Rory McArdle
Encyclopedia
Rory McArdle is an English
-born Northern Ireland international
footballer, who plays for Scottish Premier League
side Aberdeen
. He plays in central defence, and has also played for Sheffield Wednesday
and Rochdale
.
. As a result of his alienation from first team football, McArdle was loaned out to Football League One
club Rochdale
on two separate occasions.
at Wembley Stadium
. McArdle the second goal in a 3-2 defeat to Stockport County. It was announced at the end of the 2009-2010 season that McArdle's contract was not to be renewed.
club Aberdeen
.
McArdle went onto become a regular in the first team during his first season with the SPL outfit. Due to the transfer of Richard Foster
on loan to rivals Rangers
, McArdle often played out of position at full back. Mid-way through the season Aberdeen changed managers as a poor run of form lead to the sacking of Mark McGhee
, who was to be replaced by Motherwell
manager Craig Brown. The former Scotland boss began playing McArdle at his more suited position of central defence alongside Zander Diamond.McArdle scored his first goal for Aberdeen away to Alloa Athletic
in the Scottish League Cup
. McArdle went onto score a further three goals during the course of the rest of the season against Kilmarnock
and twice against St. Mirren
. In fact, it was McArdle who scored a dramatic late equaliser in a quarter-final Scottish Cup
tie against St. Mirren, which took the tie to a replay, which the Dons won at Pittodrie
. McArdle only missed eleven games of the 2010-11 season partly due to a suspension he picked up after receiving a straight red card for a challenge on St. Johnstone's Sam Parkin
.
on 26 May 2010 against Turkey in a friendly.. McArdle gained further caps for his country, coming on as a second half substitute four days later against Chile
and later on in the year in November against Morocco
. McArdle was selected to start his first ever international game, when Northern Ireland were beaten 3-0 by Scotland
in the Carling Nations Cup on 9 February 2011.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
-born Northern Ireland international
Northern Ireland national football team
The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. Before 1921 all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association...
footballer, who plays for Scottish Premier League
Scottish Premier League
The Scottish Premier League , also known as the SPL , is a professional league competition for association football clubs in Scotland...
side Aberdeen
Aberdeen F.C.
Aberdeen Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen...
. He plays in central defence, and has also played for Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...
and Rochdale
Rochdale A.F.C.
Rochdale Association Football Club is an English professional football club based in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. They play their home matches at Spotland Stadium. Formed in 1907, they were accepted into the Football League in 1921...
.
Sheffield Wednesday
Rory McArdle first started out his professional career as a footballer with Championship side Sheffield Wednesday. McArdle struggled to break into the first team, only making one appearance for the Owls' in a 2-1 victory over Plymouth ArgylePlymouth Argyle F.C.
Plymouth Argyle Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Plymouth, Devon, that plays in Football League Two.Since becoming professional in 1903, the club has won five Football League titles, five Southern League titles and one Western League title. The 2009–10 season was the...
. As a result of his alienation from first team football, McArdle was loaned out to Football League One
Football League One
Football League One is the second-highest division of The Football League and third-highest division overall in the English football league system....
club Rochdale
Rochdale A.F.C.
Rochdale Association Football Club is an English professional football club based in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. They play their home matches at Spotland Stadium. Formed in 1907, they were accepted into the Football League in 1921...
on two separate occasions.
Rochdale
On 8 January 2007, McArdle signed permanently for Rochdale for an undisclosed fee on a two and a half-year contract and went onto have a successful spell with the League One club making 120 appearances. McArdle was part of the Rochdale side that made it to the League Two play-off final against Stockport CountyStockport County F.C.
Stockport County Football Club is an English football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester. The club formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, shortly afterwards merging with Heaton Norris F.C., and adopted the current name on 24 May 1890 on the creation of the County Borough of Stockport...
at Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
. McArdle the second goal in a 3-2 defeat to Stockport County. It was announced at the end of the 2009-2010 season that McArdle's contract was not to be renewed.
Aberdeen
On 19 May 2010, McArdle signed a contract with Scottish Premier LeagueScottish Premier League
The Scottish Premier League , also known as the SPL , is a professional league competition for association football clubs in Scotland...
club Aberdeen
Aberdeen F.C.
Aberdeen Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Aberdeen...
.
McArdle went onto become a regular in the first team during his first season with the SPL outfit. Due to the transfer of Richard Foster
Richard Foster (footballer)
Richard Martyn "Ricky" Foster is a Scottish footballer who currently plays as captain of Scottish Premier League club Aberdeen. Foster has spent most of his career playing as a right winger, but has more recently been deployed at both right and left full back...
on loan to rivals Rangers
Rangers F.C.
Rangers Football Club are an association football club based in Glasgow, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Premier League. The club are nicknamed the Gers, Teddy Bears and the Light Blues, and the fans are known to each other as bluenoses...
