John McGinlay
Encyclopedia
John McGinlay is a Scottish former footballer who is perhaps best known for his spell at Bolton Wanderers
in the mid to late 1990s.
, Scotland
. He worked part time as a builder whilst playing in the Highland League for teams such as Nairn County
and Elgin City
. In between, he also had spells in England with Yeovil Town
, then a non-league club playing in the Gola League and New Zealand club Hanimex Sports.
In 1989 he received his big break in football when the Shrewsbury Town
manager Ian McNeill
acted on the recommendation of his son, to bring the then 25-year old McGinlay back to English football, and this proved to be a very wise move indeed as the striker scored a number of goals in his first full season at Gay Meadow.
Bury
then paid out a club record fee to take him to Gigg Lane, but he could not settle in his new surroundings, scoring just nine goals for the Division 3 side. Ironically three of those goals were to come when McGinlay scored a hat-trick against Bolton Wanderers at Burnden Park, a club where he was later to become a cult hero.
In 1991 he moved south to link up with Millwall
, and it was here where he first linked up with the much-respected former Scotland star Bruce Rioch
, a manager whom he was later to link up with at Bolton. His short time with the Lions mirrored his spell with Bury in many ways, as people such as Malcolm Allen
, Chris Armstrong
, Mark Falco
and Teddy Sheringham
all competed for places in the Millwall forward line with McGinlay.
. First team opportunities for McGinlay became even rarer under the new regime. Bolton, by this time, had looked for an experienced manager to replace the departing Phil Neal
and saw Rioch as the ideal candidate. Rioch in turn brought Keith Branagan, David Lee and McGinlay to Bolton as his first signings and they proved to be signings that would shape the future of Bolton Wanderers.
McGinlay formed a great goalscoring partnership with Andy Walker as Bolton finished runners up to Stoke City
in the old Division Two. Walker sustained a serious knee injury against Swansea City, so the goalscoring responsibilities fell very much firmly the way of McGinlay who did not disappoint and scored the goal that got Bolton promoted on the final day of the season.
Whilst scoring in the FA Cup games against higher opposition such as Liverpool
, Everton
and Arsenal
, McGinlay also proved he could be consistent at league level. In 1993–94 he scored 25 goals in a mid-table Bolton team thus resulting in the first of 14 caps
for Scotland
.
The following year he helped Bolton get to the 1995 Football League Cup Final
where they lost out to Liverpool, but the anguish felt was soon quelled with an enthralling Play-Off Final win over Reading
at Wembley Stadium
. Bolton had been 2–0 down but came back to win 4–3 thanks to a penalty save by Keith Branagan and goals from Owen Coyle
, Mixu Paatelainen
and Fabian de Freitas
.
McGinlay suffered from injuries in Bolton's first crack at Premiership football, but was still Bolton's top league goalscorer that season with six goals to his credit. This could not keep the club in the top division and they were relegated after just one disappointing season.
McGinlay, a determined and passionate character, was one of the key Bolton players in 1996–97 season who ensured that Bolton regained their place in the Premiership. He shared 54 goals with strike partner Nathan Blake
which helped send the Wanderers up as First Division champions with a record 98 points and 100 goals tally.
Two of these goals in April 1997, a penalty and one from open-play against Charlton Athletic
, proved to be the last goals scored at the old Burnden Park
stadium prior to re-location to the Reebok Stadium
.
The move away from Burnden Park was to spell the beginning of the end as far as McGinlay's relationship with Bolton was concerned. Bolton manager Colin Todd
had added Dean Holdsworth
and Peter Beardsley
to his squad for the 1997–98 season and it was clear that McGinlay would no longer be an automatic choice.
for a then record £625,000 fee for the Bantams. However, injury and loss of form disrupted his spell in Yorkshire and he was never able to reach the heights of his Bolton days.
He later had short spells with Oldham Athletic
and American team Cincinnati Riverhawks before moving into management with non-league sides Ilkeston Town
and Gresley Rovers.
. He later went on to present a celebrity edition of BBC's Cash in the Attic
but moved back to America later that year.
He is an assistant coach at Cincinnati Kings
USL Division Two team, and is also the boys' director of coaching for the Cincinnati United Premier Soccer Club.
McGinlay is a Bolton supporter and has a column in the Bolton News.
Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....
in the mid to late 1990s.
Early Career
McGinlay was born in InvernessInverness
Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. He worked part time as a builder whilst playing in the Highland League for teams such as Nairn County
Nairn County F.C.
Nairn County F.C. are a senior football club who currently play in the Highland Football League.They were founded in 1914 and play at Station Park, Nairn.As a senior team they can play in the Scottish Cup....
and Elgin City
Elgin City F.C.
Elgin City Football Club are a semi-professional football team based in Elgin, Moray. They currently compete in the Scottish Third Division....
. In between, he also had spells in England with Yeovil Town
Yeovil Town F.C.
Yeovil Town F.C. are an English association football team based in Yeovil, Somerset. The club play in League One after having won the League Two championship in 2004–05...
, then a non-league club playing in the Gola League and New Zealand club Hanimex Sports.
