Brian McGinty


Brian McGinty is a Scottish former professional footballer. After beginning his career with Rangers in the Scottish Football League Premier Division he later played league football in both Scotland and England. As of 28 January 2020 he has resigned his managerial position at Irvine Meadow in the Scottish Junior Football Association, West Region.

Career

Born in East Kilbride, McGinty came through the youth system at Rangers. He made his Premier Division debut in January 1995 against Partick Thistle but only made a further three appearances in as many seasons. Former Rangers striker Mark Hateley signed McGinty for Hull City in November 1997 and he played over fifty games for the club before leaving for Conference side Scarborough on a short-term deal in August 1999.
McGinty returned to Scotland for a spell at Airdrie but moved on to Irish League side Portadown where he broke his leg in April 2000. On his recovery, McGinty played one match for Dumbarton in August 2000 but he signed for Cumnock Juniors later that month.
McGinty stepped back up to senior football when Tom Hendrie signed him for St Mirren in November 2001. In spite of injury problems which included a Bell's palsy affliction in 2002–03, he appeared 137 times in all competitions for the Paisley side before his contract was cancelled by mutual consent in April 2007.
McGinty dropped back to the Junior grade with Irvine Meadow in the summer of 2007. In a successful period for the Ayrshire side, he won league titles in 2009 and 2011 and was part of the first Junior side to face an SPL side in the Scottish Cup when Meadow reached the fourth round in 2009–10. McGinty moved on to fellow Junior side Pollok in June 2011, and became part of the coaching staff under manager Stephen Docherty in October 2013. A further move to Bellshill Athletic in January 2014 saw him become manager of the club almost exactly a year later when incumbent boss Robert Downs joined Arthurlie.
McGinty left Bellshill in May 2015 having led the club to promotion to the West of Scotland Super League First Division. He re-entered the Junior game as Rossvale manager in March 2016 before returning to his former club, Irvine Meadow, as manager in October 2017