Gary John McSwegan (born 24 September 1970) is a Scottish former professional footballer. A striker, he began his career with Rangers, leaving to join Notts County in England. He returned to Scotland and had spells with Dundee United, Heart of Midlothian and Kilmarnock. Later in his career he went on to play for Ross County, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, and Clyde. He made two international appearances for Scotland whilst a Hearts player.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gary John McSwegan[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 24 September 1970 | ||
| Place of birth | Glasgow, Scotland | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Rangers | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1986–1993 | Rangers | 18 | (4) |
| 1993–1995 | Notts County | 62 | (21) |
| 1995–1998 | Dundee United | 92 | (32) |
| 1998–2002 | Heart of Midlothian | 82 | (25) |
| 2001–2002 | → Barnsley (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| 2002 | → Luton Town (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 2002–2004 | Kilmarnock | 63 | (17) |
| 2004–2006 | Ross County | 34 | (1) |
| 2006–2007 | Inverness CT | 9 | (0) |
| 2008–2009 | Clyde | 23 | (2) |
| International career | |||
| 1999 | Scotland | 2 | (1) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15:54, 9 May 2009 (UTC) | |||
Career
editDomestic
editMcSwegan was born in Glasgow and started his career with Rangers, where he scored 5 goals in only 24 appearances during his six years at Ibrox, including a goal against Marseille in the 1992-93 Champions League. His first team opportunities at Rangers, however, appeared to be limited and in 1993 he joined Notts County for £400,000. One of his highlights at Notts County was scoring twice as they knocked Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur out of the 1994–95 Football League Cup.[2] After two seasons in England he returned to Scotland with Dundee United for £375,000 where he remained for three seasons, scoring 42 goals.
He joined Hearts in 1998 on a free transfer where he scored 31 goals in 98 appearances. By 2002, however, McSwegan had fallen out of favour at Hearts and subsequently had loan spells in England with Barnsley and Luton Town before joining Kilmarnock where he remained for two seasons, scoring 17 goals.
His next professional club was Ross County where he played 39 games, scoring just 1 goal against Queen of the South[3] in two injury-ravaged seasons. Despite these problems, McSwegan returned to top flight football, when signed by Inverness Caledonian Thistle in September 2006 on a short-term deal. McSwegan left Inverness Caledonian Thistle at the end of the 2006–07 season and joined Peterhead.
McSwegan joined Clyde on 14 March 2008, after previously training with the club and appearing in reserve games.[4] He made his debut the following day, in a 1–1 draw against Stirling Albion in the Scottish First Division. He scored his first goal for the club in the final league game of the season, scoring the first in a 3–0 win over Stirling Albion.[5] He then went on to score two goals in their successful relegation playoffs in ties against Alloa[6] and Airdrie.[7] In June 2008, McSwegan signed a one-year contract extension with the Broadwood side.[8] He scored three goals in his second season, with two goals against Queen's Park in the League Cup[9] and a late winner in the league against Livingston.[10] This meant that all six of his goals for Clyde came in the Broadwood Stadium. McSwegan was released by Clyde in June 2009 along with the rest of the out of contract players, due to the club's financial position.[11]
International
editMcSwegan won two caps for Scotland in 1999. He won his first cap on 5 October 1999, coming on as a late substitute in a EURO 2000 qualifier against Bosnia and Herzegovina, which Scotland won 1–0. His second and final cap came four days later, against Lithuania. McSwegan started the game, and scored Scotland's second goal in a 3–0 victory.
McSwegan also coaches young people throughout Glasgow in his role with coaching and groupwork company A&M Training.
International goals
edit- Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 October 1999 | Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland |  Lithuania |
2–0 | 3–0 | UEFA Euro 2000 Qual. |
Career statistics
editAfter 25 October 2008
| Club performance | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Scotland | League | Scottish Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 1987–88 | Rangers | Scottish Premier Division | 18 | 4 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 18 | 4 | |||
| 1988–89 | ||||||||||||
| 1989–90 | ||||||||||||
| 1990–91 | ||||||||||||
| 1991–92 | ||||||||||||
| 1992–93 | ||||||||||||
| England | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 1993–94 | Notts County | Football League First Division | 62 | 21 | N/A | N/A | - | 62 | 21 | |||
| 1994–95 | ||||||||||||
| 1995–96 | Football League Second Division | |||||||||||
| Scotland | League | Scottish Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 1995–96 | Dundee United | Scottish First Division | 26 | 17 | 3 | 0 | - | - | 29 | 17 | ||
| 1996–97 | Scottish Premier Division | 30 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | 38 | 9 | ||
| 1997–98 | 32 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 43 | 17 | ||
| 1998–99 | Scottish Premier League | 5 | 3 | - | 2 | 1 | - | 7 | 4 | |||
| Heart of Midlothian | 20 | 8 | 1 | 0 | - | - | 21 | 8 | ||||
| 1999–00 | 31 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | - | 37 | 15 | |||
| 2000–01 | 26 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 35 | 7 | ||
| 2001–02 | 5 | 0 | - | - | - | 5 | 0 | |||||
| England | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 2001–02 | Barnsley (loan) | Football League First Division | 5 | 0 | - | - | - | 5 | 0 | |||
| Luton Town (loan) | Football League Second Division | 3 | 0 | - | - | - | 3 | 0 | ||||
| Scotland | League | Scottish Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
| 2002–03 | Kilmarnock | Scottish Premier League | 32 | 11 | 1 | 0 | - | - | 33 | 11 | ||
| 2003–04 | 31 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | 34 | 6 | |||
| 2004–05 | Ross County | Scottish First Division | 17 | 0 | - | 2 | 0 | - | 19 | 0 | ||
| 2005–06 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | 17 | 1 | ||||
| 2006–07 | Inverness CT | Scottish Premier League | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | - | - | 11 | 0 | ||
| 2007–08 | Clyde | Scottish First Division | 6 | 1 | - | - | - | 6 | 1 | |||
| 2008–09 | 7 | 1 | - | 1 | 2 | - | 8 | 3 | ||||
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Gary McSwegan". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
- ^ "Football: Fans turn on Ardiles after humiliation". The Independent. 27 October 1994. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
- ^ "QoS 2-3 Ross County". BBC. 26 November 2005. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
- ^ "Its Hammer Time". clydefc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 18 April 2008. Retrieved 26 June 2008.
- ^ "Clyde 3-0 Stirling Albion". BBC Sport. 26 April 2008. Retrieved 26 April 2008.
- ^ "Clyde 5-3 Alloa Athletic (6-5)". BBC. 3 May 2008. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
- ^ "Clyde 2-0 Airdrie United (3-0)". BBC. 10 May 2008. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
- ^ "McSwegan extends stay with Clyde". BBC Sport. 25 June 2008. Retrieved 26 June 2008.
- ^ "Clyde 4-1 Queen's Park". BBC. 5 August 2008. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
- ^ "Clyde 2-1 Livingston". BBC. 25 October 2008. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
- ^ "Players Released". clydefc.co.uk. Retrieved 2 June 2009.
External links
edit- Notts County ex-player interview: Gary McSwegan
- Gary McSwegan at Soccerbase
