John McGinn

McGinn made his competitive début against SPL champions Celtic in a 5–0 defeat, coming off the bench as a 78th-minute substitute.

John McGinn (born 18 October 1994) is a Scottish professional footballer who captains club Aston Villa and plays for the Scotland national team.

He can play as a midfielder or a winger.

Having grown up in a footballing family, McGinn started his career with St Mirren.

He broke into the first team in pre-season of the 2012–13 season, representing the club against English opposition Carlisle United and Accrington Stanley.

In the same summer he also helped the under-20 side to victory in Kilbirnie Ladeside pre-season tournament, picking up joint player of the tournament with Jack Smith.

On 29 November 2012, McGinn signed a new three-year contract, keeping him at St Mirren Park until summer 2015.

He won the Scottish League Cup in 2013 with them, during his first season as a first team player.

McGinn played the first 81 minutes of the 2013 Scottish League Cup final, as St Mirren won the League Cup by winning 3–2 against Hearts.

St Mirren were relegated from the Scottish Premiership at the end of the 2014–15 season.

McGinn later admitted that he had played "poorly" during that season, and that he had been distracted by speculation linking him with transfers to English clubs.

McGinn moved to Hibernian in 2015, and with them he won the Scottish Cup in 2016 and promotion in 2017.

In April 2015, McGinn was "speared" in the thigh with a training pole thrown by St Mirren club captain Steven Thompson during a training session prank gone wrong.

The resulting injury meant that McGinn missed the remainder of the season, and in turn he took legal action against the club.

Having suffered the training ground injury and relegation during the spring of 2015, McGinn's transfer options were reduced.

He trained with Houston Dynamo during July 2015, but they were unable to sign him due to foreign player restrictions on Major League Soccer clubs.

On 31 July 2015, McGinn signed a four-year contract with Hibernian, who paid St Mirren a development fee for McGinn and promised them 30% of any future transfer fee.

McGinn was part of the Hibernian team that won the 2015–16 Scottish Cup, the club's first victory in the competition for 114 years.

He scored the winning goal as Villa won the play-off final and promotion to the Premier League in his first season with the club, and he went on to score the first goal in their first season back in the top flight since 2016.

McGinn was appointed team captain in July 2022.

Having represented Scotland at the under-19 and under-21 levels, McGinn made his full international debut in March 2016.

In the following season, McGinn helped them win promotion to the Scottish Premiership by winning the 2016–17 Scottish Championship.

Hibs rejected three offers from EFL Championship club Nottingham Forest for McGinn during August 2017.

McGinn was one of four players nominated for the 2017–18 PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year award.

McGinn moved to English football in August 2018, signing for Aston Villa.

McGinn scored both of the Hibs goals in a 2–2 draw at Celtic on 30 September, and the first goal in a 2–1 win at Rangers on 3 February 2018.

Celtic made three offers for McGinn during July 2018, but these were all rejected by Hibernian.

During this period of transfer speculation, McGinn continued to play regularly for Hibs and scored the winning goal in a Europa League qualifier against Asteras Tripolis.

McGinn visited Aston Villa's training ground on 7 August to discuss a potential transfer, which was completed the following day.

McGinn signed a four-year contract with Aston Villa on 8 August 2018 despite interest from Celtic.

He made his debut for Villa in a 3–2 win against Wigan Athletic on 11 August, during which he provided an assist for the opening goal and his inswinging corner forced an own goal in the second half.

McGinn scored his first goal in English football on 22 September, a swerving 25-yard volley in a 2–1 home defeat against Sheffield Wednesday which was later named EFL Championship goal of the season.

Despite consistent performances at his new club, which saw McGinn quickly become a new fan favourite, Villa began the season poorly, which eventually lead to the sacking of Steve Bruce as manager of the club in October 2018.

Brentford manager Dean Smith was appointed as the new manager, and McGinn continued to be a key player in the Villa starting 11 for the new manager.

The midfielder picked up his first goal under the new manager in a 3–0 win against Derby County and then picked up his first brace for the club in a 3–1 win over Nottingham Forest in March 2019.

McGinn's good form continued, scoring goals against Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday as Villa's form picked up heading into the final stages of the season.

After picking up the club's Players' Player of the Season and Supporters' Player of the Season awards, McGinn scored the winner in the Championship play-off final to promote Aston Villa to the Premier League after three years in the Championship.

On 8 August 2019, McGinn signed a five-year contract with the club.

He has since made over 60 appearances for Scotland, and represented them at UEFA Euro 2020.

McGinn started his career as a youth player at St Mirren, playing for the club's Ralston Academy.