Jonathan David McCarthy (born 18 August 1970) is a former professional footballer who is the assistant manager at Cymru Premier club Connah's Quay Nomads.
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Jonathan David McCarthy[1] | ||
Date of birth | [1] | 18 August 1970||
Place of birth | Middlesbrough, England | ||
Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2] | ||
Position(s) | Winger | ||
Team information | |||
Current team |
Connah's Quay Nomads (assistant manager) | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1987–1989 | Hartlepool United | 1 | (0) |
1989–1990 | Shepshed Charterhouse | ||
1990–1995 | York City | 199 | (31) |
1995–1997 | Port Vale | 94 | (11) |
1997–2002 | Birmingham City | 124 | (8) |
2002 | → Sheffield Wednesday (loan) | 4 | (0) |
2002 | Port Vale | 8 | (0) |
2002 | Doncaster Rovers | 1 | (0) |
2002 | York City | 1 | (0) |
2002–2003 | Carlisle United | 21 | (1) |
2003–2004 | Hucknall Town | 34 | (6) |
2004–2007 | Northwich Victoria | 95 | (1) |
Total | 582 | (58) | |
International career | |||
1996–1998 | Northern Ireland B | 2 | (0) |
1996–2001 | Northern Ireland | 18 | (0) |
Managerial career | |||
2016–2017 | Chester | ||
2017–2021 | Southport (assistant) | ||
2021– | Connah's Quay Nomads (assistant) | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
McCarthy played as a winger and made around 700 appearances in his career, many of which were in the English Football League. Twice a Northern Ireland B international, he went on to win 18 senior caps for Northern Ireland. He began his career at Hartlepool United in 1987, before heading into the non-League scene with Shepshed Charterhouse in 1989. He returned to the professional game the following year after signing a contract with York City. He spent the next five years with the club, helping York to promotion via the play-offs in 1993, and twice being voted Clubman of the Year. In 1995, he joined Port Vale for a £450,000 fee. In his first year at Vale Park he was awarded the club's Player of the Year award, and also played in the Anglo-Italian Cup final.
In 1997, he was sold on to Birmingham City for £1.5 million. The highlight of a five-year injury-plagued stay in Birmingham would be a League Cup final appearance in 2001. The next year he was loaned out to Sheffield Wednesday, before a return to Port Vale was followed by a brief spell with Doncaster Rovers and a cameo return at York City. Settling with Carlisle United, he left the Football League in 2003 to play for non-League Hucknall Town. Hucknall were crowned Northern Premier League Premier Division champions in 2003–04, and following this success he won a deal with Northwich Victoria. He helped the club to the Conference North title in 2005–06, before he retired in 2007. He was appointed as first-team coach at Chester in January 2014, and after a brief spell as caretaker, became manager of the club in May 2016, before he was sacked in September 2017. He then joined Southport for a four-year spell as assistant manager, before he was appointed assistant manager at Connah's Quay Nomads in October 2021.
