David McGoldrick

Notts County

McGoldrick was born in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire. He graduated through the Notts County youth squad to make his senior debut on 24 January 2004, in a Second Division clash with Swindon Town at Meadow Lane. He replaced Frazer McHugh with minutes to go of a 2–1 defeat. He won his first start on 14 February, playing 86 minutes of a 1–0 loss at Bournemouth. He made two further appearances in 2003–04, at the end of which County were relegated into the Third Division.

Southampton

In August 2004, at the age of sixteen, he was signed by Southampton for an undisclosed fee. He did not feature in the 2004–05 Premier League campaign. He was though a member of Southampton's youth team that reached the final of the FA Youth Cup in 2005, losing on aggregate to Ipswich Town.

On 20 September 2005, he made his "Saints" debut as a substitute in a 1–0 League Cup defeat to Mansfield Town, having replaced Dexter Blackstock on 81 minutes. Four days later he returned to Notts County for a one-month loan spell, in to gain more first team experience. On his return to Southampton he scored 44 goals for the Reserves and Under-18 teams, bagging a hat-trick in the Under-18s play-off final win over Aston Villa, as well as three goals over the two legs of the FA Youth Cup semi-final against Liverpool. These feats earned him a league debut for the club at home to Millwall on 17 April. He was replaced by Ricardo Fuller after 61 minutes.

He scored his first goal for the club on 19 September 2006, in a 4–0 demolition of Millwall in the League Cup. In February 2007, he joined League One team Bournemouth on a one-month loan. The loan was later extended until the end of the season, but an injury-hit Southampton recalled McGoldrick on 23 April. He maintained a record of a goal every other game for Bournemouth, having struck six times in twelve games. His efforts helped the club to avoid relegation into League Two.

However his first team opportunities remained limited at Southampton, and so in August 2007 he joined Martin Foyle's Port Vale on loan until January 2008. He went on to score twice in eighteen games for the "Valiants" in 2007–08, though was unable to save them from relegation. Back at Southampton he found himself behind Stern John, Marek Saganowski and Bradley Wright-Phillips in the pecking order, and therefore considered quitting the club.

After an impressive pre-season, which included two goals against Premier League side West Ham United, McGoldrick scored his first league goal for the "Saints" in a 2–1 defeat to Cardiff City on 9 August 2008. This was followed three days later by another two goals in a League Cup victory over Exeter City.

After four goals in four games at the start of the 2008–09 campaign, he signed a new three–year contract with Southampton in September. An ever-present throughout the season, he scored fourteen goals in fifty appearances. However his club were relegated and facing a financial crisis; this meant that McGoldrick was expected to move away from St Mary's.

Nottingham Forest

In June 2009, he joined Nottingham Forest for a fee of £1 million, signing a four-year contract. He faced competition from numerous other strikers at his new club. McGoldrick made his Forest debut against Reading at the Madejski Stadium on 8 August. He scored his first goal for Forest away at Queens Park Rangers two weeks later. However, he endured a disappointing 2009–10, scoring just three league goals in eighteen starts and seventeen substitute appearances.

After undergoing a shoulder operation in the 2010–11 pre-season, he was out of action until late September. He recovered to post six goals that season, and also pushed Forest back into the play-off picture when he came off the bench to score twice past Burnley on 12 April. However, he could not prevent his team from exiting the play-offs at the semi-final stage, after a 3–1 to eventual play-off winners Swansea City.

On 15 September 2011, McGoldrick joined Sheffield Wednesday on an emergency one-month loan. Two days later he scored on his "Owls" debut away at Yeovil Town. He returned to Nottingham having made four appearances for Wednesday.

On 31 August 2012, McGoldrick joined League One club Coventry City on loan until 2 January 2013. He opened his account for the "Sky Blues" at the Ricoh Arena with consolation goals in 2–1 home defeats to Stevenage and Carlisle United. On 6 October, he scored the only goal in a 1–0 home win against Bournemouth. After a goal in a 4–0 win against York City in the Football League Trophy, McGoldrick then scored two in a 2–2 draw against Swindon Town. McGoldrick then scored the first goal in a 2–1 away defeat to Brentford, and followed that up with the winner in a 1–0 win over Leyton Orient. By the end of the calendar year he had scored 17 goals for Coventry, becoming the division's leading scorer.

Ipswich Town

On 4 January 2013, McGoldrick joined Mick McCarthy's Ipswich Town on loan until the end of the 2012–13 season, with a view to permanent move in the summer. He agreed to sign a two-year deal with the club in July 2013.

He formed at a strong partnership with Daryl Murphy at Portman Road during the 2013–14 season, as the pair netted 18 goals in 22 games in the first half of the campaign. However, he was struck down for ten weeks with a partial tear of the medial ligament in his right knee in mid-February.

He returned to fitness just before the start of the 2014–15 season, and marked his return to the first team with the winning goal against Fulham on 9 August. Newly promoted Premier League club Leicester City placed an initial £5 million bid for the striker during the close of the summer transfer window, but Ipswich held out for a sum of £8 million and Leicester decided to pull out of the deal. He missed the second half of the season with a recurring thigh problem, only managing to return for the final 20 minutes of the play-off semi-final second leg defeat to East Anglian rivals Norwich City at Carrow Road.

He signed a contract extension in August to keep himself tied to the club until summer 2018. However, he struggled with niggling injuries in the first half of the 2015–16 campaign, and then picked up a "nasty tear" in his hamstring in December. The injury kept him out of action for four months. He went on to score five goals in 31 games in the 2016–17 season.

International career

In 2014, McGoldrick – who is adopted – discovered that he was eligible to play for Ireland after researching his family tree and finding that he had a biological grandmother born in Ireland. McGoldrick turned down an approach by Scotland manager Gordon Strachan to play for that country, stating he would prefer to play for Ireland, and Ipswich manager Mick McCarthy encouraged McGoldrick to represent the "Boys In Green". Ipswich teammates Stephen Hunt and Daryl Murphy backed McGoldrick for an Ireland call-up. In August 2014, Ireland manager Martin O'Neill confirmed that McGoldrick was in his plans, subject to paperwork.

On 10 November 2014, McGoldrick received his first call up to the Irish squad for the games against Scotland and the United States. He made his debut for Ireland in a 4–1 win over the United States on 18 November 2014, providing two assists for Anthony Pilkington and Robbie Brady goals.

Style of play

"He's got pace, he can get in behind defenders and can run all day. He's skilful and he's got all the attributes."

Club statistics

International statistics