Martin McGaughey

Martin McGaughey (born 31 August 1960) is a Northern Irish retired footballer who played as a striker.

Having spent most of his career at Linfield, he was noted for his scoring ability, being nicknamed 'Buckets'.[1]

Club career

McGaughey was born in Moneyreagh. Having signed as a youth with Linfield F.C. in 1977, he made his first-team debut midway through 1980–81, finishing his first season with 14 goals in all competitions, including a brace in the County Antrim Shield final against Glentoran FC (4–1).

In 1984–85, McGaughey finished second in the European Golden Shoe race to FC Porto's Fernando Gomes,[2] scoring 34 league goals in 26 matches (57 overall) and failing to add more as his season was cut short due to a severe knee injury. In the team's campaign in the European Cup, he helped it reach the second round, where he scored twice in a 3–3 home draw to Panathinaikos FC (4–5 aggregate exit); subsequently, he was named the Ulster Footballer of the Year.[3][1]

Although he received a lot of interest from 'larger' clubs – notably England's Barnsley – McGaughey never left the country, and finished his career with a season at Ards FC, retiring in 1994 due to recurrent physical problems.[1] He netted 317 competitive goals for Linfield in 533 appearances, also being team and league top scorer in 1983–84 (15 goals), 1987–88 (18) and 1989–90 (19),[4] and helped the side to six national championships and one domestic cup.

International career

McGaughey won one cap for Northern Ireland, replacing legendary Norman Whiteside in a friendly against Israel in October 1984.[5]

References
  1. Martin McGaughey newspaper article – by Alex Mills; Linfield FC, 27 September 2016
  2. Fernando Gomes: uma Bota de Ouro com orgulho e memória (Fernando Gomes: a Golden Boot with pride and memory); O Jogo, 8 November 2018 (in Portuguese)
  3. M. Brodie (ed.), Northern Ireland Soccer Yearbook 2009–2010, p. 102. Belfast:Ulster Tatler Publications
  4. Northern Ireland – List of Topscorers; at RSSSF
  5. Northern Ireland 3–0 Israel (16/10/1984); at UpThePosh
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