McCormack: Ross

2010-2014 (Leeds Player Details)(Player Details)

Striker/Winger

Born: Glasgow: 18-08-1986

Debut: v Watford (a) (Substitute): 28-08-2010

5’9” 11st 9lb (2010)

Although a Celtic supporter, he became a Rangers Junior player and later a Scottish Youth International and signed professional forms at Ibrox in July 2003. He made his Rangers debut, as a sixty-first minute substitute against Motherwell at Ibrox on 1st May 2004. He made his run-on debut a fortnight later at East End Park against Dunfermline Athletic, playing sixty-four minutes before being substituted, immediately after scoring his first Rangers' goal from the penalty spot. He went on to score two Scottish League goals in three starts and a further eight games from the bench, scored once in one substitute appearance in the Scottish Cup and another goal in the European Cup from two substitute appearances. While his goalscoring record was quite good, he was unable to force his way into the Rangers first team and he was loaned to Doncaster Rovers to give him a chance of first team football on a more regular basis. He went on loan on 17th January 2006 for the rest of the season. He made his Doncaster debut in League One four days later, playing eighty-two minutes in a 2-1 win at Scunthorpe United. His first starting game followed in the next fixture as Rovers lost 4-2 at Blackpool, and he quickly followed it up with a second in a 2-1 home win over Swindon Town, the following week. He scored five goals in twelve starts and a further seven games from the bench before returning to Ibrox. A change of Manager at Rangers saw McCormack on the outer and in July 2006 he moved to Motherwell. He made his Motherwell debut at Fir Park in a 2-1 defeat by his former club and played sixty-one minutes before being substituted. He did not have a good first season at Fir Park and suffered from illness and injury and did not score his first goal for the club until 28th February 2007 in a 2-1 Scottish Cup defeat by St Johnstone. The 2007-08 season saw McCormack become a first team regular and a consistant goal-scorer in the first half of the season, but his inability to find the net after scoring twice in a 3-1 win at Gretna on 16th February 2008 showed, as he failed to score in the final fourteen fixtures. Already a Scottish Youth and Under-Twenty-one International, having made his Under-Twenty-One debut on 11th October 2005 in a 0-3 defeat by Slovenia in a Group five UEFA Qualifier at Ob Jezeru, Velenje, while at Rangers, he started to add to that while at Motherwell. His second cap came in a 1-0 win over the Czech Republic at Falkirk on 21st August 2007 but soon added to those in the UEFA European Championship Qualifiers, with another start in a 3-2 loss to Finland at Hietalahti, Vaasa but gave way to Thomas Scobbie with four minutes left on the clock, on 8th September 2007. Four days later he was part of a 0-0 draw with Denmark at East End Park, Dunfermline, where he gave way to Ross Campbell nine minutes from time. 11th October saw his fifth cap and his first goal when he opened the scoring a minute before half-time in a 3-0 win over Lithuania at Easter Road. His second goal was not long in arriving, as it came in the very next game, in a 4-0 win over Slovenia at Sportni Park, Nova Gorica on 17th November 2007, when he got the second in the fiftieth minute. Three days later he gained further recognitionwhen he was called up into the Scotland "B" team and was a sixtty-eighth minute replacement for Steven Whittaker as Scotland were held 1-1 by the Republic of Ireland "B" at the excelsior Stadium Airdrie. His seventh Under-Twenty-One cap came at Pittodrie on 26th March 2008 as Scotland defeated Finland 2-1, before three more came in a flurry as the UEFA Qualifiers wore on. His eighth cap brought his third goal as he scored Scotland's second goal in the thirty-ninth minute of a 3-0 win over Lithuania on 20th August 2008 at Sudovo, Marijampole, then on 4th September 2008 he had a full game in a 3-1 win over Slovenia at Falkirk and his tenth and final cap came five days later as Scotland went down 0-1 to Denmark in Aalborg. His form had been good enough to gain him a call-up to the full Scottish team and he made his international debut when he came on as an eighty-second minute substitute in the away fixture against the Czech Republic on 30th May 2008. His form, too, had attracted attention south of the border, with interest being shown by Wigan Athletic and Middlesbrough, in the knowledge that he was out of contract at Fir Park. However, after he had scored ten goals in