WRITE DAVID McGoldrick off at your peril.
The ex-Ireland international turns 37 next month and yet he is still playing regularly and scoring at a decent level — League Two with boyhood club Notts County.
Goalkeepers and defenders playing well into their 30s are far from unheard of, but it tends to be less commonplace with strikers.
But McGoldrick has made a career out of proving people wrong.
Moreover, he still lives and breathes football. Despite everything he has been through and the 20-year length of his playing career, the experienced pro could not help but feel disappointment when told he would be starting this season on the bench.
Nonetheless, injuries recently paved the way for his return to the starting XI. And so far, McGoldrick has five goals from six starts, including a crucial last-gasp equaliser against Chesterfield on Saturday.
At his previous club Derby County — a short but sweet stint in which he won multiple awards — McGoldrick was told that a player of his age should not expect to start every game of a gruelling 46-match season (and it could be 49 or more games if a team makes the playoffs or goes far in the cup competitions).
“[Derby boss] Paul Warne, who I respect very highly, told me to swallow the pill of knowing that I can’t train and play all the time,” McGoldrick tells The 42.
“Because one thing about me, I love training. I love working hard. I love playing football, like every footballer. So it’s hard to realise that your body can’t do it every day how you want it to, and sometimes having a rest is good for you.”
Those cautionary words did not stop McGoldrick from being an integral player for the Rams. He scored 22 goals in 39 appearances as they narrowly failed to reach the League One playoffs.
But he has become better at accepting that younger players will inevitably sometimes be picked ahead of him, such as Alassana Jatta, Notts County’s talented 25-year-old Gambian forward who has six goals from eight appearances already this season.
Of course, McGoldrick knows he is close to the end line. With his contract elapsing at the culmination of this season, the future is “up in the air”.
He adds: “I speak to many ex-pros, and they all say the same thing: ‘Play for as long as you can.’ They wish that they were still playing. And if they could, they would like to carry on playing. So, that does stick with me.
“But I’m quite real as well in terms of, I’ll know when I’m not good enough on the pitch, and I don’t want to embarrass myself.”
But the veteran forward insists it is easier to motivate himself nowadays.
“Everyone’s looking at my age and thinking that I should be retiring soon, or my legs have gone, or I’m not as fit as I was, or I’m not as quick as I was. So that motivates me to work even harder away from the football field to make sure that doesn’t give anyone an excuse [to overlook me].
“When I was in the Premier League, I played a team, and [I encountered] one of the Irish boys who played with me internationally. And he said: ‘Don’t worry about McGoldrick, his legs are gone.’ And that was when I was 31. We won that game, and I got a few assists. That kind of motivation geared me up.”
McGoldrick admits he has been lucky to avoid long-term injuries despite suffering from plenty of “little ones” throughout his career. Another primary reason for his longevity is his pure footballing ability.
“Many strikers rely on their pace. Once that has gone, they haven’t really got much. But I feel like I’ve still got the brain, I’ve still got the awareness, I’ve still got the quality.”
If it is McGoldrick’s final season, it could be a memorable one.
Notts County are currently third in League Two, two points off the leaders Port Vale.
Promotion would be a fitting way to end a distinguished career.
In 2023, McGoldrick turned down better wages and the opportunity in higher leagues to return to where he began his career and so far, he feels the decision has been vindicated.
“It means a lot. You know, playing for your team, [having] grown up watching them, being in the crowd, my kids come to every game. They’ve turned into little Notts County fans now. So that’s something that I wanted to do.”
McGoldrick is one of a select group of footballers to have scored at least 10 goals in all four of England’s top divisions, from the Premier League to League Two.
Players sometimes ask him about the challenge of adapting to the jump between these levels.
“From League Two to League One, I don’t believe there’s a massive jump, maybe some of the top teams,” he says.
“From League One to the Championship, there’s a massive jump. That’s when the big money comes in at the Championship, the athleticism [is noticeable] and the foreign players come over. And from the Championship to the Premier League, I’d say the top 10 are untouchable.
“I remember playing for Sheffield United against some of the top teams, playing against Liverpool at Anfield, and it felt like it was a different sport.