, McArdle often played out of position at full back. Mid-way through the season Aberdeen changed managers as a poor run of form lead to the sacking of Mark McGhee
Mark McGhee
Mark Edward McGhee is a former Scottish professional football player. McGhee started his career at Greenock Morton in 1975 and spent spells at clubs including Newcastle United, Aberdeen, Hamburg, Celtic, IK Brage and Reading...
, who was to be replaced by Motherwell
Motherwell F.C.
Motherwell Football & Athletic Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire. The club compete in the Scottish Premier League and are one of only seven teams to have remained in this league since it was founded in 1998...
manager Craig Brown. The former Scotland boss began playing McArdle at his more suited position of central defence alongside Zander Diamond.McArdle scored his first goal for Aberdeen away to Alloa Athletic
Alloa Athletic F.C.
Alloa Athletic Football Club are a Scottish football team based in Alloa, Clackmannanshire. They are members of the Scottish Football League and currently play in the Third Division....
in the Scottish League Cup
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup is a football competition open to all Scottish Football League and Scottish Premier League clubs. At present it is also known as the Scottish Communities League Cup owing to the sponsorship deal in place with the Scottish Government. In the past it has been sponsored by...
. McArdle went onto score a further three goals during the course of the rest of the season against Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock F.C.
Kilmarnock Football Club is a Scottish football team based in the town of Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. Founded in 1869, "Killie" is the oldest club currently in the Scottish Premier League. Home matches are played at Rugby Park...
and twice against St. Mirren
St. Mirren F.C.
St Mirren Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Paisley, Renfrewshire who play in the Scottish Premier League, having been promoted from the First Division in 2005–06.St...
. In fact, it was McArdle who scored a dramatic late equaliser in a quarter-final Scottish Cup
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,, commonly known as the Scottish Cup or the William Hill Scottish Cup for sponsorship purposes, is the main national cup competition in Scottish football. It is a knockout cup competition run by and named after the Scottish Football Association.The...
tie against St. Mirren, which took the tie to a replay, which the Dons won at Pittodrie
Pittodrie Stadium
Pittodrie Stadium is an all-seated football stadium situated in the Scottish city of Aberdeen. It was first used in 1899 and from 1903 has been the home of Aberdeen Football Club...
. McArdle only missed eleven games of the 2010-11 season partly due to a suspension he picked up after receiving a straight red card for a challenge on St. Johnstone's Sam Parkin
Sam Parkin
Samuel "Sam" Parkin is an English professional footballer who plays for St Johnstone.-Chelsea:...
.
International career
McArdle made his full debut for Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland national football team
The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. Before 1921 all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association...
on 26 May 2010 against Turkey in a friendly.. McArdle gained further caps for his country, coming on as a second half substitute four days later against Chile
Chile national football team
The Chilean national football team represents Chile in all major international football competitions. The team is controlled by the Federación de Fútbol de Chile which was established in 1895. They have appeared in eight World Cup tournaments and were hosts of the 1962 FIFA World Cup finishing in...
and later on in the year in November against Morocco
Morocco national football team
The Morocco national football team , nicknamed أسود الأطلس , is the national team of Morocco and is managed by Eric Gerets. Winners of the African Nations Cup in 1976, they were the first African team to win a group at the World Cup, which they did in 1986, finishing ahead of Portugal, Poland, and...
. McArdle was selected to start his first ever international game, when Northern Ireland were beaten 3-0 by Scotland
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
in the Carling Nations Cup on 9 February 2011.
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 26 May 2011 | Veterans Stadium Veterans Stadium Philadelphia Veterans Stadium was a professional-sports, multi-purpose stadium, located at the northeast corner of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex... , Connecticut Connecticut Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately... , USA |
0–2 | Friendly Exhibition game An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition... |
|
| 2. | 30 May 2011 | Estadio Municipal Estadio Municipal Estadio Municipal is a generic name for municipally-owned, -constructed, or -operated sport stadia in Spanish or Portuguese -speaking countries.In Angola:* Estádio Municipal de Benguela, in BenguelaIn Argentina:... , Santiago Santiago Santiago is the capital city of Chile. Santiago may also refer to:*Santiago *Santiago , a Spanish given name*Santiago!, a shortened form of the Reconquista battle cry "Santiago y cierra, España"... , Chile Chile Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far... |
0–1 | Friendly | |
| 3. | 16 November 2011 | Windsor Park Windsor Park Windsor Park is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland and the home ground of Linfield F.C. and the Northern Ireland national football team. It is also where the Irish Cup and Irish League Cup finals are played.-History:... , Belfast Belfast Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly... , Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west... |
1–1 | Friendly | |
| 4. | 9 February 2011 | Aviva Stadium Aviva Stadium The Aviva Stadium is a sports stadium located in Dublin, Ireland, with a capacity for 50,000 spectators. The stadium is built on the site of the old Lansdowne Road venue, which was demolished in 2007, and replaces that stadium as home to its chief tenants: the Irish rugby union team and the... , Dublin, Republic of Ireland Republic of Ireland Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,... |
0–3 | 2011 Nations Cup |