Carl Magnay

Carl Magnay

Magnay playing for Hartlepool United in 2015
Personal information
Full name	Carl Ronald Joseph Magnay [1]
Date of birth	(1989-01-20) 20 January 1989 (age 35)
Place of birth	Gateshead, England
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Full back
Youth career
	Leeds United
	Birtley Town
	Esh Winning
2007–2009	Chelsea
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2009–2011	Chelsea	0	(0)
2009	→ Milton Keynes Dons (loan)	1	(0)
2009	→ Northampton Town (loan)	1	(0)
2012–2014	Gateshead	67	(3)
2014–2015	Grimsby Town	42	(1)
2015–2019	Hartlepool United	110	(4)
2019–2021	Spennymoor Town	38	(0)
2022–2023	Gateshead	38	(1)
Total		297	(9)
International career
2009	Northern Ireland U21	1	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Carl Ronald Joseph Magnay (born 20 January 1989) is a former professional footballer who played as a defender.

Born in Gateshead, Magnay joined Chelsea in 2007. After loan spells with Milton Keynes Dons and Northampton Town, he departed Chelsea and joined his home town club Gateshead. After three seasons with Gateshead, he spent one season with Grimsby Town where he won the club's Player of the Season award. In 2015, he joined League Two club Hartlepool United. Magnay became club captain in his third season with Hartlepool before departing at the end of his fourth season. He subsequently joined non-League Spennymoor Town in 2019. After three seasons with Spennymoor, he rejoined Gateshead. In this spell, Gateshead earned promotion from the National League North as champions. He retired in 2023.

Magnay has also represented Northern Ireland at under-21 level, earning one cap.

Career

Chelsea

Born in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, Magnay was the winner of the second series of the Sky One talent search Football Icon . ^{[2] [3]} Prior to this Magnay was part of Leeds United's academy and also played part-time for Birtley Town and Esh Winning. ^{[4] [5] [2]} Magnay's father was the secretary at Birtley Town and he received a phone call from Sky explaining that they were looking for players to take part. Magnay attended alongside his friend Mark Anderson. Before appearing on Football Icon, Magnay had been on trial with Middlesbrough. ^[2] On 30 July 2007, ChelseaTV Online conducted an interview with Magnay, where it was revealed he had signed professional forms with the club.

In January 2009 he was loaned to League One team Milton Keynes Dons. ^[6] He made his debut for the Dons on 31 January against Cheltenham Town. He made only one other appearance and in total played 7 minutes for MK. ^[7] On 9 March 2009 Magnay was signed by Northampton Town on a one-month loan deal. ^[8] He made his debut in the 1–0 defeat at Millwall. ^{[9] [10]}

In pre-season ahead of the 2009–10 Premier League campaign, Magnay was a part of the Chelsea Reserves team that took part in a training ground brawl with United Arab Emirates side Al-Ahli. ^[11]

In March 2010 Magnay suffered a serious injury in a reserve team game against Charlton Athletic, damaging his anterior cruciate ligament, medial collateral ligament and cracking his kneecap. ^[12]

On 16 June 2011, it was announced that Magnay had been released by Chelsea having made no senior appearances in a spell plagued by injury. ^[13] Also, Chelsea reserve team coach Steve Holland made this comment in an article which confirmed the departure of two other players: "Carl Magnay will remain at Chelsea for the rest of this year and he is well informed of how the club see him. He is another who had an awful run of injuries and we try to look after our players. Hopefully over the next six months we can help place him at a good level of football." ^[14]

Gateshead

In January 2012, Magnay appeared on trial at Gateshead, playing for Gateshead's reserve side in a Durham Challenge Cup match against Norton & Stockton Ancients on 11 January ^[15] and a Central League game against Hartlepool United Reserves on 25 January. ^[16] On 27 January 2012, he signed for Gateshead on a contract until the end of the season. ^[17] He made his debut on 6 March, as an 86th-minute substitute in a 2–0 win over Hayes & Yeading United. ^[18] He agreed a new one-year contract with the club in May 2012 to cover the 2012–13 season. ^[19] Magnay scored his first career goal on 29 January 2013 against Barrow in the FA Trophy. ^[20] He scored his first league goal on 13 April 2013 against Hereford United. Magnay started in the 2014 Conference Premier play-off final against Cambridge United, a 2–1 defeat. ^[21] After making 77 appearances for the club, Magnay was released at the end of the 2013–14 season. ^[22]

Grimsby Town

On 15 July 2014, Magnay signed for Conference Premier side Grimsby Town on a one-year contract. ^[23] On 26 April 2015, he picked up six awards including "Supporters Player of the Year" award, at the club's annual presentation. ^[24]

