| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mark James McGuinness [1] | ||
| Date of birth | 5 January 2001 [2] | ||
| Place of birth | Slough, England | ||
| Height | 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) [2] | ||
| Position(s) | Centre back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Luton Town | ||
| Number | 6 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2011–2020 | Arsenal | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2020–2021 | Arsenal | 0 | (0) |
| 2020–2021 | → Ipswich Town (loan) | 24 | (1) |
| 2021–2024 | Cardiff City | 83 | (5) |
| 2022–2023 | → Sheffield Wednesday (loan) | 17 | (1) |
| 2024– | Luton Town | 34 | (3) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2019 | Republic of Ireland U19 | 10 | (2) |
| 2020–2022 | Republic of Ireland U21 | 13 | (1) |
| 2024– | Republic of Ireland | 1 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21:38, 11 March 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:33, 17 November 2024 (UTC) | |||
Mark James McGuinness (born 5 January 2001) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Luton Town. Born in England, McGuiness represents the Republic of Ireland national team.
Born in Slough, McGuinness joined Arsenal at the age of 10. [3] After featuring regularly for Arsenal's under-18s side during the 2018–19 season, he signed his first professional contract with the club in April 2019. [4] [5] He broke into Arsenal's under-23 squad during the 2019–20 season, although he missed much of the season through injury. [5] He featured for the Arsenal first-team for the first time during pre-season for the 2020–21 season, including scoring a header in a 4–1 win over Milton Keynes Dons in a friendly on 25 August. [6]
McGuinness signed on a season long loan for Ipswich Town in September 2020. [3] He made his senior debut on 27 October 2020, keeping a clean sheet in a 1–0 win over Gillingham. [7] He scored his first senior career goal in a 1–0 away win over Burton Albion on 16 January 2021. [8] McGuinness made 25 appearances during his loan spell at Ipswich, scoring once. [7]
He signed for Cardiff City on 21 June 2021, on a three-year contract. [9] He scored his first goal for Cardiff in a 2–1 win against Preston North End on 20 November 2021. [10]
On 18 August 2022, McGuinness joined Sheffield Wednesday on a season-long loan. [11] [12] Two days later he made his debut, starting against Bolton Wanderers. [13] He would win the clubs player of the month for November, making five appearances and scoring his first goal for the club against Shrewsbury Town. [14] Another three clean sheets from a possible five in December saw him get back-to-back player of the month awards at the club. [15] He was recalled back to Cardiff City on 19 January 2023 having played 23 times. [16]
On 17 August 2023, it was announced that McGuinness had signed a new four-year deal that would keep him at Cardiff until the summer of 2027. [17]
In August 2024, he transferred to Luton Town for a "significant" sum. [18]
McGuinness is a Republic of Ireland youth international, [3] qualifying through his Derry-born father (who grew up in Limavady) [19] and playing for them at under-19 level. [2] He made his debut for the Republic of Ireland under-19 side in March 2019 in a 5–0 win over Romania U19. [20]
He received his first call-up to the Republic of Ireland under-21 team in November 2020, for UEFA Under-21 European Championship Qualifiers at home to Iceland and away to Luxembourg. [21] He made his debut for the under-21s in a 2–1 win over Luxembourg on 18 November. [22] McGuinness scored his first goal for the U21s on 12 October 2021 in a 2–1 loss to Montenegro in Podgorica. [23]
On 3 October 2024, McGuinness received his first call up to the senior Republic of Ireland squad for their upcoming UEFA Nations League fixtures away to Finland and Greece. [24]
McGuinness made his Ireland debut on 17 November 2024, starting in their loss to England. [25] [26]
Mark's father, John McGuinness and brother Tom have represented England in bowls. [27]
| Club | Season | Division | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Arsenal U21 | 2019–20 [28] | — | — | — | 1 [a] | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| 2020–21 [7] | — | — | — | 1 [a] | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Arsenal | 2020–21 [7] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ipswich Town (loan) | 2020–21 [7] | League One | 24 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 1 |
| Cardiff City | 2021–22 [29] | Championship | 34 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 3 |
| 2022–23 [30] | Championship | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 | |
| 2023–24 [31] | Championship | 30 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 2 | |
| 2024–25 [32] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 83 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 86 | 5 | ||
| Sheffield Wednesday (loan) | 2022–23 [30] | League One | 17 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 [a] | 0 | 24 | 1 |
| Luton Town | 2024–25 [32] | Championship | 34 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 3 |
| Career total | 158 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 171 | 10 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Republic of Ireland | |||
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 1 | 0 | |
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