Niall McGinn (born 20 July 1987) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays for Scottish Championship club Greenock Morton, on loan from NIFL Premiership club Glentoran. McGinn has also played for Dungannon Swifts, Derry City, Celtic, Brentford, Aberdeen (two spells), Gwangju and Dundee. He made his debut for Northern Ireland in 2008 and has gone on to make over sixty international appearances.
Dungannon Swifts McGinn began his football career at Dungannon Swifts in his native county. In his first full season, the club finished in 10th place.
Derry City McGinn was signed by Derry City manager Stephen Kenny in January 2008 for an undisclosed fee from Dungannon Swifts in the Carnegie Premier League, who in turn signed him from Donaghmore Celtic. His decision to sign a professional football contract meant that McGinn retired from playing Gaelic football for Donaghmore and Tyrone U-21s. A very promising young talent, McGinn mainly plays on the left or right side of midfield but he can also be employed as a secondary striker. On 14 March 2008, McGinn made his debut for the club in a 2–1 win over Finn Harps. On 25 March 2008, McGinn scored his first goal for the club in a 4–1 win over University College Dublin. On 1 June 2008, McGinn scored his second goal in a 3–2 loss against Cork City. On 25 July 2008, McGinn scored his third goal in a 4–0 win over Galway United and scored again (fifth) in the second meeting on 2 November 2008 in a 2–0 win. On 9 August 2008, McGinn scored his fourth goal in a 3–0 win over Cobh Ramblers and scored again (sixth) in the second meeting on 14 November 2008 in a 4–2 win.
During 2008, he attracted interest from such clubs as Celtic and Championship sides Ipswich Town and Swansea City. He also attracted interest from Birmingham City.
as McGinn making a pass. Celtic McGinn signed for Celtic on 1 January 2009. On 12 September 2009, McGinn made his first team debut for Celtic against Dundee United. Although the game ended in a 1–1 draw, McGinn was awarded the official Man of the Match award. On 17 September 2009, McGinn made his Europa League Groupstage debut in a 2–1 loss against Hapoel Tel Aviv. In the last Groupstage game with Celtic out, they faced Austrian side Rapid Wien to finished third place. The match ended 3–3 which Celtic finished third. During the match, McGinn started the match and provided assist for Marc-Antoine Fortuné to score the second goal in a match before coming off for Graham Carey.
