George McCartney (born April 29, 1981 in
BelfastBelfast is the capital of and the largest city in Northern Ireland, a constituent country of the United Kingdom. It is the seat of devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly. It is the largest urban area in the province of Ulster, and the second largest city on the island of...
,
Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and it is situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
) is an international
footballerAssociation football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players using a spherical ball...
for
Northern IrelandThe Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international football. Before 1921, all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association...
. He currently plays for Sunderland where he is an attacking left full back.
McCartney joined
SunderlandSunderland Association Football Club are a professional association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England, that compete in the Premier League. Since their formation in 1879, they have won six First Division titles—in 1892, 1893, 1895, 1902, 1913, and 1936 Sunderland Association...
as a trainee in 1998 and made his debut against
LutonLuton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire. The team plays its home matches at Kenilworth Road, where it has been based since 1905...
in the
Worthington CupWorthington Cup may refer to:* The Football League Cup, an English professional football trophy, known by this name when sponsored by the Worthington brand of beer between 1998 and 2003.* The Worthington Trophy, a Canadian military award....
in 2000. He was made team captain in 2003/04 after
Jason McAteerJason Wynne McAteer is an Irish former international football player. He announced his retirement from professional football on 12 June 2007,...
suffered a long-term injury and in 2004/05 was voted Player of the Season by
SunderlandSunderland Association Football Club are a professional association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England, that compete in the Premier League. Since their formation in 1879, they have won six First Division titles—in 1892, 1893, 1895, 1902, 1913, and 1936 Sunderland Association...
fans during the successful Championship winning campaign, narrowly beating left sided partner and fan favourite
Julio ArcaJulio Andrés Arca is an Argentine footballer, currently playing for Middlesbrough. Arca is also a former Argentine Under-21 captain. His father was a bank manager and his Italian passport allows him to play in the European Union without needing a work permit. He is a left back or midfield enforcer...
.
George McCartney (born April 29, 1981 in
BelfastBelfast is the capital of and the largest city in Northern Ireland, a constituent country of the United Kingdom. It is the seat of devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly. It is the largest urban area in the province of Ulster, and the second largest city on the island of...
,
Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and it is situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
) is an international
footballerAssociation football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players using a spherical ball...
for
Northern IrelandThe Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international football. Before 1921, all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association...
. He currently plays for Sunderland where he is an attacking left full back.
Sunderland
McCartney joined
SunderlandSunderland Association Football Club are a professional association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England, that compete in the Premier League. Since their formation in 1879, they have won six First Division titles—in 1892, 1893, 1895, 1902, 1913, and 1936 Sunderland Association...
as a trainee in 1998 and made his debut against
LutonLuton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire. The team plays its home matches at Kenilworth Road, where it has been based since 1905...
in the
Worthington CupWorthington Cup may refer to:* The Football League Cup, an English professional football trophy, known by this name when sponsored by the Worthington brand of beer between 1998 and 2003.* The Worthington Trophy, a Canadian military award....
in 2000. He was made team captain in 2003/04 after
Jason McAteerJason Wynne McAteer is an Irish former international football player. He announced his retirement from professional football on 12 June 2007,...
suffered a long-term injury and in 2004/05 was voted Player of the Season by
SunderlandSunderland Association Football Club are a professional association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England, that compete in the Premier League. Since their formation in 1879, they have won six First Division titles—in 1892, 1893, 1895, 1902, 1913, and 1936 Sunderland Association...
fans during the successful Championship winning campaign, narrowly beating left sided partner and fan favourite
Julio ArcaJulio Andrés Arca is an Argentine footballer, currently playing for Middlesbrough. Arca is also a former Argentine Under-21 captain. His father was a bank manager and his Italian passport allows him to play in the European Union without needing a work permit. He is a left back or midfield enforcer...
. During the season his excellent performances earned him the title "Mr. Consistent" from manager
Mick McCarthyMichael Joseph "Mick" McCarthy is an English-born, former Irish professional footballer who is currently the manager of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club....
. McCartney missed a large percentage of Sunderland's ill-fated 2005-06 season due to injury. He showed glimpses of his potential once he had regained his fitness, but in truth, his return came far too late in the season for him to have any meaningful impact on the team's dreadful run of results. He made 157 appearances for Sunderland in all competitions.
West Ham
On August 8, 2006 McCartney moved to West Ham in a four year deal, in exchange for
Clive ClarkeClive Richard Luke Clarke is an Irish footballer currently without a club after leaving Sunderland for health reasons...
and an additional £600,000. He made his debut in the team's 2-1 defeat to
ChesterfieldChesterfield Football Club is an English football club based in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. The club currently plays in Football League Two, the fourth tier of English football. Despite being the 4th oldest Football League club in England, they have spent most of their existence in the lower...
in the
League CupThe Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or for sponsorship reasons the Carling Cup, is an English football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
on October 24, 2006. After initially spending most of his time as substitute, he eventually became a first team regular under
Alan CurbishleyLlewellyn Charles "Alan" Curbishley is a football manager and former professional player....
and his strong forward runs played a crucial role in West Ham's eventual escape from relegation. He went on to make 25 appearances in all competitions for West Ham during the 2006/07 season. McCartney scored his first goal for the hammers, a strong back post header, in a friendly against
RomaAssociazione Sportiva Roma, commonly referred to as simply Roma, is an Italian professional football club from Rome. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma have participated at the top-tier of Italian football for all of their existence bar one season in the early 50s...
one week before the start of the 2007/08 season. He scored his first Premier League goal for West Ham in the 1-1 home draw with
Bolton WanderersBolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional football club based in Horwich, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. They are currently in the Premier League....
on November 4, 2007 with a magnificent volley. At the end of the 2007/2008 season McCartney received the runner up Hammer of the Year Award, having played in all 38 Premiership games.
Return to Sunderland
McCartney rejoined former club Sunderland on September 1, 2008, signing a five-year contract, for a fee reported to be between £4.5 and 6 million, although it was officially declared as undisclosed.
International career
McCartney has four caps for the Northern Ireland U-21 team and has made 23 appearances, including two as substitute, for the senior team. He made his debut for the senior team in September 2001, in their World Cup qualifying win against Iceland, scoring his only goal in his professional career before his goal for West Ham in 2007. In 2005, he fell out with the then manager of the Northern Ireland senior team,
Lawrie SanchezLawrence Philip Sanchez is a football manager and a former player. The defining moment of his playing career came in the 1988 FA Cup Final, where he scored the winning goal for Wimbledon, producing one of the biggest Cup upsets against Liverpool.-Personal life:Sanchez was born in London, the son...
. However since
Nigel WorthingtonNigel Worthington is a Northern Irish football manager and former player. He is currently manager of the Northern Ireland national team....
took charge of the national team George has stated his willingness to return
and on August 22, 2007, McCartney made his return to international football in the 3-1 win against
LiechtensteinThe Liechtenstein national football team is the national football team of Liechtenstein and is controlled by the Liechtenstein Football Association. The organisation is known as the Liechtensteiner Fussballverband in German. The team's first match was an unofficial match against Malta in Seoul, a...
.
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