David McGoldrick

David James McGoldrick (born 29 November 1987) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Notts County.

He made two further appearances in 2003–04, at the end of which County were relegated into the Third Division.

A trainee at Notts County, he made his senior debut in 2004, before being signed by Southampton later in the year.

McGoldrick was born in Nottingham, and graduated through the Notts County youth team to make his senior debut on 24 January 2004, in a Second Division clash with Swindon Town at Meadow Lane.

He replaced Frazer McHugh with minutes to go of a 2–1 defeat.

He won his first start on 14 February, playing 86 minutes of a 1–0 loss at AFC Bournemouth.

In August 2004, at the age of sixteen, he was signed by Southampton for an undisclosed fee.

Leon Best also made the move from Notts County to Southampton over the summer.

McGoldrick did not feature in the 2004–05 Premier League campaign.

He spent five years with the "Saints", also playing on loan for Notts County in 2005, and both AFC Bournemouth and Port Vale in 2007.

He was though a member of Southampton's youth team that reached the final of the FA Youth Cup in 2005, losing on aggregate to Ipswich Town.

On 20 September 2005, he made his "Saints" debut as a substitute in a 1–0 League Cup defeat to Mansfield Town, having replaced Dexter Blackstock on 81 minutes.

Four days later he returned to Notts County for a one-month loan spell, in to gain more first team experience.

On his return to Southampton he scored 44 goals for the Reserves and Under-18 teams, bagging a hat-trick in the Under-18s play-off final win over Aston Villa, as well as three goals over the two legs of the FA Youth Cup semi-final against Liverpool.

These feats earned him a league debut for the club at home to Millwall on 17 April.

He was replaced by Ricardo Fuller after 61 minutes.

He scored his first goal for the club on 19 September 2006, in a 4–0 win over Millwall in the League Cup.

In February 2007, he joined League One team Bournemouth on a one-month loan.

The loan was later extended until the end of the season, but an injury-hit Southampton recalled McGoldrick on 23 April.

He maintained a record of a goal every other game for Bournemouth, having struck six times in twelve games.

His efforts helped the club to avoid relegation into League Two.

However, his first team opportunities remained limited at Southampton, and so in August 2007 he joined Martin Foyle's Port Vale on loan until January 2008.

He went on to score twice in eighteen games for the "Valiants" in 2007–08, though was unable to save them from relegation.

Back at Southampton he found himself behind Stern John, Marek Saganowski and Bradley Wright-Phillips in the pecking order, and therefore considered quitting the club.

McGoldrick rarely featured under George Burley or Nigel Pearson, but managed to force his way into the first-team regularly under youth-focused Dutch managers Jan Poortvliet and Mark Wotte.

After an impressive pre-season, which included two goals against Premier League side West Ham United, McGoldrick scored his first league goal for the "Saints" in a 2–1 defeat to Cardiff City on 9 August 2008.

This was followed three days later by another two goals in a League Cup victory over Exeter City.

After four goals in four games at the start of the 2008–09 campaign, he signed a new three–year contract with Southampton in September.

An ever-present throughout the season, he scored fourteen goals in fifty appearances to finish as the club's top-scroer.

However, Southampton were relegated and faced a financial crisis; which meant that McGoldrick was expected to move away from St Mary's.

He transferred to Nottingham Forest in 2009 for a £1 million fee.

In June 2009, he joined Nottingham Forest for a fee of £1 million, signing a four-year contract.

He faced competition from numerous other strikers at his new club.

McGoldrick made his Forest debut against Reading at the Madejski Stadium on 8 August.

He joined Sheffield Wednesday on loan in September 2011, and was loaned out to Coventry City in August 2012.

After a successful spell at Coventry, he joined Ipswich Town in July 2013 following an initial loan period, and stayed with the club for a further five seasons before being released after his contract expired in the summer of 2018.

He won fourteen caps for the Republic of Ireland national team between 2014 and 2020, scoring one international goal.

He signed with Sheffield United in July 2018 and was named as the club's Player of the Year as they secured promotion into the Premier League in the 2018–19 season.

He was released after four years and went on to sign with Derby County in July 2022, winning the club's Player of the Year award and the PFA Fans' Player of the Year award in 2023.

He rejoined his hometown club Notts County in June 2023.