Aiden John McGeady (born 4 April 1986) is a former professional footballer. He played for clubs including Celtic, Spartak Moscow, Everton and Sunderland, and won 93 caps for the Republic of Ireland.
McGeady started his senior career at the Scottish Premier League club Celtic, with whom he won four league titles, two Scottish Cups, and one Scottish League Cup. He moved to Russian club Spartak Moscow in 2010 for a record fee for a player from Scotland, and was a runner-up in the Russian Premier League. In January 2014, McGeady moved to English club Everton. Whilst at Everton, McGeady was loaned to Sheffield Wednesday and Preston North End before joining Sunderland in the summer of 2017. After five years with Sunderland, McGeady signed for Hibernian in June 2022. In July 2023, McGeady joined Ayr United.
McGeady was born in Scotland, but played international football for the Republic of Ireland, qualifying through his Irish grandparents. He played for the Ireland U17, U19 and U21 teams, before making his senior international debut in 2004. He went on to play 93 games and was part of the Irish squads at UEFA Euro 2012 and UEFA Euro 2016.
McGeady was born in Rutherglen, Scotland. He attended Trinity High School (Rutherglen) for a short period before attending St Ninian's High School, Giffnock.
His father, John McGeady, was also a professional football player for Sheffield United.
McGeady began his career with Queen's Park, having played as a child with a local youth team, Busby Boys Club. After several trials with clubs in England, including several visits to Arsenal, he joined Celtic while still in his early teens. He progressed through the academy alongside Charlie Mulgrew, playing with the youth and reserve teams, and won the Scottish Youth Cup in 2003.
His senior debut, at age 18, came on 24 April 2004 in a league game against Hearts at Tynecastle late in the 2003–04 season. He started the match, scored a goal after 17 minutes, and finished that season with four league appearances as Celtic won the league. He made his UEFA Champions League debut the next season in a game against Italian side AC Milan and made the breakthrough into the first team that same season, with 27 appearances in the league as Celtic finished runners-up in Martin O'Neill's final campaign with the club. He also featured as a late substitute in the season's Scottish Cup Final in which Celtic defeated Dundee United 1–0.
McGeady's 2005–06 season was hampered by a persistent knee injury and he struggled to secure a starting place ahead of Shaun Maloney and Shunsuke Nakamura, but still managed to make 19 appearances over the course of the season as Celtic won the league title.
The 2006–07 season saw Maloney leave Celtic for Aston Villa in January 2007, giving McGeady an opportunity to secure a regular starting place. He played regularly from that point in the Celtic team that again won the SPL championship and also qualified for the knockout stage of the Champions League for the first time in club history, defeating Manchester United, Benfica and Copenhagen in the group stage before losing 1–0 to eventual champions AC Milan in extra time. McGeady also started the 2007 Scottish Cup Final victory over Dunfermline Athletic.
McGeady had a superb 2007–08 season, earning praise from the media, fans, and fellow players. One of his most memorable performances came against Aberdeen: he scored a goal and set up three, including a second goal for striker Scott McDonald with a 360-degree turn and cross. He continued to provide goals for his team: most important was McDonald's equalising goal against rivals Rangers in a match that Celtic went on to win 3–2 and which proved to be crucial in Celtic's successful defence of their title. Throughout the season, he contributed a total of eight goals and 24 assists and was awarded (by vote of his fellow players) the SPFA Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year on 20 April 2008, only the second player ever (after Shaun Maloney in 2006) to receive both awards in the same season. The club reached the knockout stages of the Champions League for a second consecutive season and won the league title for the third year in a row, overhauling Rangers with one week left and winning at Dundee United on the final day of the season to clinch the trophy.
McGeady entered 2008–09 as Celtic's star player but his performances suffered as Celtic endured a poor second half to the season. On 16 December 2008, after a much-publicised dressing room row with manager Gordon Strachan, McGeady was fined two weeks' wages and suspended for two matches, although Strachan later denied any fallout between him and McGeady. Although they won the 2009 Scottish League Cup Final,
with McGeady one of the scorers, Celtic finished runners-up to Rangers on the final day of the season.
2009–10 began well for McGeady as he scored two goals against Aberdeen on the opening day of the season. McGeady's form improved: he stayed injury-free while contributing seven goals and 16 assists in 35 league appearances. Ross County knocked Celtic out of the Scottish Cup and Celtic ended the season trophyless for the first time since 2003, having finished in second place in the SPL.
In August 2010, McGeady joined Russian side Spartak Moscow, signing a four-and-a-half-year contract. The fee of £9.5 million made McGeady the most expensive player from Scottish football. He made his league debut in September, a 2–1 win against Saturn. He scored his first goal for Spartak in a 2–2 draw at home to Amkar later the same month. In the last game of the season, McGeady was sent off for a late challenge on Marcin Kowalczyk in the derby against Dynamo Moscow. He was included in the Russian Football Union's list of 33 top players, published in December 2010, which named McGeady the second-best right winger.
The 2011–12 season started with McGeady scoring a late goal against FC Basel, putting Spartak through to the last 16 of the UEFA Europa League. In his first full season he made 31 appearances, scoring three times, but expressed a desire to leave the club once his contract ran out.
After starting the 2012–13 season by scoring in a 2–1 win over Volga, McGeady received his first red card of that season, getting sent off in a 5–0 defeat to FC Zenit Saint Petersburg on 11 August 2012. Spartak were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League by McGeady's former club, Celtic. In May 2013, McGeady received a red card for the second time in the season after he struck an opponent, and then made an offensive gesture as he left the pitch. He was accused of vandalising a dressing room door at Saransk Stadium and was warned that he could face police action. He was originally suspended for six matches; the Russian Football Union reduced his suspension to two matches. After serving the two-match ban, he made his return in the last game of the season, where he provided an assist in a 2–0 win against Alania Vladikavkaz. At season's end, McGeady had made 23 appearances and scored five times.
McGeady scored his first goal of 2013–14 and provided an assist as Spartak won 2–0 against Ural Sverdlovsk Oblast. In September, he had a hat-trick of assists in a 3–2 win over Krasnodar, but he was disciplined, sent to train with the club's youth team, and was later placed on the transfer list after ignoring team orders. Despite the incident, manager Valeri Karpin said that McGeady could make it back to the first team.
In January 2014, McGeady joined English club Everton of the Premier League on a four-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut by coming on as a substitute in a 1–1 draw away to West Bromwich Albion. McGeady was mainly used as a substitute as he made just three starts in his first season, helping Everton to record their best-ever points tally in the Premier League era (72) and a fifth-place finish.