“But you don’t want it easy every week. You want to be testing yourself against the better players.”
Unsurprisingly, McGoldrick considers his two seasons in the Premier League to be the best in his career. The Nottingham-born attacker played 63 games in the top flight, scoring 10 goals.
After getting promoted, Sheffield United finished ninth in the table, just two points behind Arsenal. The following season, they were relegated.
McGoldrick believes Covid and competing in empty stadiums negatively impacted the Blades more than most teams.
“I think we would have qualified for Europe if Covid didn’t hit at the time and it went all behind closed doors.
“Bramall Lane is different when it’s full, and they’re singing The Greasy Chip Butty Song at the start, and the crowd are on top of you. We played some of the top teams in that first year and they looked like ordinary players.
“And then when Covid hit, you see they are world-class, because there were no fans there, and there was freedom.
“But when they’ve got 30,000 Blades shouting at them and being on top of them, it’s a completely different situation.
“We didn’t do it on the pitch [regardless] but the fans played a massive part in our success, for sure.”
McGoldrick made his Premier League debut at the age of 31. However, he is not regretful that it happened belatedly.
“I would say that it was the right time for me. I played my best football because I was playing in the right system, the right team, the manager trusted me, and played me all the time, even when I wasn’t scoring. I had an unbelievable relationship with the staff there.”
The story was all the more remarkable given that it came after perhaps McGoldrick’s lowest ebb.
Following five and a half seasons at Championship side Ipswich Town, the then-30-year-old was released at the end of the 2017-18 campaign.
“At the start of pre-season, I had no club,” he recalls. “I was training at Nottingham Forest — [the coaches were] Chris Cohen and Andy Reid with the U21s.
“And it was a good couple weeks into pre-season when I got a call from Sheffield United saying they need a striker, they want to come and look at me. They want me to come up for a week and train. And the next day I was there. And I felt I made an impression on the first day. And it was from there, everything just clicked.”
Before signing with the Blades, McGoldrick admits he wondered if he had a future in the game.
“When I was 30 and out of contract, I did think: ‘I could be in trouble here.’ No club wanted me, because I had returned from an injury after leaving Ipswich.
“I loved that place as well, but it just ended with the club wanting to try something new, new manager, new players, and I was one of the ones that got let go, which is understandable. I had a four-month injury, so few teams wanted to touch me.”
Managers, McGoldrick says, have been key to his success. Those who handled him well and gave him a chance, like Mick McCarthy, Chris Wilder and Paul Warne, invariably got the best out of him.
McCarthy was unique as he managed the striker at both club and international level.
In 2014, McGoldrick made his Ireland debut under Martin O’Neill in a 4-1 friendly win over USA but his time in the setup was sporadic and stop-start before McCarthy came onboard.
As with his club career, the striker was a late bloomer and played his best football towards the latter half of this Irish journey, scoring a crucial equaliser in a 1-1 Euro 2020 qualifier with Switzerland.
“I only scored one goal, and that was probably the best moment of my career, scoring a goal at the Aviva to equalise in that game.
“And I got a few man-of-the-match awards, and the fans took to me quite well. I really enjoyed my time playing for my country, and I met great people playing for the national team.”
He continued to impress under Stephen Kenny but opted to retire from Ireland duty following the Euro 2020 playoff defeat to Slovakia on penalties.
“I had a lot of stuff going off at the time in terms of family, I had a lot of niggles and injuries at once. Coming back, I would get injured quite a lot, and be unable to play the next week.
“I wanted to make my career longer after waiting so long to play at the top. So that was a decision that had to be made. And sometimes I do look back, and think: ‘Was it too soon?’ But I did represent my country and get 14 caps and a goal, and I’ll fondly remember that for the rest of my life.”
McGoldrick was adopted and originally unaware of his Irish heritage. He never met the grandfather who rendered him eligible for the Boys in Green.
“It was great for my football, but also for my life because I’ve had no history of my background. So [the FAI] told me a bit. And obviously, I’ve done a lot of research since then.”