In 1989 he received his big break in football when the Shrewsbury Town
Shrewsbury Town F.C.
Shrewsbury Town Football Club is an English Association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, who play in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. The club was formed in 1886 and has played in all the bottom three divisions in various guises since being elected into the Football...
manager Ian McNeill
Ian McNeill
Ian McNeill is a former professional footballer and manager.Playing at inside forward, McNeill's career included stints at Aberdeen, Leicester City, Brighton & Hove Albion and Southend United. Upon retiring, McNeill moved into management, taking charge of Wigan Athletic between 1968 and 1970...
acted on the recommendation of his son, to bring the then 25-year old McGinlay back to English football, and this proved to be a very wise move indeed as the striker scored a number of goals in his first full season at Gay Meadow.
Bury
Bury F.C.
Bury Football Club is an association football team based in Bury, Greater Manchester. The team currently play in League One. The club's nickname is The Shakers which was bestowed upon them by club chairman JT Ingham, an industrialist and ironmonger of the late 1890s.-Formation of the club and the...
then paid out a club record fee to take him to Gigg Lane, but he could not settle in his new surroundings, scoring just nine goals for the Division 3 side. Ironically three of those goals were to come when McGinlay scored a hat-trick against Bolton Wanderers at Burnden Park, a club where he was later to become a cult hero.
In 1991 he moved south to link up with Millwall
Millwall F.C.
Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...
, and it was here where he first linked up with the much-respected former Scotland star Bruce Rioch
Bruce Rioch
Bruce David Rioch is an English-born football manager and former player. He was manager of Aalborg BK in the Danish Superliga, until his sacking on 23 October 2008....
, a manager whom he was later to link up with at Bolton. His short time with the Lions mirrored his spell with Bury in many ways, as people such as Malcolm Allen
Malcolm Allen (footballer)
Malcolm Allen is a Welsh former professional footballer who played for Watford, Aston Villa, Norwich City, Millwall, Newcastle United and Stevenage Borough. Allen played 14 times for Wales between 1986 and 1993....
, Chris Armstrong
Chris Armstrong (footballer born 1971)
Christopher Peter "Chris" Armstrong is an English former England B international footballer who has played as a striker for Wrexham , Millwall, Crystal Palace, Tottenham Hotspur and Bolton Wanderers between 1989 and 2005.-Crystal Palace:After short spells with Wrexham and Millwall, Armstrong found...
, Mark Falco
Mark Falco
Mark Peter Falco is a former professional footballer with a number of clubs including Tottenham Hotspur, Watford, Rangers and Queens Park Rangers.-Career:...
and Teddy Sheringham
Teddy Sheringham
Edward Paul "Teddy" Sheringham MBE is a retired English footballer, and the father of footballer Charlie Sheringham. Sheringham played as a striker, and had a successful career at the club level, winning almost every domestic honour available with his clubs, most notably the Treble with Manchester...
all competed for places in the Millwall forward line with McGinlay.
Bolton Wanderers
Early in 1992, Rioch left his post as the Millwall manager and was replaced by Mick McCarthyMick McCarthy
Michael Joseph "Mick" McCarthy is an English-born former Irish international footballer who is currently the manager of Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers, where he has been in charge since July 2006....
. First team opportunities for McGinlay became even rarer under the new regime. Bolton, by this time, had looked for an experienced manager to replace the departing Phil Neal
Phil Neal
Philip George "Phil" Neal is a former footballer who was, at one time, the most successful player in English football history. He played for Liverpool 650 times over an eleven year period and is the only player to have appeared in the first five of their European Cup finals, winning four of them...
and saw Rioch as the ideal candidate. Rioch in turn brought Keith Branagan, David Lee and McGinlay to Bolton as his first signings and they proved to be signings that would shape the future of Bolton Wanderers.
McGinlay formed a great goalscoring partnership with Andy Walker as Bolton finished runners up to Stoke City
Stoke City F.C.
Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...
in the old Division Two. Walker sustained a serious knee injury against Swansea City, so the goalscoring responsibilities fell very much firmly the way of McGinlay who did not disappoint and scored the goal that got Bolton promoted on the final day of the season.
Whilst scoring in the FA Cup games against higher opposition such as Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
, Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
and Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
, McGinlay also proved he could be consistent at league level. In 1993–94 he scored 25 goals in a mid-table Bolton team thus resulting in the first of 14 caps
Cap (sport)
In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...
for Scotland
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
.
The following year he helped Bolton get to the 1995 Football League Cup Final
1995 Football League Cup Final
The 1995 Coca-Cola Cup Final was played between Liverpool and Bolton Wanderers at Wembley Stadium on 2 April 1995. Liverpool won the match 2–1. Two Steve McManaman goals in the 37th and 68th minutes put Liverpool ahead, but Alan Thompson scored a brilliant goal for Bolton to give them some...
where they lost out to Liverpool, but the anguish felt was soon quelled with an enthralling Play-Off Final win over Reading
Reading F.C.