Born in Middlesbrough, McCarthy began his career with Hartlepool United on non-contract terms in November 1987 under manager John Bird, making his first-team debut at the age of 17 by playing the last ten minutes of the last game of the 1987–88 season.[2][3] Bird was sacked later in the year and his successor, Bobby Moncur, released McCarthy.[3] He had a short spell outside of the professional game after joining Shepshed Charterhouse of the Northern Premier League in March 1989.[4]
John Bird persuaded McCarthy to join York City on a part-time contract in March 1990 and he made his debut in a 1–1 draw against Gillingham on 29 September.[2] While still studying at university he signed professional forms with York in March 1991.[5] He was named Clubman of the Year for 1991–92, after which he helped the club to promotion after winning the 1993 Football League Third Division play-off final at the end of 1992–93.[6] York chairman Douglas Craig revealed the club had turned down a £150,000 offer from Bradford City for McCarthy, valuing him at at least three times that amount.[6] Following a 1994–95 season described as "superb" he was named Clubman of the Year a second time.[6] He played for York for five years and developed a reputation as one of the Football League's foremost right-sided wingers.[citation needed]
He was bought by John Rudge's Port Vale for a £450,000 fee in August 1995,[6] which at the time was York's record transfer fee received.[7] With McCarthy on the right-wing and Steve Guppy on the left-wing, Rudge played attacking wing-based football.[8] During his spell with Vale, McCarthy earned plaudits for his league performances and his display in the club's FA Cup tie against Everton, scoring the winning goal in a 2–1 victory at Vale Park.[9] He played in the 1996 Anglo-Italian Cup final, as Vale lost 5–2 to Genoa.[10] He won the club's Player of the Year award in 1996.[10] He played over 100 games within two seasons at Vale Park before he was snapped up by Birmingham City manager Trevor Francis in September 1997, who paid Vale a £1.5 million fee for him.[11] Vale had offered him a new three-year deal as his current contract was due to expire the following summer, which he had rejected in favour of a move elsewhere.[12]
He helped Birmingham reach the First Division play-offs in 1998–99, but lost out to Watford after a penalty shoot-out.[9] They again reached the play-offs in 1999–2000, but McCarthy missed the semi-final defeat to Barnsley after breaking his leg.[9] After his recovery he played in the 2001 League Cup final defeat against Liverpool.[13] Despite breaking his leg three times within five years as a Birmingham player,[14] he made well over 100 appearances for the club.[15]
He had a one-month loan spell at fellow First Division side Sheffield Wednesday in April 2002.[16][17] Told he had no future at the club by manager and former teammate Steve Bruce, he left Birmingham on a free transfer.[18][19]
In August 2002, McCarthy returned to previous club Vale, who were now in the Second Division.[20] Two months later he was released by Vale[21] in the midst of a financial crisis[22] and moved on to Doncaster Rovers in the Third Division.[23] On 7 November 2002, he was on the move again, re-joining York on non-contract terms after training with the club.[24] His fourth club in three months was Carlisle United, signing on a one-month contract on 29 November 2002.[25] He remained at Brunton Park for the rest of 2002–03, playing in the 2003 Football League Trophy final at the Millennium Stadium, which ended in a 2–0 defeat to Bristol City despite McCarthy linking up well with Stuart Green and almost providing an assist for Richie Foran.[26] It was in this tournament that he scored his first goal for the club, in a 2–0 win over Wrexham.[27] His only other goal for the club came in a 1–0 league win over Southend United.[28] However, after failing to agree terms with the club he was released in May 2003.[29]
In the 2003–04 season he teamed up with Steve Burr at Hucknall Town, helping them win the Northern Premier League Premier Division title, making 34 league appearances and scoring six goals.[30] He then followed Burr to Conference National club Northwich Victoria at the start of 2004–05.[31] He helped Northwich win the Conference North title in 2005–06, and therefore promotion back into the Conference National.[4] Despite working as a full-time teacher he still managed to play the majority of Northwich's games until the end of 2006–07,[32] at which point he retired from football.[33]
In 1991, McCarthy won a bronze medal as part of the Great Britain football team at the XVI Summer Universiade, commonly known as the "World Student Games", in Sheffield.[34] He was eligible to represent Northern Ireland on the international stage through parentage, making his debut against Sweden in 1996 while with Port Vale.[6][35] He earned 18 caps for Northern Ireland from 1996 to 2001.[35] He was capped twice by the Northern Ireland B team, in 1996 and 1998.[4]
Port Vale player and lifelong fan Tom Pope described McCarthy as "a winger that drove at you" with raw pace, and a player with good crossing ability.[36] In May 2019, he was voted into the "Ultimate Port Vale XI" by members of the OneValeFan supporter website.[37]