Hartlepool United

On 1 June 2015, Magnay joined Hartlepool United after a successful spell at Grimsby where he helped his team finish third in the Conference Premier. ^{[25] [26]} On 5 September 2015, Magnay was accused of spitting at a spectator after receiving a red card in a defeat to Wycombe Wanderers. He was suspended by the FA for six matches and fined £750. ^{[27] [28]} Magnay made 33 league appearances in his first season for Hartlepool. ^[29] He scored twice in a 3–3 draw at Crewe Alexandra. ^[30] In September 2016, Magnay ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in a match with Mansfield Town. ^[31]

At the start of the 2017–18 season, he was named Hartlepool's captain by new boss Craig Harrison. ^[32] In March 2018, Magnay made headlines when scored a goal from 40-yards for Hartlepool on live TV in a relegation battle against Barrow. ^[33] Magnay signed a new one-year deal with the club at the end of the 2017–18 season. ^[34]

Magnay was replaced by Andrew Davies as club captain at the start of the 2018–19 season by the club's new manager Matthew Bates. ^[35] Bates said of the appointment: "Carl (Magnay) hasn't done anything wrong but I spoke to him during the summer and made it clear it was nothing against him but told him I was looking to bring in someone with more experience." ^[35]

Spennymoor Town

On 16 July 2019, Spennymoor Town announced the signing of Magnay. ^[36] Magnay stated that he switched to part-time football so that he could pursue coaching and scouting opportunities.

On 9 December 2021, Magnay departed Spennymoor by mutual consent. ^[37] He made 42 appearances in all competitions for the Moors.

Return to Gateshead

On 7 January 2022, Magnay re-signed for National League North side Gateshead on a short-term contract until the end of the 2021–22 season making the switch back to full-time football. ^[38] His first goal, in his second spell, came in a 2–2 draw against Chorley on 2 May 2022. The result meant that Gateshead had secured the National League North title. ^[39] At the end of the season, Magnay signed a new one–year deal with the club. ^[40]

Magnay played in the 2023 FA Trophy final for Gateshead at Wembley, but lost 1–0 to FC Halifax Town. ^[41] On 11 July 2023, it was announced he had signed a new one–year contract with Gateshead. ^[42]

On 28 November 2023, Magnay decided to retire from professional football following a long term injury sustained in training. ^[43] This decision came after he had sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury in October 2023. Upon retiring he said: "It was difficult – it wasn't the way I wanted to finish my career, via an injury. It was difficult to process for a couple of weeks and took a while to sink in, purely because it was taken out of my hands. It was something that I was preparing for anyway, and thankfully it came at a time where I've transitioned straight into the coaching side of it." ^[43]

International career

Due to having Northern Irish grandparents, English-born Magnay was eligible to represent Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland. He made his international debut for the Northern Ireland U21 team on 11 August 2009, in an away friendly against Portugal's U-21 team. ^[44]

Coaching career

In January 2015, while earning his coaching badges, Magnay started coaching at Pro Player Football Academy. ^[45] In September 2019, Magnay began working for his former club Chelsea as a youth talent scout in the north of England. ^[46]

Following his retirement from football on 28 November 2023, he remained at Gateshead as a part of the coaching staff. ^[47]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Chelsea	2007–08 [48]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2008–09 [49]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2009–10 [50]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2010–11 [51]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2011–12 [52]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Milton Keynes Dons (loan)	2008–09 [49]	League One	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Northampton Town (loan)	2008–09 [49]	League One	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Gateshead	2011–12 [53]	Conference Premier	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
	2012–13 [53]	Conference Premier	33	1	1	0	0	0	2 [lower-alpha 1]	1	36	2
	2013–14 [53]	Conference Premier	30	2	2	0	0	0	5 [lower-alpha 2]	0	37	2
	Total		67	3	3	0	0	0	7	1	77	2
Grimsby Town	2014–15 [53]	Conference Premier	42	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
Hartlepool United	2015–16 [54]	League Two	33	1	2	0	2	0	0	0	37	1
	2016–17 [55]	League Two	13	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	14	2
	2017–18 [53]	National League	35	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	35	1
	2018–19 [53]	National League	29	0	3	1	0	0	2 [lower-alpha 1]	0	34	1
	Total		110	4	5	1	3	0	2	0	120	5
Spennymoor Town	2019–20 [53]	National League North	23	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	24	0
	2020–21 [53]	National League North	3	0	0	0	0	0	2 [lower-alpha 1]	0	5	0
	2021–22 [53]	National League North	12	0	0	0	0	0	1 [lower-alpha 1]	0	13	0
	Total		38	0	1	0	0	0	3	0	42	0
Gateshead	2021–22 [53]	National League North	15	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	15	1
	2022–23 [53]	National League	20	0	2	0	0	0	5 [lower-alpha 1]	0	27	0
	2023–24 [53]	National League	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
	Total		38	1	2	0	0	0	5	0	45	1
Career total			297	9	11	1	3	0	17	1	328	11

