James McCarthy

Hamilton Academical

McCarthy made his debut for Hamilton Academical against Queen of the South as a substitute on 30 September 2006, becoming the youngest player to play for Hamilton in the 21st century. His full debut came against Airdrie United on 11 November 2006, a day before his 16th birthday. On 6 January 2007, at 16 years and 55 days old, McCarthy became the youngest player ever to score in Hamilton Academical's history when he scored in a Scottish Cup defeat against Livingston. McCarthy is still closely affiliated with his first professional club. He was pictured promoting the club's third jersey for its 150th anniversary in 2025. On 17 May 2008, after a season which saw his club promoted to the Scottish Premier League, McCarthy signed a new three-year contract with the club. He won the SPFA Young Player of the Year award for the 2008–09 season.

Wigan Athletic

Hamilton accepted a bid for McCarthy from Wigan Athletic on 16 July 2009. He completed the move to Wigan on 21 July, on a five-year deal, believed to be worth just under £1.2 million. The fee could have risen to £3 million depending on appearances. McCarthy made his debut for Wigan on 22 August 2009, as a 74th-minute substitute in a 5–0 defeat to Manchester United. He scored his first goal for Wigan in the FA Cup third round victory against fellow Premier League team Hull City on 2 January 2010, and marked his first Premier League start with a goal in a 2–0 victory away to Wolverhampton…

Early years

At the age of sixteen, McCarthy accepted an invitation to play for the Republic of Ireland. He was eligible because his grandfather, Paddy Coyle, was born in The Rosses, County Donegal. However, McCarthy also stated that he would have played for Scotland if they had offered him an international call-up first. Despite multiple attempts to persuade McCarthy to switch his allegiance to the country of his birth, he reaffirmed his decision to play for the Republic of Ireland. McCarthy made his international debut for the Republic of Ireland Under-17s in January 2007 against Italy. He scored his first goal against Greece when winning his third cap in March of the same year. He was quickly promoted to the Under-18s and played his first game at that level versus Germany in November 2007. He scored twice in the return game that same month. McCarthy played one game for the Under-19s in September 2007 against Portugal. and was subsequently selected for a number of these squads in 2008. McCarthy came on as a half time substitute for the Republic of Ireland Under-21s in their European Championship qualifier on 31 March against Turkey. McCarthy made an instant impression, creating opportunities for the lone striker, as well as making many intelligent runs in behind the Turkish defence.

Senior team

McCarthy received his first call-up to the Republic of Ireland national squad in February 2010, for a friendly with Brazil played in London. He made his debut as a…

Club

As of match played 19 October 2022

International

As of match played 8 October 2020

McCarthy was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland. He is the youngest child of Willie and Marie McCarthy and is of Irish ancestry through his grandfather from County Donegal (although the McCarthy surname originates in Munster). A former student of St Margaret Mary's Secondary School in Castlemilk, he grew up supporting Celtic and tried out for their youth teams, but was turned down due to the large number of players the club had already taken on.