McSheffrey: Gary

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

Striker/Winger

Born: Coventry: 12-06-1989

Debut: v Colchester United (h): 30-01-2010

5’8” 10st 6lb (2010)

McSheffery began his professional career in August 1998 with his hometown club, Coventry City and became the EPL's youngest ever player when he made his debut for them, at the age of sixteen years and one hundred and ninety-eight days, as a substitute, at Aston Villa on 27th February 1999. It proved to be his only exposure that season, but, after two more appearances as a late substitute early in the 1999-2000 season he made his run-on debut in the League Cup match at Tranmere Rovers on 14th September 1999 and played for sixty-six minutes before being substituted. He was given eighty-two minutes in the home second leg, eight days later, but six minutes as a substitute at home to West Ham United the following Saturday completed his first-team involvement for the season. He had been called up for the England Under-Eighteen squad and had come on as a seventy-fifth minute substitute for Tottenham Hotspur's Matthew Etherington in a 0-1 defeat by Switzerland at Stade Louis Dugauguez in Sedan, France on 9th September 1999. He was part of the squad for the UEFA Championship Group Three team and made his run on debut on 6th October 1999 in a 0-2 defeat by Spain at Upton Park and played seventy-three minutes before being replaced by Andrew Johnson of Birmingham City. He was retained in the team for the 3-0 win over Cyprus at Brisbane Road, two days later, until being replaced by Matthew Etherington after fifty-eight minutes. He played the full game in a 9-0 win over San Marino, in his third Group Three game and scored the ninth goal in the eighty-ninth minute at Victoria Road, Dagenham. His fifth and final cap came on 8th March 2000 in a 0-3 defeat by France at Robin Park Arena, Wigan. He came on as a substitute for Jay Bothroyd of Coventry City in his debut for the England Under-Twenty team as England defeated Portugal 1-0 on 22nd November 2001. His first starting game was also against Portugal in a 0-2 away defeat on 10th April 2002 when he was replaced by Phil Jagielka of Sheffield United at half-time. The other four of his six games came in the Toulon Tournament in which he started the first two Group A games in a 0-0 draw with China at Stade Mayol when he was replaced in the sixty-eighth minute by Matt Hamshaw of Sheffield Wednesday and six days later he was replaced by the same player after seventy minutes at the same venue as England beat Portugal 1-0. He came on as a substitute in the third Group A game two days later as he replaced Jimmy Davis of Manchester United after sixty-six minutes of a 0-0 draw with Brazil at Stade Pourcin in Frejus. His final game came as a fifty-fifth minute substitute For Danny Webber of Manchester United in the Third Place Play-off at Stade Mayol on 17th May 2002 as they played out a 0-0 before losing 4-5 on penalties. He also had six games for Swedish club IK Brage in 2001 and early in the 2001-02 season there was again not much first-team involvement, apart from ten minutes in the League Cup on 9th October at home to Chelsea and one League appearance as a fifty-fourth minute substitute at home to Burnley on 17th November 2001. On 1st December 2001 he was loaned to Stockport County for a month to gain experience, scoring once in three starts and two substitute appearances in the League, before returning to Coventry. He made his Stockport debut as a seventy-eighth minute substitute for Scott Taylor in a 0-1 home defeat by Crewe Alexandra. He started the second game in a 2-3 defeat by Burnley at Turf Moor and opened his goal account with an eleventh minute equalizer before being substituted by Luke Beckett in the fifty-eighth minute. He started his final game on New Year's day in a 0-4 defeat at West Bromwich Albion, but was replaced by Scott Taylor after twenty-two minutes. From the end of January 2002 he was given seven more League games, scoring in the first of these in the seventy-fifth minute as a sixtieth minute substitute in a 3-1 win at Selhurst Park on 29th January 2002 against Crystal Palace, but all his appearances were as a late substitute except for his final apprearance against Burnley at Turf Moor on 21st April 2002, when he made the starting side. However, the 2002-03 campaign saw him establish himself more regularly as he netted eight goals for Coventry in all competitions. He bagged a goal on the opening day of the season in a 2-1 home win over Sheffield United and it sparked an amazing early season goal scoring streak for the young striker as he also netted at Watford, against Colchester United in the League Cup, at home to Millwall and then a hat-trick in an astonishing 8-0 League Cup win over Rushden & Diamonds. It gave him the superb record of seven goals in the first nine games. However, it did not last, as he failed to score in his next ten appearances before netting at Crystal Palace, which proved to be his final goal of the season as he couldn't find the net in the final thirteen fixtures. He was also sent off in the home game with Wimbledon, on 8th March 2003. His form had warranted inclusion in the England Under-Twenty team, but Manager Gary McAllister was notimpressed and transfer listed him at the end of the season. His career to that point had been in and out and he had scored nine goals in forty-eight appearances in all competitions for the Sky Blues, of which twenty-eight had been as a substitute. He was loaned out to Luton Town on 22nd August 2003. He enjoyed a scintillating loan spell with the Hatters that lasted the maximum three months allowed by the Football League. During that time he quickly established himself as a firm fans’ favourite with his silky skills, eye for goal and classy long-range shooting. He made his Luton Town debut in a 1-2 home defeat to Grimsby