forty-eight Scottish League games, of which twelve were from the bench, two goals in four starts in the Scottish Cup and another two in four starts and one game from the bench in the Scottish League Cup, with Motherwell, he signed for Cardiff City on 28th June 2008. Initially it was on a free transfer, but ultimately a fee of £120,000 was negotiated and McCormack was happy to sign a three year contract, as he was about to link up with his boyhood idol, Robbie Fowler at Cardiff. Unfortunately this did not occur as the legendary striker left the club before they had a chance to play together. He went straight into the Bluebirds' starting line-up making his League debut at Ninian Park in the first game of the season 2-1 win over Southampton. He scored his first Cardiff League goal with an eighty-eighth minute equaliser against his former club, Doncaster Rovers, in a 1-1 draw at Keepmoat Stadium in the second League game ofthe season on 16th August 2008. It was the start of an excellent season for the Scotsman and he went on to score twenty-one times in thirty-eight League games to finish the season as theclub's leading goalscorer and the CCCL joint second leading goalscorer. On 28th March 2009 he gain his second Scottish Cap, playing the full game at Holland in a 3-0 defeat in the World Cup Qualifiers. On 1st April 2009 he again played a full game for his third Scottish Cap and notched his first International goal, in the thirty-ninth minute of a 2-1 home win over Iceland in the same competition. He was again in the starting line-up, but was taken off after thirty-seven minutes in a 4-0 away defeat by Norway on 12th August 2009, in the same competition, and his fifth cap came asa sixty-second minute substitute in a 3-0 loss away to Wales on 14th November 2009. However, he was not as successful in his second season at Cardiff, which started with McCormack seeking to enforce a "gentleman's agreement" whereby he would be allowed to join an EPL team should any interest be shown from that quarter. Bids did come in from Hull City and Portsmouth but were not accepted by the club. He picked up a hamstring injury in the second League game of the season at Blackpool on 15th August 2009 and that effectively ruled out further EPL interest. He returned for the 3rd October 2009 4-0 League win at Watford, but his goalscoring touch eluded him, even though he featured regularly in the first team squad. However, towards the end of the season he was being used more as a winger or late striker substitute. No longer considered as one of Cardiff's two main strikers, McCormack was receptive to a chance of a new start elsewhere and, after being a fifty-fourth minute midfield substitute in the opening game of the 2010-11 at Sheffield United and an eighty-third minute substitute forstriker Michael Chopra in a 2-1 win at Derby on 14th August 2010, his likely future role in the team was being clearly defined. He did show the interested parties that, if given the chance, he could produce the goods as he replaced Jay Bothroyd for the second half against Burton Albion in the League Cup and scored two extra-time goals as the Bluebird's scored a 4-1 extra-time victory. In his time at Cardiff he had scored twenty-five League goals in seventy-six appearances, of which twenty-one were from the bench, two goals in six starts andone game from the bench in the F.A. Cup, three goals in one start and three as a substitute in the League Cup and three substitute appearances, without scoring in the 2009-10 CCCL play-offs which saw Cardiff go down to Blackpool in the final. The arrival of Craig Bellamy at Cardiff, brought matters to a head and on 27th August 2010 he decided to sign for Leeds United on a three year contract for an "undisclosed fee", thought to be £300,000. He made his Leeds debut in a 1-0 away win at Watford and came on as a sixty-ninth minute substitute on 28th August 2010. He played his first game at Elland Road, again as a substitute, this time a seventy-ninth minute replacement for Neil Kilkenny on 11th September against Swansea City. He finally got his starting debut six days later in a 0-0 draw at Doncaster Rovers. Unfortunately, McCormack's season was spoiled by injury and after recovering he found his way to a regular striker's place stopped by the good form and goalscoring of Luciano Becchio and Davide Somma. He finally got to show his true form towards the end of the season when in the final two games of the season, he scored the only goal of the game in the home victory over Burnley on 30th April 2011 and scored again at Loftus Road in a 2-1 win over