McGoldrick is unsure whether he will go into coaching after retiring, but suspects he will stay in football in some capacity, maintaining the mantra that has served ‘Didzy’ well all these years.
“You hear the catchphrase: ‘Hard work beats talent.’ You hear it a lot, and kids will probably think ‘no,’ but hard work and tunnel vision [are important].
“Don’t worry about what other people say, football is a game of opinions. I’ve had managers that say that I’m not good enough and my legs have gone and ‘he’s passed it,’ but that’s just one man’s opinion.”
The GAA suspension rules are a joke and in serious need of an overhaul. That one player can be sent off and miss several games and another sent off and miss none is a farce. A player should receive X amount of games for certain offences with a panel in place to hear appeals that can decrease/increase the amount of games depending on specific circumstances. It’s not rocket science.
GAA authorities are slowly but SURELY driving away both fans and young players by this non ending kind of nod and wink crack for the top teams to sort stuff out, and point to the rule book then when questioned. No other sport do you see this constant messing, an on it will go, mark my words till they will wake up one day and the best young talent will be playing rugby and other properly organised and refereed sports..
Lar messed with the wrong man…..
Delaney hit him from behind as Corbett ran away from the goal. Cowardly stuff but KK seem to get away with it when other counties get punished.
the old cliche about KK being dirty , the card always played by teams who get buried by them or just lack the balls to get over the line and win the all Ireland, and no I’m not from Kilkenny but I’m watching hurling for years and it’s just lazy stuff
Lar hit JJ twice first. Cowardly stuff from Corbett. You are just commenting on the part of the incident that suits you. You would make a good lawyer.
Spot on Matt. It’s tiresome stuff.
What about the goalie coming out and hitting Lar in the ribs? Didn’t that also go unnoticed by the ref?
Where did he hit jj twice first? Did u see it? Genuine question because I saw the particular sending off incident and Delaney ran from 20 yards away and rooted Corbett then the melee followed on the ground
Not what I saw Macca and thankfully not what the umpires saw. It’s all in the referees report. Maybe it can be released to the public under the freedom of information act. It would make for embarrassing reading by Larry and the Tipp County Board and the people on here who think he is innocent just because they didn’t see it on TV!! Do people only believe things they see on TV all the time?.
What about the high tackle up into Micheal Rice’s face by Paul Curran, didn’t that go unnoticed and unpunished?.
What about jackie tyrell thundering into Bergin head on? Same thing lol
Are you also afraid of tough hurling like the Tipp players Macca?
Lar hit jj before he ran away jj went after him
A complete Farce. Directly striking a player should get a three match ban. End of story.
Both should have received the 3 match ban so.
Lar will be happy to get away without the truth being revealed. I’ve heard it from a source very close to the scene that Lar tried to dig Delaney in the groin and then drove the butt of the hurl up under Delaney’s chin. I saw something like this myself so when it was confirmed by that source I wasn’t a bit surprised.
What I am surprised by is the amount of people on here that think Lar is innocent in the whole thing because the cameras didn’t pick him up doing anything. So if a camera doesn’t catch you out it means you are innocent? The umpires obviously saw the incident and reported a red card for both players was required.
There is no way a player of JJ’s experience and success would get involved with someone like Lar in a League Final for no reason.
You would have to wonder why no Tipp player came over to help Lar out when he was on the ground, they are all either soft or didn’t mind too much what was happening.
Fecking hell, you talk some shite
As in the truth Johnny? It obviously suits you to not accept the truth in this particular case. Do you lie down and accept things in your life that you know are not true? I doubt it!
Lmfao yes Philip of course! I’m just blind at matches :)
Told him that a few days ago Johnny his head is so far up his own arse he cant see anything but kk.
So this week it’s a source telling you, but last week you said you saw it yourself. Lying tramp.
No Will I said I saw the same thing myself but you doubt yourself when very few others saw anything but when a source that was extremely close to the incident confirms it you know you are right. The only tramp here is Larry Corbett.
I’m glad you appear to be following me on this site. Do I have a fan?