In January 2014, he was appointed as first-team coach at Conference Premier club Chester by manager Steve Burr.[38] He took over as caretaker manager with Ian Sharps as assistant after Burr was sacked on 7 April 2016,[39] and after three wins from four matches that ensured Chester's survival in the National League, signed a one-year contract as permanent manager in May.[40] In January 2017, he signed a new 2+1⁄2-year contract.[41] However, after a poor start to the 2017–18 season, with the club picking up just one win from the opening eight league games, he was sacked on 6 September 2017.[42]
McCarthy returned to former club Port Vale in November 2017, working as new manager Neil Aspin's fitness coach.[43] Aspin was a former teammate at Port Vale, but said "It is not a case of jobs for the boys, it is because Jon is well qualified for the job that I want him to do, to deal with the fitness of the players and also to be another coach".[11] However, he left the following month to take up a new post at Southport as assistant manager to Kevin Davies.[44] He was retained at Southport after Liam Watson replaced Davies as manager in May 2018.[45] He joined Cymru Premier champions Connah's Quay Nomads as assistant to manager Craig Harrison in October 2021.[46]
After retiring, McCarthy started working for BBC Radio Stoke as a match day reporter for Port Vale in August 2007.[47] He then moved on to Birmingham Radio Station BRMB and Gold as a commentator on Birmingham City matches.[48]
During his early years with York City, he attained a degree in sports science from Nottingham Polytechnic.[3][9] After retiring, he used that degree to take up a lecturing at Mid Cheshire College.[9] He is also a qualified UEFA A licence coach.[49]
Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Hartlepool United | 1987–88[50] | Fourth Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
York City | 1990–91[51] | Fourth Division | 27 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[a] | 1 | 31 | 3 |
1991–92[52] | Fourth Division | 42 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2[a] | 1 | 49 | 9 | |
1992–93[53] | Third Division | 42 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5[b] | 0 | 50 | 7 | |
1993–94[54] | Second Division | 44 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5[c] | 1 | 53 | 9 | |
1994–95[55] | Second Division | 44 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2[d] | 0 | 50 | 10 | |
Total | 199 | 31 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 15 | 3 | 233 | 38 | ||
Port Vale | 1995–96[56] | First Division | 45 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8[e] | 2 | 61 | 10 |
1996–97[57] | First Division | 45 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | — | 52 | 6 | ||
1997–98[58] | First Division | 4 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | |||
Total | 94 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 119 | 16 | ||
Birmingham City | 1997–98[58][59] | First Division | 41 | 4 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 44 | 4 | ||
1998–99[60] | First Division | 43 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2[f] | 0 | 51 | 0 | |
1999–2000[61] | First Division | 21 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 4 | |
2000–01[62] | First Division | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2[f] | 0 | 18 | 0 | |
2001–02[63] | First Division | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | |
Total | 124 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 142 | 8 | ||
Sheffield Wednesday (loan) | 2001–02[63] | First Division | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | 4 | 0 | |||
Port Vale | 2002–03[64] | Second Division | 8 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 9 | 0 | ||
Doncaster Rovers | 2002–03[64] | Conference | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||
York City | 2002–03[64] | Third Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||
Carlisle United | 2002–03[64] | Third Division | 21 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 4[d] | 1 | 27 | 2 | |
Hucknall Town | 2003–04[30] | NPL Premier Division | 34 | 6 | — | 34 | 6 | |||||
Northwich Victoria | 2004–05[65] | Conference National | 35 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 36 | 0 | |
2005–06[66] | Conference North | 32 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | 3[g] | 0 | 39 | 1 | ||
2006–07[67] | Conference National | 28 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 4[g] | 0 | 33 | 0 | ||
Total | 95 | 1 | 6 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | 108 | 1 | |||
Career total | 582 | 58 | 30 | 4 | 29 | 3 | 38 | 6 | 679 | 71 |
National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
Northern Ireland[35] | 1996 | 1 | 0 |
1997 | 4 | 0 | |
1998 | 4 | 0 | |
1999 | 7 | 0 | |
2001 | 2 | 0 | |
Total | 18 | 0 |
Team | From | To | Record | Ref | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
P | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
Chester | 7 April 2016 | 6 September 2017 | 62 | 19 | 15 | 28 | 30.6 | [39][68] |
Total | 62 | 19 | 15 | 28 | 30.6 | — |
York City
Port Vale
Birmingham City
Carlisle United
Hucknall Town
Northwich Victoria
Individual