Reading Football Club is an English association football club based in the town of Reading, Berkshire who currently play in the Championship...
at Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
. Bolton had been 2–0 down but came back to win 4–3 thanks to a penalty save by Keith Branagan and goals from Owen Coyle
Owen Coyle
Owen Columba Coyle is a Scottish-born Irish international former professional player and professional association football manager . He is currently the manager of Bolton Wanderers....
, Mixu Paatelainen
Mixu Paatelainen
Mika-Matti Petteri "Mixu" Paatelainen is a former Finnish international football player and the current manager of the Finnish national team, having started the role in April 2011...
and Fabian de Freitas
Fabian de Freitas
Fabian de Freitas is a former Surinamese-Dutch footballer who plays as a striker. De Freitas played in England with Bolton Wanderers and West Bromwich Albion and in Spain with CA Osasuna....
.
McGinlay suffered from injuries in Bolton's first crack at Premiership football, but was still Bolton's top league goalscorer that season with six goals to his credit. This could not keep the club in the top division and they were relegated after just one disappointing season.
McGinlay, a determined and passionate character, was one of the key Bolton players in 1996–97 season who ensured that Bolton regained their place in the Premiership. He shared 54 goals with strike partner Nathan Blake
Nathan Blake
Nathan Alexander Blake is a Welsh former professional footballer, who played in the Premier League for several clubs and also represented his country at international level...
which helped send the Wanderers up as First Division champions with a record 98 points and 100 goals tally.
Two of these goals in April 1997, a penalty and one from open-play against Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic F.C.
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...
, proved to be the last goals scored at the old Burnden Park
Burnden Park
Burnden Park was the home of English FA Premier League football club Bolton Wanderers who played home games here between 1895 and 1997. As well as hosting an FA Cup Final replay it was the scene of one of the greatest disasters in English football and the subject of an L. S...
stadium prior to re-location to the Reebok Stadium
Reebok Stadium
The Reebok Stadium is the home stadium of English Premier League football club Bolton Wanderers, and is located on the Middlebrook Retail Park in Horwich, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. It is commonly known as 'The Reebok'...
.
The move away from Burnden Park was to spell the beginning of the end as far as McGinlay's relationship with Bolton was concerned. Bolton manager Colin Todd
Colin Todd
Colin Todd is an English football manager and former player. As a player, he made more than 600 appearances in the Football League, playing for Sunderland, Derby County, Everton, Birmingham City, Nottingham Forest, Oxford United and Luton Town, and also played in the North American Soccer League...
had added Dean Holdsworth
Dean Holdsworth
Dean Christopher Holdsworth is an English former professional football player, now manager. As a striker he scored 193 goals in 610 league games over a 22 year career. Despite playing for 16 clubs in 19 spells the majority of his goals and appearances came at Brentford, Wimbledon, and Bolton...
and Peter Beardsley
Peter Beardsley
Peter Andrew Beardsley MBE is an English former footballer who played between 1979 and 1999. He once set a record transfer fee in the game and represented his country 59 times between 1986 and 1996, once as captain...
to his squad for the 1997–98 season and it was clear that McGinlay would no longer be an automatic choice.
Late Career
In November 1997, he moved to Bradford CityBradford City A.F.C.
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, playing in League Two....
for a then record £625,000 fee for the Bantams. However, injury and loss of form disrupted his spell in Yorkshire and he was never able to reach the heights of his Bolton days.
He later had short spells with Oldham Athletic
Oldham Athletic A.F.C.
Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is an English association football club based at Boundary Park, on Sheepfoot Lane in Oldham, Greater Manchester. The club currently competes in the Football League One, the third tier of the English league...
and American team Cincinnati Riverhawks before moving into management with non-league sides Ilkeston Town
Ilkeston Town F.C.
Ilkeston Football Club is an English football club based at the New Manor Ground in Ilkeston, Derbyshire.-History:The club was established in 1894 as Ilkeston Town F.C.....
and Gresley Rovers.
Honours
Bolton Wanderers:- First Division: 1996–97
After Retirement
In 2004, he represented Bolton Wanderers on local radio station Tower FMTower FM
Tower FM is a British Independent Local Radio station which broadcasts across the towns of Bolton and Bury and parts of north Manchester from its studios in Wigan....
. He later went on to present a celebrity edition of BBC's Cash in the Attic
Cash in the Attic
Cash in the Attic, also Cash in the Celebrity Attic, is a UK television show on the BBC. The show, made by , premièred in 2002 and has run for sixteen series; as of February 2010, the seventeenth series is currently in production, along with the fifth celebrity series...
but moved back to America later that year.
He is an assistant coach at Cincinnati Kings
Cincinnati Kings
Cincinnati Kings is an American soccer team based in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Founded in 2005, the team plays in the USL Premier Development League , the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Great Lakes Division of the Central Conference.The team plays its home games at the...
USL Division Two team, and is also the boys' director of coaching for the Cincinnati United Premier Soccer Club.
McGinlay is a Bolton supporter and has a column in the Bolton News.
External links
- http://www.cincinnatiunitedsoccer.com/PremierProgram/Coaching/Staff/tabid/5460/Default.aspx Cincinnati United Soccer Club