Quick Facts
SagittariusBiography
Declan McDaid (born 22 November 1995) is a Scottish footballer who plays as a midfielder for Dundee. McDaid started his career as a youth player at Greenock Morton, before being promoted to the club's first team in April 2013. However, McDaid left the club a short time later and signed for (then) Scottish First Division side Partick Thistle in June 2013. After two successful seasons with Ayr United, he signed for Scottish Championship side Dundee in June 2019.
Club career
Greenock Morton
Whilst still in school, Morton received a £35,000 verbal offer from Celtic but rejected it to allow him to complete his schooling.
Born in Greenock, McDaid made his debut for Greenock Morton's first-team on 6 April 2013, coming on as a late substitute in a 5–2 victory over Airdrie United. He chose to reject an offer of a full-time contract with the club and left in 2013.
Partick Thistle
McDaid joined newly promoted Scottish Premiership club Partick Thistle on 21 June 2013, initially to play for Thistle's under 20 squad. Just 20 seconds after coming on as a substitute against St Mirren, McDaid assisted Christie Elliot for a goal in the seventy-fifth minute. Thistle eventually won the game 1–0. On 18 February 2015, McDaid signed a new contract, keeping him at Partick Thistle until the summer of 2017. However, McDaid left Thistle on 31 January 2017, after the club agreed to terminate his contract.
Cowdenbeath (loan)
In January 2016, McDaid moved to Scottish League One side Cowdenbeath on loan, with the purpose of gaining some first-team experience. McDaid scored his first ever professional goal on 20 February 2016 scoring for Cowdenbeath in a 3–2 home defeat to Peterhead making it 1–1 at the time.
Ayr United
After leaving Partick Thistle, McDaid signed a short-term deal with Scottish League One side Ayr United on 31 January 2017. He scored his first goal for Ayr in a Scottish Cup round of 16 replay with Clyde in February 2017. With Ayr, McDaid would win League One in the 2017–18 season, and would follow that up with an impressive season in the Scottish Championship, finishing 4th place and qualifying for the Scottish Premiership playoffs, though were unsuccessful in their attempts at consecutive promotions.
Dundee
McDaid signed a two-year deal with Dundee in June 2019. He opened his scoring account for the Dark Blues by scoring both goals in a 2–0 win over Arbroath, and followed that up a couple weeks later with a long-range goal and Man of the Match performance against his former side Ayr United.
International career
McDaid was first called into the Scotland Schools U18 squad in 2013 after his performances in the Morton reserve side which finished second in the SFL Reserve League.
McDaid would start all four games in the Centenary Cup, and scored against England at McDiarmid Park.
Career statistics
- As of match played 10 March 2020
| Club | Season | League | Scottish Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Greenock Morton | 2012–13 | Scottish First Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Partick Thistle | 2014–15 | Scottish Premiership | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 16 | 0 | |
| 2015–16 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | |||
| 2016–17 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 5 | 0 | |||
| Total | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 0 | ||
| Cowdenbeath (loan) | 2015–16 | Scottish League One | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 1 |
| Ayr United | 2016–17 | Scottish Championship | 7 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| 2017–18 | Scottish League One | 34 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 13 | |
| 2018–19 | Scottish Championship | 34 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 45 | 4 | |
| Total | 75 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 97 | 18 | ||
| Dundee | 2019–20 | Scottish Championship | 24 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 3 |
| 2020–21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 140 | 14 | 8 | 5 | 19 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 174 | 22 | ||