Grant McCann

Grant Samuel McCann (born 15 April 1980) is a Northern Irish former international footballer and current manager at Peterborough United. Born in Belfast, McCann played in the Distillery youth system from 1995 until signing for the West Ham United Academy of Football in 1996, where he started his professional career. He made his debut on 19 May 2001 in a 2–1 away defeat to Middlesbrough. McCann also won 39 caps for Northern Ireland after making his senior debut against Malta in 2001, with the last of his 39 caps won in a 6–0 friendly defeat against the Netherlands in June 2012.

West Ham and loans

Finding it hard to break into the West Ham first team McCann had loan spells at Livingston and Notts County before moving to Cheltenham Town, in another loan deal, in 2000.

Cheltenham Town

After another loan deal took him back to Cheltenham in 2002, the move was made permanent during the January 2003 transfer window when he moved from West Ham for £50,000, a record transfer fee for Cheltenham Town. McCann went on to make 155 league appearances for the Gloucestershire club. He had made only four substitute appearances for The Hammers.

Barnsley

He joined Barnsley on loan deadline day, 23 November 2006, in a contract that expired on 1 January 2007. On his debut against Ipswich Town he scored a 92nd-minute winner in Simon Davey's first ever game as caretaker boss. The two clubs agreed a fee of £100,000 and McCann moved to Barnsley permanently on 2 January 2007. At the time this was a record fee for an outbound player from Cheltenham.

Scunthorpe

In January 2008, McCann left Barnsley to sign for Championship rivals Scunthorpe United for an undisclosed fee.

Peterborough United

On 24 May 2010, Peterborough United announced that they had beaten off competition from a host of Championship clubs to secure the services of McCann on a three-year contract. On 1 August, McCann was named the captain for the 2010–11 League One season, taking the role from George Boyd. He continued to hold this position for the 2011–12 season. McCann has the rare achievement of being promoted via a play-off three times – once each with three different clubs at three different Stadiums – with Cheltenham Town at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, with Scunthorpe United at Wembley Stadium, London and with Peterborough United at Old Trafford, Manchester.

On 30 April 2012, McCann with seven other Peterborough players were placed on the transfer list by manager Darren Ferguson.

Linfield

On 14 January 2015, McCann returned to his native country to join NIFL Premiership side Linfield on a free transfer after his contract at Peterborough was terminated by mutual consent. He signed an initial six-month contract to last until the end of the 2014–15 season. McCann, who made close to 200 appearances in all competitions for Posh, had been assisting with the coaching of Peterborough's youth side in the weeks prior to his departure, but was keen to continue playing regularly. His brother, Ryan McCann, had previously played for Linfield between 2002 and 2005, winning several trophies with the Blues including the league title in 2004 and the Setanta Cup in 2005.

On 23 February 2015, McCann was linked to a coaching role at his former club Peterborough United, following the sacking of Darren Ferguson two days earlier. It was assumed that McCann would balance his role at Peterborough with his playing time at Linfield. However, it was later confirmed that McCann would be ending his stay at Linfield after just six weeks. During his short spell at the club, he made six appearances in all competitions, scoring once against Ballymena United in a league game.

Return to Peterborough United

On 26 February 2015, Linfield confirmed that McCann's contract had been terminated with immediate effect, facilitating his return to Peterborough in a coaching capacity until at least the end of the 2014–15 season.

On 16 May 2016, McCann was appointed Peterborough United manager on a 4-year contract.

He made his debut for the Northern Ireland national team on 6 October 2001 in a 1–0 away win against Malta. He opened his goalscoring account for Northern Ireland by scoring the last goal, a header, in the 4–1 away win against Liechtenstein on 24 March 2007. Although he has yet to formally retire from international duty, the last of his 39 caps was won in a 6–0 friendly defeat against the Netherlands in June 2012.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	24 March 2007	Rheinpark, Vaduz	Liechtenstein	4–1	4–1	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
2	15 October 2008	Windsor Park, Belfast	San Marino	2–0	4–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
3	11 February 2009	Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle	San Marino	2–0	3–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
4	12 August 2009	Windsor Park, Belfast	Israel	1–0	1–1	Friendly match

As of 28 January 2017

• 2005–06: League Two Play-off Winner (promotion to League One) – Cheltenham Town
• 2008–09: League One Play-off Winner (promotion to The Championship) – Scunthorpe United
• 2010–11: League One Play-off Winner (promotion to The Championship) – Peterborough United