Town just a day after making the loan move to Kenilworth Road. He started the game but was replaced by Dean Crowe after sixty-six minutes. After a further appearance in a 0-2 loss at Brighton & Hove Albion, he netted his first goal for the club with an exquisite lob over the goalkeeper in the fourteenth minute to give his side a 2-0 lead in a 3-2 home victory over Hartlepool United. Quickly establishing himself as the club’s set-piece specialist, his in-swinging free-kick to set up one of the Hatters' goals and his claim was further epitomised in the next match, when his perfectly-placed free-kick was headed home by Chris Coyne to earn a point in a 1-1 draw at Notts County. A headed goal in the next match, a 1-2 defeat at Plymouth Argyle, was the signal for a run of goal-scoring form that saw him net seven goals in eight matches, with strikes against Port Vale, a magnificent long-range curling effort in a 4-4 draw at Charlton Athletic in the League Cup, a penalty in a 2-2 draw at Swindon Town, another as Tranmere Rovers were beaten 3-1 in front of the Sky television cameras, and a brace against Wycombe Wanderers in a 3-1 win. He failed to find the back of the next in his next three games, but returned to his goal-scoring ways when netting in a 1-1 draw at Bristol City on 1st November 2003. However, this was to be his final goal for the club as he played his final match as a Luton Town player in a 1-0 home win over Chesterfield on 29th November 2003. At the time, Luton Town were in administration and the Football League imposed a maximum three-months period to loan a player, so the Hatters were forced to let McSheffrey return to his parent club, Coventry City after scoring eight League goals in eighteen starts and scoring once in his only League Cup game. On returning to Highfield Road, Gary scored in his first appearance of the season for the Sky Blues with a fifty-ninth minute free-kick in the 2-1 home victory over Peterborough United in the FA Cup Third Round on 3rd January 2004 and McSheffrey began to capture the form for Coventry that had madehim such a favourite at Kenilworth Road. He netted eleven goals in his twenty-one appearancesthat he made before the end of the season, to make it a total of twenty-one goals during the course of the season. He seemed to have established himself as a regular member of Coventry City's side by now and he was given a further boost when new Sky Blues manager Peter Reid handed Gary the number 10 shirt for the 2004-05 season. However, after just six appearances at the beginning of the season, he was pushed down the pecking order by the arrivals of new strikers Eddie Johnson and Stern John, and with Andy Morrell, Patrick Suffo and Bjarni Gudjonsson already ahead of him in the strikers' queue, he was allowed to make the loan move to Luton Town for the second time in his career on 17th September 2004. Once again he did well during his loan spell at Kenilworth Road and, as was the case during his initial loan spell with Luton Town, he was an extremely popular figure with the Hatters' faithful. Unfortunately for McSheffrey, he joined the club at a time when Luton Town were sitting at the top of League One and unbeaten in nine League matches and the two men in the strikers' roles, Steve Howard and Rowan Vine, hadn't done anything to warrant being dropped, so he only started one match during his month-long loan spell, although he did make four substitute appearances. He made his return Luton Town debut as a seventy-fourth minute substitute for Rowan Vine in a 3-1 win at Stockport County and followed that up with another substitute appearance for Rowan Vine, this time in the seventy-first minute, in a 2-1 home victory over Peterborough United. With Steve Howard suspended for a trip to Tranmere Rovers, Gary earned his first, and only, starting appearance alongside Rowan Vine, helping the Hatters to a 1-1 draw at Prenton Park. However, he was back on the bench for the following two matches of his loan spell, coming on as a substitute in a 3-0 home win over Hartlepool United, a game in which he scored an excellent solo goal to seal the victory in the eighty-fourth minute, after replacing Rowan Vine in the seventy-sixth minute, and in a 1-2 home loss to Huddersfield Town, which brought an end to the Hatters' incredible unbeaten start to the season, when he replaced Michael Leary two minutes before half-time. At the end of his month's loan, McSheffrey decided that he didn't want to extend the loan spell and only wanted a permanent move. Luton Town manager Mike Newell tabled a bid for him, but Sky Blues boss Peter Reid rejected it. On 17th October 2004 he returned to Highfield Road and made a substitute appearance six days later at Wigan Athletic, when he came on for Andy Morrell with four minutes on the clock, playing primarily on the left wing, he soon re-established himself as a regular in Coventry's side, and scored fourteen goals during the balance of the 2004-05 campaign and seventeen in the 2005-06 season. This form earned him a £4 million transfer to Birmingham City on 16th August 2006. In his time with the Sky Blues, who he had joined as a trainee, he had scored forty-four goals in one hundred and eight starts and thirty-five substitute appearances in the League, four goals in eight starts and two games from the bench in the F.A. Cup and five goals in nine games in the League Cup of which two were from the bench. He made his debut for his new club on 19th August 2006 in a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace at St Andrews. He netted his first Birmingham goal on 19th September 2006 in a home League Cup game against Wrexham, when he scored twice in extra time in a 4-1 victory. The goals kept flowing and he notched his first hat-trick in a 3-1 home win over Preston North End on 9th December 2006, and while the season ended with a dry spell he still notched