Chris McCann

Burnley

McCann was born in Dublin, County Dublin. He was brought over to Lancashire from the Irish club Home Farm, alongside Martin Reilly after going on a trial at Burnley earlier this year. McCann progressed through the youth system at Burnley in the 2004–05 season, reaching the Alliance Cup northern final in a losing effort. McCann was promoted to the first team by manager Steve Cotterill in the 2005–06 pre–season matches. He made his senior debut in the 2005–06 season, coming onto the pitch as an early substitute in the 4–0 win against Coventry City on 13 August 2005. McCann scored his first senior goal on 27 September 2005, in the 3–0 win against Ipswich Town. McCann then became involved in the first team, with his playing time coming from the substitute bench. He then scored his second goal of the season, in a 1–1 draw against Queens Park Rangers on 2 January 2006. The next day on 3 January 2006, McCann signed his first professional contract with Burnley on a three-and-a-half-year contract. Following this, he said his target "was too cement a place in the club's first team". For the rest of the 2005–06 season, McCann fulfilled his target, making number of starts for Burnley. This resulted in him earning seven awards at the club's award ceremony, including the Young Player of the Year award. At the end of the 2005–06 season, he made twenty–seven appearances and scoring two times in all competitions. Ahead of the 2006–07 season, manager Cotterill believed that…

On 17 December 2024, he was appointed as Lead Youth Development Phase (YDP) Coach at EFL League Two side Salford City.

McCann has represented the Republic of Ireland at under-17, under-18 and under-19 level. He was first called up to the Republic of Ireland U21s for the matches against Montenegro and Bulgaria on 16 and 20 November 2007 for the 2009 European U21 Championship qualifiers. On the wake of his call-up Ireland U21 manager, Don Givens, stated that "Chris has been involved with Ireland at other age levels but this is his first call-up to the Under-21 panel. He is a good player and deserves a chance at this level". McCann was selected in the squad for the 1–0 defeat to Montenegro in Podgorica. However, he had to withdraw due to an injury. This was unexpected news as he has played the week before against Preston North End after he had miss three games with a groin injury. McCann was again named on the bench for the second match against Bulgaria but opted out of the squad two hours prior to kick-off claiming it was a waste of his time being there. Don Givens criticised McCann saying, "I can never understand anybody that doesn't want to pull on the green shirt". He also added that this event could hinder McCann's future international career, "Will I pick him again? Would you?". Ireland went on to win the match in Athlone regardless of McCann's actions through a 90th-minute winner from the Watford midfielder John-Joe O'Toole. However, Givens later apologised for his criticism, "I take it back, its nice to see Chris developing into a player of true class". Despite smoothing things over…

As of match played 10 February 2024