There you are, contradicting yourself again. No-one’s following you, your high-pitched screaming and whining and obsessive nonsense about another county’s hurler on this site for the last week has, unfortunately, been impossible to ignore. You’re making a show of yourself, and letting your county down.
Will I’m sure my county will somehow manage to get through this rough time they are facing with me making a few comments on a site and come out the other side as All-Ireland Champions yet again.
People have spent all week going on about JJ Delaney and Kilkenny so I will go on about who I want. If you are not interested just don’t read my comments. You obviously are considering you see the need to reply to me so thanks.
It’s poor out if county boards to be looking to get players off on technicalities. What kind of message does it send out to youngster watching the games!
It was nothing got to do with the Tipp or Kilkenny County Board. The outcome of the Longford County Board appeal forced the GAA to quash all other proposed bans.
Kilkenny won Sunday but what there unreal at is whining when things go against them! Was at the match Sunday and every free given against them their supporters wud go mad! It’s unreal! Same in 2010 when beat by us in the final! Every whinge and excuse under the sun! I have said it before and I’ll say it again! Corbett was hit Sunday by Delaney running in from 20 yards away, ball was out at midfield, play stopped at the time! Now where im critical if tipp is there 2 soft! They need to toughen up big style
We’re you in Thurles earlier in the League for the Tipp v KK game Macca? There was some amount of moaning from Tipp supporters that day and awful abuse directed at a lot of Kilkenny players especially Tommy Walsh when he received his second yellow card issued completely incorrectly by a referee that all the Tipp supporters thought was great until he sent off Noel McGrath and also who has subsequently been dropped by the refereeing panel. No place in sport for this vile abuse from supporters.
Also Macca did you read any papers on Monday after the League Final? I think almost every reporter mentioned there were some very questionable decisions made against Kilkenny by Barry Kelly including a glaring mistake of over ruling a free for an off the ball incident that had nothing got to do with the free that had been awarded. We all know the media don’t have a lot of time for Kilkenny so when they even mention a ref was poor you have to sit up and take notice.
I was ye! tommy Walsh is hated because he’s a sneaky little yoke aswell as been a good hurler! Off the top of my head I can remember 3 wrong calls against us last Sunday, the most blatant been bonner maher going through and blown for over carrying when the ball was on his Hurley! I have also read “experts” praising Kelly! Point I’m making is Kk whinge about decision, dirty play over physicality etc and the irony makes me burst my ass laughing! There as bad if not worse then anyone for it
Tommy Walsh never inflicted the amount of damage that Tipps very own sneak inflicted on Michael Rice last year. Tommy walks off the field with a head wound in almost every match but if his direct opponent gets a tip of the hurl people freak out. Tommy should be more careful shaving as surely this is the only reason he has these cuts at the end of matches considering he never takes any punishment himself!!!!!!
Bitterness and jealousy will ya get ya no where macca, only one team and player on the paper during the week moaning and groaning about last sun and it wasn’t KK or JJ, the fans might b jumpn up and shouting for everything but that’s called passion, have ye ever heard of that in Tipp. Decisions will always seem to go against ye when ye loose, we’d b the same, now get over it and look forward to hopefully a great few months of hurling and may the best team win out in the end.
Spot on George Holmes
One bad pull on Michael rice?i agree it was a bad pull but every county around knows tommy welsh is a sneak but a great hurler!No bitterness ever with me! Kk better team Sunday and great team last few years and lar never once whined during the week when interviewed! What I find hilarious is Kilkenny people whining to me during the week at how dirty tipp are! I nearly fell down in a weakness laughing! Pot kettle black
A bad pull on TJ Reid and Shefflin in the same match too. Michael Fennelly showed him up to be the fraud he is on Sunday.
I’m loving the Tipp reaction to getting beat on Sunday. Endless moaning about ribs and red cards etc. I always thought they were made soft in Tipp but this had proven it.
JJ told Lar that he saw Tommy naked loads of times in the shower and he lost the rag with jealousy!
Cracker Daniel
On the bright side, Longford has usurped Wicklow as the Garden County
If lars ribs are broken I will eat my hat. He is some attention seeking git when he comes up against a player who he can’t beat he try’s to get him sent off its that simple. Ps Iam a cork man.
