Ross McCausland

Last updated

Ross McCausland
Ross McCausland 2023 (cropped).jpg
McCausland playing for Rangers in 2023
Personal information
Date of birth (2003-05-12) 12 May 2003 (age 22)
Place of birth Antrim, Northern Ireland
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) [1]
Position(s)
Team information
Current team
Aris Limassol
(on loan from Rangers)
Youth career
2018 County Antrim
2018–2019 Linfield
2019–2023 Rangers
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2022– Rangers 44 (3)
2025– Aris Limassol (loan) 0 (0)
International career
2018 Northern Ireland U16 2 (0)
2018–2019 Northern Ireland U17 7 (2)
2021 Northern Ireland U19 4 (0)
2022– Northern Ireland U21 3 (0)
2023– Northern Ireland 5 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 12:34, 8 August 2025 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 10 September 2024

Ross McCausland (born 12 May 2003) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays for Cypriot First Division club Aris Limassol, on loan from Scottish Premiership club Rangers, and the Northern Ireland national team. [2]

Contents

Club career

Rangers

McCausland joined the Rangers Academy from Northern Irish side Linfield in the summer of 2019 for £60,000. [3] [4] In 2021, he signed a contract extension with the club running until 2024. [5]

Having been selected regularly for the club's B-team in the 2021–22 season (featuring in the UEFA Youth League as well as the Lowland League and Challenge Cup), [2] McCausland made his first team debut for Rangers on 14 May 2022, replacing Amad as a 61st-minute substitute during a 3–1 win over Heart of Midlothian; he set up fellow debutant Cole McKinnon for his first goal. [6] He continued to be a B-team player during the 2022–23 season [2] and made only one senior appearance, being used as a late substitute by manager Michael Beale in a league match away to Hibernian on 21 May 2023. [7]

After the sacking of Beale during the 2023–24 season, McCausland started to get a run of games under interim manager Steven Davis and then the new permanent manager Philippe Clement. On 5 October 2023, he made his first appearance against Cypriot side Aris Limassol in the UEFA Europa League, coming on as an 84th minute substitute for Scott Wright. [8]

McCausland impressed supporters with his performance off the bench against Hearts in October 2023; he was denied a first Rangers goal in a victory over Livingston in a Scottish Premiership fixture, with the strike ruled out for a foul by Abdallah Sima in the build-up. [9]

McCausland signed a new four-year contract with Rangers on 28 November 2023 and was promoted to the first-team squad permanently. [10] Two days later he celebrated with a first goal for the club against Aris Limassol, after coming in as a first half substitute for Todd Cantwell. [11] On 17 December, McCausland started in the Scottish League Cup final against Aberdeen, and won his first trophy when Rangers captain James Tavernier scored the only goal of the match. [12]

McCausland scored his first Premiership goal against Kilmarnock on 2 January 2024, but a run of starting appearances ended when he was injured by a tackle from Motherwell defender Dan Casey on 2 March, causing him to miss several fixtures; when he returned to fitness he was again among the substitutes. He was nominated for the PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year award, [13] but lost out to David Watson of Kilmarnock. [14]

McCausland scored his first goal of the season 2024-25 against St Johnstone in the Scottish League Cup, with the assist coming from teammate Cyriel Dessers. [15]

Aris Limassol

On 1 August 2025, McCausland joined Aris Limassol on a season long loan which included a conditional obligation to buy at the end of the loan deal. [16]

International career

McCausland played regularly for Northern Ireland as a youth internationalist. On 14 November 2023, he received his first call-up to the Northern Ireland senior team for a round of UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches. [17] Three days later he made his debut against Finland, starting in a 4–0 defeat. [18]

Career statistics

As of match played 8 August 2025 [2]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueNational cup [a] League cup [b] EuropeOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Rangers B 2019–20 [19] 1 [c] 010
2021–22 [20] 3 [c] 030
2022–23 [21] 3 [c] 030
2023–24 [22] 3 [c] 131
Total101101
Rangers 2021–22 [20] Scottish Premiership 1000000010
2022–23 [21] Scottish Premiership1000000010
2023–24 [22] Scottish Premiership29340105 [d] 1394
2024–25 [19] Scottish Premiership13011219 [e] 1253
Total4435131142667
Aris Limassol (loan) 2025–26 Cypriot First Division 00001 [f] 010
Career total4435131152101778
  1. Includes Scottish Cup
  2. Includes Scottish League Cup
  3. 1 2 3 4 Appearance(s) in Scottish Challenge Cup
  4. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  5. Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, seven appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
  6. Appearances in UEFA Conference League

Honours

Rangers

References

  1. https://www.irishfa.com/ifa-international/squads/northern-ireland-senior-men/ross-mccausland
  2. 1 2 3 4 Ross McCausland at Soccerway
  3. "Four Players Join Academy". Rangers.co.uk. Rangers Football Club. 31 August 2019.
  4. "Ross McCausland set for Rangers contract talks in bid to fend off transfer interest". Football Scotland. 5 November 2023. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  5. "ROSS MCCAUSLAND SIGNS CONTRACT EXTENSION". Rangers.co.uk. Rangers Football Club. 27 September 2021.
  6. "Heart of Midlothian 1-3 Rangers". BBC Sport. BBC. 14 May 2022. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
  7. "Hibernian 1-3 Rangers". BBC Sport. 21 May 2023.
  8. "Aris Limassol 2-1 Rangers". BBC Sport. 5 October 2023.
  9. O'Neill, George (12 November 2023). "Livingston 0-2 Rangers". BBC Sport.
  10. "Ross McCausland signs new Rangers contract". Rangers FC. rangers.co.uk. 28 November 2023.
  11. Campbell, Andy (30 November 2023). "Rangers 1-1 Aris Limassol". BBC Sport.
  12. "Rangers 1-0 Aberdeen". BBC. 17 December 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  13. Alan Pattullo (4 May 2024). "PFA Scotland wonderkids can be 2034 World Cup stars as young player award marks 10 years since Andy Robertson". The Scotsman. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  14. "Lawrence Shankland, David Watson & Rangers trio win PFA awards". BBC Sport. 5 May 2024. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
  15. "Rangers vs St Johnstone". BBC News.
  16. "Ross McCausland Joins Aris Limassol On Loan". www.rangers.co.uk. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
  17. "Ross McCausland receives first Northern Ireland call-up for Euro double-header". Belfast Telegraph. 14 November 2023.
  18. "Finland 4-0 Northern Ireland". BBC Sport. 17 November 2023.
  19. 1 2 "Games played by Ross McCausland in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
  20. 1 2 "Games played by Ross McCausland in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
  21. 1 2 "Games played by Ross McCausland in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  22. 1 2 "Games played by Ross McCausland in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 May 2023.