Alan McCormack

Alan McCormack (born 10 January 1984) is an Irish football coach and former professional player who played as a right-back or midfielder.

He is an academy coach at club Luton Town.

He moved to England to sign for First Division club Preston North End in December 2002 after impressing on trial, and progressed to sign a professional contract in 2003.

He joined Leyton Orient of the Third Division on 29 August 2003 on a one-month loan and made the first professional appearance of his career in a 4–1 home defeat to Cheltenham Town the following day, when he replaced Billy Jones at half-time.

McCormack received the first red card of his career in a 0–0 draw with Lincoln City on 13 September, after committing two bookable offences.

In late September, caretaker manager Martin Ling extended McCormack's loan until 1 November.

He was sent off again in a 1–1 draw with Northampton Town on 25 October.

He made 11 appearances, accumulating six yellow and two red cards, before his loan expired.

He made four further appearances before the end of the 2003–04 season.

McCormack made his Preston debut on 6 March 2004 in a league match against Burnley, when he replaced Dickson Etuhu after 55 minutes.

After making four substitute appearances at the beginning of the 2004–05 season, McCormack was made available for transfer in September 2004.

In April, the loan was extended until the end of the 2004–05 season.

He joined League Two club Southend United on loan on 16 March 2005 and made his debut three days later, starting in a 3–0 victory over Cheltenham Town.

He was an 81st-minute substitute for Mark Gower during the 2005 Football League Trophy Final against Wrexham at the Millennium Stadium, but was denied the first silverware of his career when Wrexham won the match 2–0 after extra time.

McCormack scored the first senior goals of his career with a brace in a 2–1 away victory over Macclesfield Town on 19 April.

He made eight appearances and scored two goals during his loan spell.

He spent the entire 2005–06 season on loan at Motherwell of the Scottish Premier League, making 28 appearances in all competitions, scoring two goals, accumulating 12 yellow cards and one red.

McCormack made his first Preston appearance in nearly two years when he replaced Kelvin Wilson after 41 minutes of a 1–1 Championship home draw with Queens Park Rangers on 19 August 2006.

He played two further matches in September, with the latter match against Stoke City on 30 September being his final Preston appearance.

He made a total of 12 appearances for the club.

In November 2006 and with his contract set to expire at the end of the 2006–07 season, McCormack handed in a transfer request, before rejoining Championship club Southend United on loan on 18 November 2006, initially until 1 January 2007, with a view to a permanent move.

After an impressive first month of his spell, assistant manager Paul Brush confirmed on 11 December that McCormack would transfer to the club permanently and he subsequently signed on a two-and-a-half-year contract.

In what remained of the 2006–07 season, McCormack made 26 appearances and scored three goals, but he was unable to prevent Southend's relegation to League One.

McCormack formed a central midfield partnership with Nicky Bailey during the 2007–08 season and the pair scored 20 goals between them, with McCormack scoring nine, which included a run of five goals in seven appearances in September 2007.

The season ended with a play-off semi-final defeat to Doncaster Rovers, and in June 2008, he signed a new three-year contract.

McCormack suffered a knee injury during the 2008–09 pre-season, which kept him out of action for eight weeks.

After returning to fitness, he made 38 appearances during the season, scoring two goals.

McCormack played the full 90 minutes in a 1–1 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the FA Cup third round on 3 January 2009, but missed the replay, which Southend lost 4–1.

McCormack made 43 appearances and scored three goals during the 2009–10 season, but what would be his final season at Roots Hall culminated in the club's relegation to League Two.

His contract was terminated by mutual consent on 24 June 2010.

Over the course of his two spells with Southend, McCormack made 166 appearances and scored 19 goals.

McCormack remained in League One and signed a two-year contract with Charlton Athletic on 6 July 2010.

He made 31 appearances and scored one goal during the 2010–11 season as Charlton finished in mid-table.

McCormack's contract was terminated by mutual consent in July 2011.

After a spell training with Swindon Town, McCormack signed a two-year contract with the League Two club on 21 July 2011.

Looking back in August 2012 on his time with Preston, McCormack said "I had a great few years there and I learnt a hell of a lot – enough to help me go on and continue my career in the professional game in England. I've got a lot of time and a lot of credit for that, I look back and I never have a bad word to say about it. I've got nothing but good things to say about the club, I'll always have fond memories of the place".

He began his career at Preston North End and later played for Southend United, Charlton Athletic and Swindon Town before signing for Brentford in 2013.

He was capped at schoolboy and U19 level by the Republic of Ireland.

McCormack was born in Dublin and began his career with Stella Maris.

Looking back in August 2014 on his time with the Addicks, McCormack said "it wasn't a great year and I didn't play particularly well. It was a bit hostile. There was a lot of stuff on the internet sent to me, so it wasn't a pretty time and I don't look back at it with fond memories".