His ribs are not broke Pete. I agree with you regarding Corbett trying to get his opponent sent off. He did it against Tommy Walsh last year and JJ this year. I’m more than happy that he does this as it completely takes his mind off the game and he plays brutal.
I’d live to know what the genuine and honest Tipp people actually think about Lar and his conduct on and off the pitch.
Ah Macca come on any kk fan I know tells me tommy timbers is a pure gent of a fella,never pulled a dirty stroke in is life and all us Tipp fans are just jealous
My favourite Lar Corbett incident is ,rattling the onion bag three times in an All Ireland Final!! :)
My two favourite Lar Corbett moments are when he didn’t get a puck of the ball in the All-Ireland Final in 2011 and then spent 70 minutes running away from Jackie Tyrrell in the All-Ireland Semi Final last year making a holy show of himself in the process.
Although those 2 moments are closely followed by his conduct in the past week harping on about a knock he took instead of taking it like a man. Maybe he should take up badminton if he doesn’t want to take a few belts!
All stand for the gospel according steve’s “source”
Thanks Phil
They hired Frank Murphy :-)
Name another sport where this would happen?, both should be banned for one game and move on. GAA has been soft on discipline for years, there is a culture of appeals, ‘committees’ and a refusal to accept any responsibility. Even a one game ban is soft, for any player striking another a 3 match ban should be introduced for the the player playing for that particular team, I.e. if you are sent off playing for your county for striking a player, you should be banned for 3 matches for your county. The current system sends out a message that if you break the rules, you will probably get away with it, even if it is in plain sight and obvious. It makes ‘cute hoor politics’ look like a game of tiddlywinks.
“Name another sport where this would happen.”
Rugby.
Leinster made a complete show of the Celtic league rule book to get John Fogerty off after he threw about 20 punches. French clubs have found ways of applying euro bans to euro competitions only.
Point taken, I would say the majority of times players are red carded or cited in rugby they get hefty bans and accept them. I don’t think we will ever see the same system or culture with respect to discipline in the GAA.
Rugby is for thugs. You also don’t see lads stamping on each other and gouging in GAA and getting away with it the majority of the time.
Sorry Pat, I’m a big rugby fan, but this constant smug feeling of moral superiority is a load of crap. What about the constant cheating of the blood sub rules, the prop injury rules when a scrum is being destroyed, pathetic suspensions for gouging, etc. If a GAA player did what BOD or POC did in the past weeks they would have been destroyed.
The GAA certainly has issues, but those throwing the stones at them are doing so from very vulnerable glass houses.
I agree no sport, not even rugby is perfect when it comes to discipline, but the GAA don’t do themselves any favours with the multiple appeal options available to players if they are red carded. Also the ability of officials to find ‘loopholes’ has been an issue in discipline. The culture is if we can get our player off serving a suspension, lets do it by combing through rule books, finding out dates when rules were brought in etc. what should happen is there be suspension periods laid out for certain offences with one appeals option where the punishment could be abolished, upheld or increased. Did nt waterford GAA get praised from the president of the GAA a few years ago for not appealing a John Mullane red card and accepting his suspension where the trend was to appeal every suspension with vigour because the appeal process was so long winded and technicalities could be exploited so that you would eventually get away without any suspension.
John Mullane was guilty so why would they have appealed? Same way JJ Delaney was guilty so Kilkenny didn’t appeal. Lar Corbett was guilty but Tipp wanted to appeal on the basis that the TV didn’t show his dirty stroke and they hoped the referee didn’t have it in his report either. I’m sure he did and he would have been caught out. But both JJ and Corbett only got off because of the appeal by Longford so they had nothing got to do with it.
As a tipp fan I would have been disgusted if they had appealed it, I don’t believe he was innocent, you have to take it that the umpires saw him doing something which the referee noted and saw fit to send him off. My point is that The appeals and technicality culture that exists in the GAA needs to end and players should accept punishment, granted the fact that the tipp and kilkenny teams did not appeal any thing and it was as a result of a longford GAA appeal that both tipp and kilkenny benefited. If this does not change, no one can complain if we see more acts of thuggery on the field of play resulting in broken ribs, a shattered hand, Hurleys through face guards or even worse because players do not face severe punishments as a result of resorting to acts of violence.