Champions Queens Park Rangers as both McCormack and Leeds turned in two scintillating performances. He was recalled to the Scottish team for the Carlings Nations Cup encounter with Wales in Dublin on 25th May 2011 when he played seventy-three minutes before being replaced by Eric Bannan. Four days later he came on as an eighty-fifth minute substitute in a 0-1 loss against the Republic of Ireland again in Dublin. He started the 2011-12 season in the same form and had scored nine goals in the first ten League games as well as one more in three League Cup ties. During the season he was linked with Wolverhampton Wanderers but after finishing with eighteen League goals from forty-two starts and three games from the bench he was offered a new contract but had not signed it. He won the Yorkshire Evening Post "Player of the Year " award in 2011-12. On 17th August 2012 he signed a new three year contract with the club, after having scored in the first game of the season in the 3-0 home League Cup win over Shrewsbury Town six days earlier. He had registered his first League goal of the season in a 3-3 home draw with Blackburn Rovers on 1st September 2012 before he was taken off in the early stages of the game at Cardiff City, a former club, a fortnight later. He required surgery on a badly damaged ankle and was expected to be out of action until December. He did make a quicker than expected return with two substitute appearances, in the sixty-seventh minute at Millwall on 18th November and in the eighty-second minute at home to Crystal Palace six days later, before making the starting eleven at Huddersfield Town on 1st December 2012. His role in the team varied from that of previous seasons, as, apart from playing as a striker, he was asked to play on the flanks of midfield, and that could partly explain his lack of goals compared to previous seasons as he scored five times in the League, twice in the F.A. Cup and once in the League cup from twenty-five starts and seven games from the bench in the League, four starts in the F.A. Cup and one start and one game as a substitute in the League Cup. On the International front, he took his caps to eight when he came on for Scotland in the sixty-seventh minute of a 3-1 win over Australia at Easter Road on 15th August 2012 and scored his second International goal in the seventy-fifth minute. There were rumours of interest from Blackpool during the 2013 close season but McCormack was still at Elland Road for the new season and opened his account in the nineteenth minute of the open fixture in a 2-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albiom at Elland Road on 3rd August 2013. There were persistant rumours of interest from Middlesbrough, and the likelihood of a £2 million fee, but on 30th August 2013 he signed a new four-year contract with Leeds. He celebrated this by picking up his ninth Scottish Cap as he came on as an eighty-sixth minute substitute for James Forrest in a 0-2 World Cup Qualifier defeat by Belgium at Hampden Park on 6th September 2013. He had his best season for Leeds in 2013-14, culminating in his being appointed captain by Brian McDermott in January 2014 and finishing with twenty-nine goals, of which twenty-eight came in the League. He also brought his Scottish Caps to eleven when he came on as a sixty-ninth minute substitute for Robert Snodgrass in a 0-0 draw with USA at Hampden Park on 15th November 2013 and then started in the 1-0 away win over Poland at Stadion Narodowy in Warsaw on 5th March 2014 where he was replaced by Charlie Adam in the seventy-sixth minute. West Ham failed in a bid to sign McCormack in January 2014, while Newcastle United, Cardiff City, Norwich City and Derby County had also been linked with the player, but the player decided to sign a four year contract with Leeds in the Summer of 2014, but with the departure of Brian McDermott and the subsequent appointment of David Hockaday as coach, he put in a transfer request on 20th June 2014. Massimo Cellino made it known that McCormack would only be sold at a high price and to a Premier League team. McCormack told Cellino he wanted to leave in a face-to-face discussion and then refused to go on the club's pre-season tour of Italy. On 8th July 2014 he completed an £11 million move to Championship side Fulham on a four year contract, with a further one year option. He scored seventeen goals in forty-three starts and one substitute appearance in the League and a further one goal in three starts and one from the bench in the F.A. Cup and one goal in two starts and one from the bench in the League Cup.