Mark McGuinness

Mark McGuinness
Personal information
Full name Mark James McGuinness[1]
Date of birth (2001-01-05) 5 January 2001 (age 23)[2]
Place of birth Slough, England
Height 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre back
Team information
Current team
 Luton Town
Number 6
Youth career
2011–2020 Arsenal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020–2021 Arsenal 0 (0)
2020–2021 → Ipswich Town (loan) 24 (1)
2021–2024 Cardiff City 83 (5)
2022–2023 → Sheffield Wednesday (loan) 17 (1)
2024– Luton Town 23 (1)
International career‡
2019 Republic of Ireland U19 10 (2)
2020–2022 Republic of Ireland U21 13 (1)
2024– Republic of Ireland 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16:55, 1 January 2025 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:33, 17 November 2024 (UTC)

Mark James McGuinness (born 5 January 2001) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Luton Town. Born in England, McGuiness represents the Republic of Ireland national team.

Club career

Born in Slough, McGuinness joined Arsenal at the age of 10.[3] After featuring regularly for Arsenal's under-18s side during the 2018–19 season, he signed his first professional contract with the club in April 2019.[4][5] He broke into Arsenal's under-23 squad during the 2019–20 season, although he missed much of the season through injury.[5] He featured for the Arsenal first-team for the first time during pre-season for the 2020–21 season, including scoring a header in a 4–1 win over Milton Keynes Dons in a friendly on 25 August.[6]

McGuinness signed on a season long loan for Ipswich Town in September 2020.[3] He made his senior debut on 27 October 2020, keeping a clean sheet in a 1–0 win over Gillingham.[7] He scored his first senior career goal in a 1–0 away win over Burton Albion on 16 January 2021.[8] McGuinness made 25 appearances during his loan spell at Ipswich, scoring once.[7]

He signed for Cardiff City on 21 June 2021, on a three-year contract.[9] He scored his first goal for Cardiff in a 2–1 win against Preston North End on 20 November 2021.[10]

On 18 August 2022, McGuinness joined Sheffield Wednesday on a season-long loan.[11][12] Two days later he made his debut, starting against Bolton Wanderers.[13] He would win the clubs player of the month for November, making five appearances and scoring his first goal for the club against Shrewsbury Town.[14] Another three clean sheets from a possible five in December saw him get back-to-back player of the month awards at the club.[15] He was recalled back to Cardiff City on 19 January 2023 having played 23 times.[16]

On 17 August 2023, it was announced that McGuinness had signed a new four-year deal that would keep him at Cardiff until the summer of 2027.[17]

In August 2024, he transferred to Luton Town for a "significant" sum.[18]

International career

McGuinness is a Republic of Ireland youth international,[3] qualifying through his Derry-born father (who grew up in Limavady)[19] and playing for them at under-19 level.[2] He made his debut for the Republic of Ireland under-19 side in March 2019 in a 5–0 win over Romania U19.[20]

He received his first call-up to the Republic of Ireland under-21 team in November 2020, for UEFA Under-21 European Championship Qualifiers at home to Iceland and away to Luxembourg.[21] He made his debut for the under-21s in a 2–1 win over Luxembourg on 18 November.[22] McGuinness scored his first goal for the U21's on 12 October 2021 in a 2–1 loss to Montenegro in Podgorica.[23]

On 3 October 2024, McGuinness received his first call up to the senior Republic of Ireland squad for their upcoming UEFA Nations League fixtures away to Finland and Greece.[24]

McGuinness made his Ireland debut on 17 November 2024, starting in their loss to England.[25][26]

Personal life

Mark's father, John McGuinness and brother Tom have represented England in bowls.[27]

Career statistics

As of match played 1 January 2025
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season Division League FA Cup EFL Cup Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Arsenal U21 2019–20[28] — — — 1[a] 0 1 0
2020–21[7] — — — 1[a] 0 1 0
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0
Arsenal 2020–21[7] Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Ipswich Town (loan) 2020–21[7] League One 24 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 25 1
Cardiff City 2021–22[29] Championship 34 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 35 3
2022–23[30] Championship 19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 19 0
2023–24[31] Championship 30 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 31 2
2024–25[32] Championship 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
Total 83 5 1 0 2 0 0 0 86 5
Sheffield Wednesday (loan) 2022–23[30] League One 17 1 3 0 2 0 2[a] 0 24 1
Luton Town 2024–25[32] Championship 23 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 23 1
Career total 147 8 5 0 3 0 4 0 159 8
  1. ^ a b c Appearance in EFL Trophy.

International

As of match played 17 November 2024
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Republic of Ireland
2024 1 0
Total 1 0

References

  1. ^ Mark McGuinness at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  2. ^ a b c "Republic of Ireland – M. McGuinness – Profile with news, career statistics and history – Soccerway". int.soccerway.com.
  3. ^ a b c "Ipswich sign Arsenal's McGuinness". BBC Sport. 22 September 2020.
  4. ^ "Mark McGuinness signs first professional contract". www.arsenal.com. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Mark McGuinness signs professional terms with Arsenal". Daily Cannon. 3 April 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  6. ^ "A guide to Mark McGuinness as he leaves Arsenal for Ipswich on loan". Daily Cannon. 22 September 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Games played by Mark McGuinness in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  8. ^ "Burton Albion 0 – 1 Ipswich Town". BBC Sport. 16 January 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  9. ^ "Cardiff sign Arsenal defender McGuinness". BBC Sport.
  10. ^ "Preston 1–2 Cardiff". BBC. 20 November 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  11. ^ "Mark McGuinness joins Owls on loan". Sheffield Wednesday FC. 18 August 2022.
  12. ^ "McGuinness joins Sheffield Wednesday on loan" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  13. ^ "Report: Bolton 0–2 Wednesday". Sheffield Wednesday FC. 20 August 2022.
  14. ^ "McGuinness voted Owls Player of the Month". Sheffield Wednesday FC. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  15. ^ "McGuinness on top in fans' vote!". Sheffield Wednesday FC. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  16. ^ "Owls confirm McGuinness departure". Sheffield Wednesday FC. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  17. ^ "Mark McGuinness signs a new four-year deal | Cardiff". www.cardiffcityfc.co.uk. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  18. ^ "Luton Town sign Cardiff's Mark McGuinness and free agent Liam Walsh". BBC Sport. 20 August 2024.
  19. ^ "Limavady link to Arsenal's midweek win over MK Dons". Derry Now. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  20. ^ "Mark McGuinness makes u19 debut for Republic of Ireland". BBC Sport. 20 March 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  21. ^ "Ireland U21: 24-man squad named for November double-header". www.fai.ie. 6 November 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  22. ^ "McGuinness Wins First Irish U21s Cap". TWTD. 18 November 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  23. ^ "REPORT | Montenegro U21 2–1 Ireland U21 | Football Association of Ireland". www.fai.ie.
  24. ^ "McGuinness gets first Ireland call-up, Doherty left out". 3 October 2024 – via www.rte.ie.
  25. ^ Leahy, Ed (17 November 2024). "McGuinness primed for debut as Ireland face England" – via www.rte.ie. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  26. ^ "England vs Republic of Ireland: Live text coverage, radio commentary and stats". BBC Sport.
  27. ^ "PotM, role models, family, music, Guinness! – An in-depth chat with Mark McGuinness". www.youtube.com.
  28. ^ "Games played by Mark McGuinness in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  29. ^ "Games played by Mark McGuinness in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  30. ^ a b "Games played by Mark McGuinness in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  31. ^ "Games played by Mark McGuinness in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  32. ^ a b "Games played by Mark McGuinness in 2024/2025". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 October 2024.