seventeen as Birmingham were promoted to the EPL at the end of the season. While a regular in the first-team, McSheffrey, like others, suffered as the team struggled and were eventually relegated. He was now suffering recurring knee problems and after being out of the Birmingham team for almost six months, he was loaned to Nottingham Forest on 5th March 2009 and made four starts in the League before returning to St Andrews on 22nd March 2009. he made his debut in a 1-1 draw at home to Swansea City on 7th March and played his fourth and final game for Forest in a 0-1 home defeat by Wolverhampton Wanderers on 21st March 2009. There were few chances for McSheffrey in the 2009-10 season and in August 2009 he had been advised to look for another club. On 29th January 2010, he was loaned to Leeds United for the rest of the season. He made his debut the following day, on the left wing in a 2–0 home win in the League against Colchester United. After being ineligible for the F.A. Cup replay against Tottenham Hotspur, he returned to the starting lineup on 6th February 2010 for the 2–2 draw with Hartlepool United and then started on the left wing for Leeds three days later against Carlisle United in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy Northern Final Second Leg. Leeds won the game 3–2, but not the tie when they lost the penalty shoot-out 6–5, with McSheffrey converting one of the penalties for Leeds. He was in the team that drew 1-1 at Leyton Orient on 13th February 2010, and he scored his first goal for Leeds against Walsall three days later when, after spotting Walsall goalkeeper Clayton Ince off his line, he delicately delivered an inch-perfect shot chip shot into the back of the net. Unfortunately Leeds still lost the match 2-1 and went down to their first home defeat in over a year. He was substituted in the seventy-seventh minute as Leeds needed a last minute equalizer to salvage a 1-1 home draw against Brighton & Hove Albion. McSheffrey was replaced in the starting line-up by Aidan White, against Oldham Athletic three days later, and he remained unused on the bench. An injury to White saw McSheffrey returned to Leeds starting lineup against Huddersfield Town on 27th February 2010, but again he was substituted, after seventy-eight minutes. On 6th March 2010 he was again in the starting line-up for the full game at home to Brentford and was similarly involved three days later as Leeds won impressively 4-1 at Tranmere Rovers. He also started in the vital game at Southampton, but had to be substituted by Neil Kilkenny after sixty-two minutes, when he was taken off following a foul on him by Saints' defender Puncheon which saw him booked and McSheffrey leave the field with a bandaged head. He dropped to the bench for another vital game against Millwall at Elland Road on 22nd March 2010 and was not used, as Leeds dropped more vital points. As Leeds brought in more loan players McSheffrey found himself on the outer and only managed to make the bench for the home game with Southend United and at Carlisle United and Gillingham, without being used, before coming on in the eighty-first minute, in place of Sanchez Watt, in the penultimate home game of the season, on 24th April 2010, with Milton Keynes Dons. He finished the season with two more bench appearances, at Charlton Athletic and at home to Bristol Rovers, but was not used in either. On 19th May 2010, Birmingham City announced that McSheffrey would be released when his contract expired at the end of June. It came as no surprise, as McSheffrey had been out of favour at Birmingham ever since Alex McLeish took over the reins at St Andrews. Leeds failed to offer him a the chance to stay at Elland Road. Birmingham Manager Alex McLeish said, “When I came Sheff was maybe more of a free spirit. When he scored all his goals (in 2006-07), Birmingham went to the Premier League. He was out of things when I came to the club and I wanted to bring his endeavour and graft into the team in what was a very crucial time for us, fighting relegation. And, you know, he did well. Every week my pals watched Match of the Day and said, "That McSheffrey gets some chances. He was always getting at least one chance they’d see on the highlights, but it just didn’t go for him. His goalscoring touch deserted him and I thought that we just had to look for something else, which was the case last seasonand then this. Of course, the longer he’s out of the team the more disillusioned he becomes and then it’s time to make a break. We wish Sheff well and hope he can go on and recapture his form somewhere else.” After his release by Birmingham, McSheffrey rejoined home-town club Coventry City of the CCCL. He agreed a one-year deal, with the option of a further year, to begin on 1st July 2010 after the expiry of his Birmingham contract. He played his first game in his second spell with Coventry in a 2-0 home win over Portsmouth on 7th August 2010. After two seasons of mediocracy, during which time the club were relegated to League One, he was put on the open to transfer list by Coventry at the end of the 2012-13 season and on 3rd September 2013 his contract was cancelled. In his second spell with Coventry he scored seventeen goals in one hundred and four League games, of which eleven were as a substitute. He also scored twice in six starts in the F.A. Cup and failed to score in three starts and one game from the bench in the League Cup and five starts in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. He signed a four month contract with Chesterfield on 13th September 2013. He made his Chesterfield debut as a seventy-seventh minute substitute for Tendayi Darikwa in a 2-0 home way over AFC Wimbledon on 14th September 2013 and replaced the same player after seventy-one minutes a week later a in the fifty-fifth minute the following week as he had yet to start before the end of September 2013.