year on 20 April 2008, only the second player ever to receive both awards in the same season, as voted by his fellow players.

He contributed 7 SPL goals and 19 assists, as Celtic won the SPL, winning three titles in a row for the first time since Jock Stein was manager and was one of five players who scored a hat-trick in the 2007/08 season.

On 16 December 2008, Gordon Strachan fined McGeady two weeks' wages and suspended him for the club's next two fixtures due to a breach of club discipline.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page). At the time Scotland had a rule, which has since been changed, that should a young player not play for their school team they would not be considered for a call-up to Scotland Schools selects. The Republic of Ireland, who had no such rule, instructed Packie Bonner, who knew of McGeady's limited Irish lineage, (his grandmother hailed from Gweedore, County Donegal - his other three grandparents from Scotland) to invite McGeady to play for the Republic of Ireland Under-15 Schoolboys team, and he has since gone on to be a full Republic of Ireland international. Tommy Burns, Celtic's former Head of Youth Development and First team Coach, stated that McGeady's father wanted him to play for Scotland but, despite his father's urgings, McGeady still decided to play for the Republic of Ireland.[2] McGeady was even named in a Scotland under-16 squad but, despite attempts to persuade him to do so by the likes of then Scotland head coach Berti Vogts, the player declined to represent the Scots.[3] McGeady made his full début for the Republic of Ireland in June 2004 against Jamaica, and he has since gone on to win 20 caps for Ireland.

Statistics

Career statistics

As of 11 December 2008
Club performance
Club Season League Scottish Cup League Cup Europe Total
App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals App Goals
Celtic 2003-04 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1
2004-05 27 4 2 1 5 0 3 0 37 5
2005-06 20 4 1 0 2 0 1 0 24 4
2006-07 34 5 4 0 2 0 6 0 46 5
2007-08 36 7 4 0 1 0 10 1 51 8
2008-09 11 1 0 0 2 1 4 1 17 3
Total 132 22 11 1 12 1 24 2 179 26


Last updated 5 October 2008

Season Club Competition Apps Goals Assists
2003/04 Celtic Scotland Scottish Premier League 4 1 1
2004/05 Celtic Scotland Scottish Premier League 27 4 7
2005/06 Celtic Scotland Scottish Premier League 20 4 5
2006/07 Celtic Scotland Scottish Premier League 34 5 7
2007/08 Celtic Scotland Scottish Premier League 34 7 19
2008/09 Celtic Scotland Scottish Premier League 9 1 5
Total 128 23 45

Honours

Club

Celtic

Individual

  • Celtic FC Young Player of the Year (2005, 2006, 2007)
  • Celtic FC Player of the Year (2008)
  • SPFA Players Player of the Year (2008)
  • SPFA Player of the Year (2008)
  • BBC Sportsound Player of the Year (2008)
  • Clydesdale Bank Young Player of the Year (2008)
  • Scottish Premier League Player of the Month (5)
  • Scottish Premier League Young Player of the Month (6)

Trivia

References

  1. ^ Chick Young's View BBC Sport, 11 February 2008. Retrieved 13 February 2008.
  2. ^ No U-turn for McGeady
  3. ^ Who’s to blame in sorry tale of the one that got away?
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aiden_McGeady&oldid=258405181"