David McGoldrick


David James McGoldrick is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Sheffield United and the Republic of Ireland national team.
A trainee at Notts County, he made his senior debut in 2004, before being signed by Southampton later in the year. He spent five years with the "Saints", also playing on loan for Notts County in 2005, and both AFC Bournemouth and Port Vale in 2007. He transferred to Nottingham Forest in 2009 for a £1 million fee. He joined Sheffield Wednesday on loan in September 2011, and was loaned out to Coventry City in August 2012. After a successful spell at Coventry he joined Ipswich Town in July 2013 following an initial loan period, and stayed with the club for a further five seasons before being released after his contract expired in the summer of 2018. He signed with Sheffield United in July 2018 and was named as the club's Player of the Year as they secured promotion into the Premier League in the 2018–19 season.

Club career

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 AFC 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.

Loan to AFC Bournemouth

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.

Loan to Port Vale

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.

Return to Southampton

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.

Loan to Sheffield Wednesday

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.

Loan to Coventry City

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 – his performance against Orient earned him a place on the League One team of the week. By the end of the calendar year he had scored 17 goals for Coventry, becoming the division's leading scorer and winning the League One Player of the Month award for December.

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. He was named as Championship Player of the Month for September 2013 after scoring braces against Middlesbrough and Brighton & Hove Albion. However, he was struck down for ten weeks with a partial tear of the medial ligament in his right knee in mid-February. He was voted Players' Player of the Year at the end of the campaign.
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. Speaking about McGoldrick in January 2018, McCarthy stated that "he is an obvious target. None of us want to lose him but we'll see what happens" after the club reportedly put a £500,000 price tag on his potential transfer, with the player out of contract in the summer. However he stayed put and ended up picking up a groin injury the following month, which kept him out of action for the rest of the 2017–18 season. His departure from the club was confirmed by new manager Paul Hurst on 25 June 2018.

Sheffield United

On 24 July 2018, McGoldrick signed a one-year contract with Championship side Sheffield United after impressing manager Chris Wilder during a one-week trial period. On 29 September, he scored twice in a 3–2 win at Millwall and was named on the EFL team of the week. On 22 April, he scored a brace in a 3–0 victory over Hull City at Bramall Lane and was again named in the EFL team of the week. He featured only in league matches during the 2018–19 campaign, and was named as the club's Player of the Year as his 15 goals in 44 appearances helped to secure promotion out of the Championship.
McGoldrick suffered a long domestic goal drought in the 2019–20 season, which he ended by opening the scoring in a 2–1 win at Reading in the fifth round of the FA Cup on 3 March. In the league though, it was reported that Opta Sports statistics showed no Premier League player had ever managed 36 shots on target or had an expected goals rating of 6.2 without finding the net; in a positive light, "Didzy", as Sheffield United supporters called him, had made 36 tackles per game, more than any other regular Premier League forward that season. During his run he missed an open goal against Brighton & Hove Albion and had a goal Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane ruled out for offside by the video assistant referee. On 11 July, he scored his first Premier League goals with a brace in a 3–0 home win over Chelsea.

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 grandfather 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.
McGoldrick scored his first goal for the Republic of Ireland on 5 September 2019, scoring the equaliser in a 1–1 draw with Switzerland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying match.

Style of play

Career statistics

Club

International

Republic of Ireland score listed first, score column indicates score after each McGoldrick goal.
No.DateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetitionRef
15 September 2019Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland111–11–1UEFA Euro 2020 qualification

Honours

Sheffield United
Individual