Niall McGinn was born in Dungannon on 20 July 1987 (age 38) and came through in Northern Irish football before Celtic took him from Derry City in January 2009 for around £200,000. An early hat-trick hinted at the pace and directness that made him worth a look, though his Celtic spell became more of a staging post than the main story.
He left Celtic for Aberdeen in July 2012, and that move gave his career its proper shape. His first league season at Pittodrie was his most productive, with 20 goals in 35 appearances in 2012-2013, and he went on to become a long-serving, reliable attacking presence there rather than another brief traveller passing through.
Across 10 seasons with Aberdeen, McGinn made 279 league appearances and scored 71 league goals. Those numbers are not decorative; they explain why Aberdeen is the club most closely tied to him. He had other spells – including Gwangju FC, Dundee, Glentoran and Peterhead – but none carried the same weight.
By 2025-2026, McGinn was still a regular first-team player with Peterhead, primarily operating from the right wing and wearing squad number 14. He made 32 league appearances and scored two league goals, with 34 appearances and four goals across all competitions.
McGinn’s career began with Celtic interest and a move to Glasgow, but it was built at Aberdeen and extended well beyond the usual late-career fade. He remains an experienced wide player still contributing regularly in the senior game.
📈 Key stats and insights
