James McFadden

Motherwell (first spell)

McFadden was raised in Springburn, Glasgow and attended Turnbull High School in Bishopbriggs. His parents operate a fish and chips takeaway in Glasgow city centre. He joined the Motherwell youth system at a young age, making his first-team debut when he was 17 years old. McFadden came to greater prominence during the 2002–03 Scottish Premier League SPL season, scoring 19 goals from 34 starts and winning the Young Player of the Year Award. In this season Motherwell finished bottom of the SPL and should have been relegated but were given a reprieve due to First Division champions Falkirk not meeting stadium criteria. McFadden received some criticism for his lack of discipline, picking up fifteen yellow cards and one red during the campaign. McFadden's final game for Motherwell that season saw him score a hat-trick in a 6–2 defeat of Livingston at Fir Park.

Everton (first spell)

English Premier League club Everton signed McFadden in 2003 for £1.25 million. McFadden scored his debut goal for Everton during their 5–2 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur on 1 January 2005, more than a year after joining the club. One week later, he scored his second goal in a third-round FA Cup tie versus Plymouth Argyle. During the 2005–06 season, McFadden was in and out of the Everton team as they struggled to re-capture their form of the previous season. On 11 March 2006, he scored with a 35-yard volley to help Everton to a 3–1 victory over Fulham. This scoring…

Club

International

Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each McFadden goal.

McFadden gained his first Scotland cap at the age of 19 against South Africa on a Far East tour, at the end of which a night out drinking caused him to miss his flight home. Despite his domestic performances he became a regular in Berti Vogts' Scotland set-up, scoring his first goal against the Faroe Islands during a 3–1 win in a UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying match at Hampden Park on 6 September 2003. McFadden's goal versus Netherlands in November 2003 gave Scotland a famous 1–0 victory, although they then lost 6–0 in Amsterdam and failed to qualify for UEFA Euro 2004. McFadden was part of the squad which went out to Japan in 2006 and won the Kirin Cup. In September 2007, during Scotland's dramatic but ultimately unsuccessful qualifying campaign for UEFA Euro 2008, McFadden scored a long-range goal from 30 yards to secure a famous 1–0 win over France in Paris, securing Scotland's first win on French soil since 1950. He was on target again in the following game a month later, a 3–1 win over Ukraine at Hampden Park. He was unable to score in the last match of the campaign against Italy in November 2007 at Hampden, which Scotland lost 2–1. The winning goal in a September 2008 match against Iceland in the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign, scored on the rebound after McFadden's penalty kick was saved, was initially credited to McFadden, but in the official match report was awarded to Barry Robson. The SFA lobbied on McFadden's behalf, and in March 2009, FIFA re-credited the goal to…

Alex McLeish appointed McFadden to an assistant coaching position with the Scotland national team in March 2018. McLeish and his backroom staff, including McFadden, were dismissed on 18 April 2019.