1. Appearances in FA Trophy
2. Two appearances in FA Trophy, three appearances in Conference Premier play-offs

Honours

Gateshead

• National League North: 2021–22 ^[56]
• FA Trophy runner-up: 2022–23 ^[41]

Individual

• Grimsby Town Supporters' Player of the Year: 2014–15 ^[24]

References

1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2009). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2009–10. Mainstream Publishing. p. 275. ISBN   978-1-84596-474-0.
2. Johnson, Simon. "'It was brutal – but it changed my life': Carl Magnay on winning Football Icon and a contract at Chelsea". The Athletic. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
3. "The winner of Football Icon 2 who won a Chelsea contract in 2007 – what happened to him?". GiveMeSport. 17 February 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2022.
4. "FOOTBALL ICON 2 – THE WINNER". Chelsea FC. Archived from the original on 26 May 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
5. "TV winner Carl hits big time". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
6. "Dons sign Chelsea defender Magnay". BBC. 30 January 2009. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
7. "Cheltenham 3–5 MK Dons". BBC. 31 January 2009. Retrieved 31 January 2009.
8. "Northampton sign Chelsea defender". BBC. 9 March 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2009.
9. "Millwall vs Northampton". Northampton Town F.C. 10 March 2009. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
10. "Games played by Carl Magnay in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
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12. "Reserves Topple Charlton at Cobham". Chelsea F.C. 18 March 2010. Retrieved 25 May 2014.
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24. "Carl Magnay named Grimsby Town Player of the Year". Grimsby Telegraph. 27 April 2015. Archived from the original on 12 June 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
25. "Hartlepool United sign Grimsby Town defender". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
26. "Pools Clinch Signing of Carl Magnay". Hartlepool United. Archived from the original on 1 June 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
27. "Hartlepool's Carl Magnay given six-match ban for spitting at spectator". The Guardian. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
28. "Carl Magnay: Hartlepool defender given spitting ban". BBC Sport. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
29. "Games played by Carl Magnay in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
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32. "Carl Magnay Appointed Club Captain – News – Hartlepool United". Archived from the original on 24 October 2018.
33. "Watch: Hartlepool defender Carl Magnay scores from 40 yards to Titanic music". 22 March 2018.
34. "Pools Announce Retained List – News – Hartlepool United". Archived from the original on 5 November 2018. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
35. "Andrew Davies Appointed Club Captain – News – Hartlepool United". Archived from the original on 24 October 2018.
36. "Magnay is a Moor". Spennymoor Town FC. 16 July 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
37. "Magnay leaves Moors". Spennymoor Town FC. 9 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
38. "Magnay returns". Gateshead FC. 7 January 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
39. "Gateshead clinch promotion to National League as Chorley draw seals title". Chronicle Live. 2 May 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
40. "Retained list confirmed". Gateshead FC. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
41. "Jamie Cooke nets winner as FC Halifax seal Isuzu FA Trophy glory". The FA. 21 May 2023. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
42. "Carl Magnay agrees one-year contract extension". Gateshead FC. 11 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
43. Jack McGraghan (28 November 2023). "Carl Magnay retires from professional football". Gateshead FC. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
44. "Chelsea Youngster in International Call-Up!". Vital Football. 7 November 2008. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
45. "Carl Magnay Academy Coach". Pro Player Football Academy. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
46. "'It was brutal – but it changed my life': Carl Magnay on winning Football Icon and a contract at Chelsea". The Athletic. 17 February 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
47. "Carl Magnay retires from professional football". Gateshead FC. 28 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
48. "Games played by Carl Magnay in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
49. "Games played by Carl Magnay in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
50. "Games played by Carl Magnay in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
51. "Games played by Carl Magnay in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
52. "Games played by Carl Magnay in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
53. "C.Magnay profile". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
54. "Games played by Carl Magnay in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
55. "Games played by Carl Magnay in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
56. "What Happened on Monday Across The National League". thenationalleague.org.uk. 2 May 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.

External links

• Carl Magney at Soccerbase
• Carl Magnay at Soccerbase
• Carl Magnay at Soccerway