John McGinn

John McGinn (born 18 October 1994) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays primarily as a central-midfielder for club Aston Villa, who he captains, and the Scotland national team. Primarily a central-midfielder, McGinn is also capable of playing as a wide-midfielder, defensive-midfielder or attacking-midfielder. He is known for his set-piece and playmaking abilities.

Having grown up in a footballing family, McGinn started his career with St Mirren. He won the Scottish League Cup in 2013 with them, during his first season as a first team player. McGinn moved to Hibernian in 2015, and with them he won the Scottish Cup in 2016 and promotion in 2017.

McGinn moved to English football in August 2018, signing for Aston Villa. 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. He has since made over 60 appearances for Scotland, and represented them at UEFA Euro 2020 and Euro 2024.

St Mirren
McGinn started his career as a youth player at St Mirren, playing for the club's Ralston Academy. 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. McGinn made his competitive début against SPL champions Celtic in a 5–0 defeat, coming off the bench as a 78th-minute substitute.

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

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. 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.

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

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.

Aston Villa
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 in a 2–1 victory over Derby County, 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 scored the first goal of Aston Villa's return to the Premier League in the first game of the season, a 3–1 away defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on 10 August 2019. On 21 December 2019, McGinn suffered a fractured ankle in a 3–1 home defeat to Southampton and was expected to be out for up to three months. The break in the season caused by the COVID-19 pandemic meant that McGinn returned later in the same season, and he featured in all of Villa's remaining games as they retained Premier League status.

On 11 December 2020, McGinn signed a new five-year contract, which sees him extend his stay at Villa Park until 2025. Following the departure of club captain Jack Grealish, McGinn was announced as the new vice-captain on 14 August 2021. He scored in Villa's league opener, a 3–2 defeat against Watford.

On 27 July 2022, ahead of the new season, Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard named McGinn as the new captain, with Emiliano Martínez replacing him as vice-captain.

He signed a new four-year contract with Villa in June 2023. On 5 October 2023, he scored the winning goal from a header in the 94th minute of stoppage time in a 1–0 victory over Zrinjski Mostar during the 2023–24 Conference League group stage, to be his club's first ever win in the competition.

On 10 March 2024, McGinn received his first red card in the Premier League due to a dangerous challenge he made on Destiny Udogie. His dismissal meant that he would miss the 3 games against West Ham United, Wolverhamtpon Wanderers and Manchester City.

International career
McGinn received an international call-up when he was selected as part of a Scotland under-19 squad for a training camp in Turkey in January 2013. He later went on to make his international debut for the under-19 side against Netherlands in a 2–1 defeat. McGinn then captained the under-19s against Serbia in Stara Pazova. On 5 March 2014, he made his debut for the Scotland under-21 side in a 2–2 draw against Hungary at Tannadice. McGinn later captained the under-21 team.

McGinn received his first call-up to the senior Scotland squad in March 2016, for a friendly against Denmark. McGinn played for the whole of the 1–0 win and was awarded man of the match.

McGinn scored his first goal for Scotland in September 2019, during a Euro 2020 qualification match with Russia. McGinn scored the first hat-trick in his career in a Euro 2020 qualifier against San Marino on 13 October 2019, with all his goals coming in the first half. Two goals against Kazakhstan meant that McGinn finished with a total of 7 goals in the Euro 2020 qualifying group.

With regular captain Andrew Robertson suspended, McGinn captained Scotland during a 1–0 win against the Czech Republic on 14 October 2020.

McGinn scored three goals for Scotland in March 2021 during the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification matches: a bicycle kick in a 2–2 draw against Austria and two in a 4–0 win against the Faroe Islands. In September of that year he played the whole match in Vienna as Scotland defeated Austria 1–0; his brother Paul was introduced as a substitute in the second half, and they became only the third siblings to play together for the national team since the end of World War II.

McGinn won his 50th cap for Scotland on 24 September 2022, in a 2–1 win against Republic of Ireland. During that same international period he again captained the team, as Andrew Robertson was absent due to injury. A goalless draw against Ukraine secured first place in the group and promotion to the top level of the Nations League.

On 7 June 2024, McGinn was named in Scotland's squad for the UEFA Euro 2024 finals in Germany. A week later, he started the opening match of the tournament, where Scotland lost 5–1 to hosts Germany. He went on to start against both Switzerland and Hungary as Scotland finished bottom of Group A with one point from three matches.

Playing style
McGinn has an unusual running style ("I don't think anyone runs the way I do") and a large backside ("I don't think anyone has a backside the size of me"), which he uses to shield the ball and turn opponents. His style of movement has drawn comparisons to fellow Scottish footballer Kenny Dalglish, who deployed a similar style of play during his career.

Personal life
Raised in Clydebank where he attended St Columba's High School, John is the third of four children to parents Stephen and Mary. He has a twin sister, Katie, and his older brothers Stephen and Paul are also professional footballers. All three brothers have been with both St Mirren and Hibernian at some stage in their careers. Their grandfather Jack McGinn is a former Celtic chairman and Scottish Football Association president.

McGinn often uses a 'goggles' goal celebration, a gesture of support for his nephew who is visually impaired and wears special eyewear to play football.

International

 * Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each McGinn goal.

Honours
St Mirren
 * Scottish League Cup: 2012–13

Hibernian
 * Scottish Cup: 2015–16
 * Scottish Championship: 2016–17

Aston Villa
 * EFL Championship play-offs: 2019

Individual
 * SFWA International Player of the Year (4): 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23
 * Aston Villa Player of the Season: 2018–19
 * Scottish Championship Player of the Season: 2016–17
 * Scottish Championship Player of the Month: November 2015, November 2016
 * UEFA Europa Conference League Team of the Season: 2023–24