Jesus steve you’re going too far now surely what Lar Corbett ,tommy Walsh etc do off the pitch is their own business,Lar must have rode your missus the way you go on about the man ,or is it the 3 goals in the all Ireland that stopped the five in a row?
Sure Philip Lar probably wouldn’t deny if he rode my missus or not as he likes the did he or didn’t he talk about him so I won’t be asking him.
Jesus Phil didnt realize Stevie had a misus! the way hes going on bout the kk hurling team i assumed he was surely sleeping with one of them the Plank.
I wish!!
Lar lar lar lar lar is that all yeah have in tipp he had one good year Otta 13 get there is the diff in tipp and Kk lar would have being dropped years ago if he was in Kk
Glad someone else is speaking sense on here. Absolutely spot on. Not a good sign for Tipp that O’Shea puts up with the media circus that is Lar Corbett.
Ban both of the buckers…. No point in having RULES if they are not enforced….
At what point are the GAA going to realise that their whole disciplinary process is a complete waste of time and resources. Every time there’s a high profile suspension to be handed out, the list of committees come out.
Central Hearings Committee
Central Appeals Committee
Central Competitions Control Committee
Has nobody thought about having one disciplinary committee which has an appeals process?
GAA disciplinary procedures are a total joke.A guy has 3 ribs broken in an off the ball incident and nothing happens.
A guy gets bitten and nothing happens.
Nudge nudge wink wink its a mans game and all that.
A guy almost gets a finger severed and the GAA do nothing about it
A guy gets his kneecap shattered and the GAA do nothing about it
Richie Power gets three broken ribs in the League Semi Final this year and the GAA do nothing about it, because Kilkenny players just accept their injuries like men and move on unlike a certain Mr. Larry Corbett who wants to harp on about it on national radio.
For those of you still going on about Lar and his broken ribs he obviously haven’t read his latest comment when he said they are just sore but not actually broken. That’s amazing! I doubt they are even sore. Tipp and Larry tried to show Kilkenny up as a dirty team and they failed miserably and got caught out themselves.
Fair play Steve, at least there’s some 1 on here talkn sence.
Barry Gillerans sending off was a joke in the 1st place!The linesman got him sent-off for an off the ball and the Louth player defended him!!
The incident happened at the end of about 10 minutes of some of the best hurling you are likely to see this year. So its all the more of a shame the sport is brought down to the level where players use legal technicalities to avoid appropriate punishment and the county board celebrates. That is totally against the principles of good sportsmanship. We are tired of seeing it in other aspects of modern life where the “spirit of the law is wilfully ignored if a loophole can be found. They should take their punishment like men and show example to the countless thousands of young lads who worship them and their magnificent skills.
Main issue is that league results are all now totally compromised because of this. Players were suspended/available bases on a rule that didn’t exist. Those that have been relegated will rightly raise that point.
G.A.A., Fianna Fáil, Sinn Fein, I.R.A… the “fourty” shades of green!
Such BS. The GAA aren’t serious about discipline. Never have been….joke.
After some of the butchering that was allowed go unpunished last year by players like Paraic Maher and Iarla Tannion I’d have to agree.
You cried into Muganty’s face
Steve , Tommy is a fine hurler but don’t ever defend the in excusable, he is well able to take a belt but he has been fishing out a lot more belts than he received even ask the ref in the 2011 all Ireland final, who left the field that day with a head wound and from whose hurly was that wound inflicted.
After watching the film Blitz I am sure JJ could pursue a career in the movie industry when he hangs up his gloves, I mean hurly, he shares the same traits as Jason Stratham expressed at the beginning of the movie
How is Butter !!!
Are those rules there to protect players to make sure others don’t carry out the same offences, if the GAA just ignore them where’s their duty of care to their members, it’s only a matter of time before the GAA find themselves in bother in civilian courts, maybe not at county level but definitely at club level where the implementation is worse,