Tony McMahon

Anthony McMahon (born 24 March 1986) is an English football coach and former player who played as a right back.

He took up a three-year scholarship in 2002, and was a member of the Middlesbrough team that lost to Manchester United in the final of the 2002–03 FA Youth Cup.

McMahon was capped at international youth level, playing in the 2003 Under-17 and 2005 Under-19 European Football Championships.

McMahon coached in Middlesbrough's academy, and headed Darlington's academy while also registered as a player, before taking up a coaching position with Scunthorpe United in 2021.

McMahon played football for Barnard Castle and Byers Green before joining Middlesbrough at the age of 12.

He signed professional terms in 2003, and captained the youth team – which included the likes of Andrew Taylor, David Wheater and Adam Johnson – to the 2003–04 FA Youth Cup title.

He was increasingly involved with the first team, and on 3 October 2004, after Franck Queudrue failed a late fitness test, the 18-year-old McMahon made his senior debut in the starting eleven for a 1–1 Premier League draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford.

He made a European debut on 21 October in the UEFA Cup group stage away win at Egaleo, and continued in the team well into December, mostly as a starter, taking his appearance tally to 14.

His performances earned plaudits from Match of the Day pundit Alan Hansen, Middlesbrough team-mate Ray Parlour, and manager Steve McClaren, who said that "If anyone can handle Old Trafford in the way in which Tony did on his debut, then we know that he can be relied on in the future. He did well again at Blackburn and, while he is still very young, he can have a bright future if he continues to learn and make progress."

After Boro's injury crisis eased with the return of more established defenders in Michael Reiziger and Stuart Parnaby, McMahon played little in the second half of the season.

In February 2005, his contract was extended to run until June 2008.

In mid-March, he started in the 1–0 away defeat against Sporting CP in the last 16 of the UEFA Cup that eliminated Middlesbrough from the competition, but suffered knee damage that required surgery and six weeks' rehabilitation.

McMahon made 19 appearances during the season, and was voted the club's Players' Young Player of the Year.

McMahon's next three seasons were ruined by injury.

He dislocated a shoulder during a reserve match in August, returned to reserve-team action five months later, and did not appear for the first team for another four weeks, when he played the first half of a fifth-round FA Cup tie.

He lasted less than ten minutes of the Premier League visit to Charlton Athletic before a poor tackle by Bryan Hughes inflicted medial ligament damage to his knee that kept him out for another six weeks, and he played just twice more at the end of the season.

Under the management of former Middlesbrough defender Gareth Southgate, McMahon was one of several young players with first-team experience who struggled for game time in the first few weeks of the 2006–07 season.

Apart from one League Cup tie, he had played only reserve-team football by 19 October 2006, when he broke his leg during a match against Liverpool's reserves.

He returned to reserve-team action after four months, and was included on the bench for a Premier League match in April, but an injury sustained in training, initially described as "a knock" that was not thought serious, but in fact another broken leg, not only put an end to his comeback but also delayed the start of his 2007–08 campaign.

Having returned to fitness with the reserves, McMahon joined Championship club Blackpool on 10 November 2007 on a month's loan.

He made his debut the same day, and "fitted in well" as Blackpool beat Scunthorpe United 1–0 at Bloomfield Road.

Ten minutes into his second match, he injured a hamstring and did not return to action until well into the new year.

His only first-team outing was for 15 minutes in the last game of the season, an 8–1 victory over Manchester City.

At the end of the season, he signed a one-year contract extension.

McMahon joined Championship club Sheffield Wednesday on an initial month's loan on 21 August 2008.

Although signed after their right-back Richard Hinds broke his leg, it was the quality of his passing in attack that particularly impressed manager Brian Laws about his debut.

McMahon was selected in the Championship Team of the Week after his performance against Watford on 13 September, and his loan was extended to the three-month maximum.

He was sent off for a bad tackle on Barnsley's Rob Kozluk on 21 October, and was recalled by Middlesbrough to serve the resulting three-match ban with them.

Selected ahead of Hoyte by Southgate to start the opening match of the 2009–10 season, a goalless draw with Sheffield United, McMahon's performance earned him a place in the Football League Team of the Week.

The team continued to be sound defensively and McMahon continued at right back until a 5–0 loss at home to West Bromwich Albion saw him dropped in favour of Hoyte.

McMahon played in the next three matches before returning to the substitutes' bench for a month, but after a further couple of months in the side he was discovered to have a stress fracture of the foot that kept him out until several weeks into the 2010–11 season.

McMahon played regularly throughout the remainder of the season, mainly as a starter, scored twice with free kicks, including Middlesbrough's opener in a 3–2 win at Millwall, and was involved in both goals in a 2–1 win against Derby County in March that took Middlesbrough six points clear of the relegation places.

That began a run of league games that lasted from March to mid-October with only one defeat, in which McMahon featured regularly.

Born in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, McMahon started his playing career with Middlesbrough, with whom he spent eight seasons, including loan spells with Blackpool and Sheffield Wednesday, before moving to Sheffield United in 2012.

He returned to Wednesday on 3 November for the last month of his loan, and in his 15th and final appearance he scored his first senior goal: from an inswinging corner, "McMahon arrived in the six-yard box in the centre of the goal to power a header" past Norwich City's goalkeeper to level the scores at 1–1 in a match that Wednesday won 3–2.

With Justin Hoyte unavailable after surgery, McMahon made his first Middlesbrough appearance of the season in a 1–1 draw with Arsenal on 13 December.

He performed well, and was involved in Boro's goal.

He was more or less a regular in the side as injury cover, for Emmanuel Pogatetz and Andrew Taylor as well as Hoyte, as the team faced an ultimately unsuccessful struggle against relegation to the Championship.

With his contract due to expire at the end of the season, McMahon believed his performances were proving his long-term fitness: "I've had a full season now of not being injured. I went out on loan, played well and then came back and got back in the team. I was then out of the team for a while but now I'm back in and I'm getting my head down and working hard and hopefully everything will fall into place."

Manager and club concurred, and McMahon signed a three-year contract extension.