Stephen McPhail

Leeds United

McPhail started his career by coming through the youth ranks at Leeds United. His playing style led former Arsenal manager George Graham to christen him "the new Liam Brady". McPhail began to make an impact on the first team during the 1997–98 season, making his debut in February 1998 against Leicester City, and went on to make several substitute appearances that campaign. He started to become a regular for the side during the 1999–2000 season, after making several sub appearances, when he was given a long run in the first team squad. McPhail was rewarded with a new five-year contract at the Yorkshire club soon after. McPhail got his first Leeds goals in a league match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on 19 December 1999. After manager David O'Leary left, Leeds went on to have several different managers over the next few years. During this time, McPhail was hampered by injury, making it difficult to break into the team under Terry Venables or his successor Peter Reid. He was loaned out to Millwall as a means of maintaining match fitness. A second loan, this time at Nottingham Forest, could have been made permanent as both McPhail and Forest manager Paul Hart felt the move would be beneficial to his career, but Leeds rejected Forest's bid. During his time at Leeds, McPhail was involved in the club's 2000–01 UEFA Champions League run, appearing in memorable games against the likes of Barcelona and Lazio as Leeds reached the semi-finals.

Barnsley…

McPhail played in the 1996 UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship scoring the winner in a group game against Poland in May 1996 and played for the Republic of Ireland U19 national team in the 1997 UEFA European Under-18 Football Championship finals in Iceland. He also played for the Ireland U21. He received his first call-up to the Republic of Ireland senior national team in May 2000 when manager Mick McCarthy selected him in the squad for a match against Scotland. He earned ten caps making his last appearance in a match against Nigeria in 2004. Due to some good form at Cardiff he had publicly declared his hopes of returning to the international scene due to the return of an Ireland B team. In October 2006 he was named in the Republic of Ireland B squad for a match against Scotland B and captained the side in a 0–0 draw. In May 2008, new manager Giovanni Trapattoni selected McPhail for his first squad for the friendly games against Serbia and Colombia. His only goal for Ireland came on 11 June 2000 against South Africa in a 2–1 win in the 2000 U.S. Cup.

McPhail was born in Westminster, London, and raised in Rush, County Dublin, Ireland.

McPhail suffers from Sjögren's syndrome and Raynaud's phenomenon. His son Joel plays for underage for Shamrock Rovers and scored on his U15 international debut in 2024