Garath McCleary

Garath McCleary

McCleary playing for Reading in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Garath James McCleary[1]
Date of birth	15 May 1987[1]
Place of birth	Oxford, England
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[1]
Playing position	Winger
Club information
Current team	Reading
Number	12
Youth career
2004–2005	Oxford United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
2004–2005	Oxford City	22	(3)
2005–2007	Slough Town	33	(7)
2007–2008	Bromley	24	(8)
2008–2012	Nottingham Forest	111	(13)
2012–	Reading	126	(13)
National team^‡
2013–	Jamaica	19	(3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:23, 20 March 2016 (UTC). † Appearances (goals) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18:52, 19 February 2016 (UTC)

Garath James McCleary (born 15 May 1987) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Reading.

Club career

Early career

McCleary was born in Oxford, Oxfordshire.^[1] His football career began with Oxford City, and spent time with Oxford United but never signed a contract with the team despite spending 3 months with the club.^[2]

He joined Slough Town playing in 24 games and scoring on six occasions. He then moved to Bromley in January 2007. In total McCleary made over 40 appearances for Bromley scoring 11 goals. Nottingham Forest manager Colin Calderwood offered him a trial at the City Ground where he did well enough to secure a contract on 31 January 2008.^[3]

Nottingham Forest

McCleary made his first team debut as an 87th-minute substitute, in a 1–0 home defeat against Carlisle United, on 3 March 2008.^[4] He scored his first goal for the club on 1 April 2008 in injury time, in a 2–0 win at Carlisle. On 5 April he was handed his first start where he was voted Man of the Match as Forest beat Cheltenham Town 3–1 at the City Ground.^[5]

In the 2011/12 season McCleary scored nine goals after returning from injury in December 2011; six of which came in March 2012.^[6] Four came in a high-scoring game away to Leeds United at Elland Road, where Forest won 7–3.^[7] These performances resulted in McCleary being named as the Football League Championship Player of the Month.^[8] He was voted Forest's Player of the Season by the Forest supporters, beating Joel Lynch and Chris Gunter into second and third respectively.^[9]

Reading

On 16 May 2012 it was announced that McCleary had turned down a new contract at Forest and instead signed a three-year contract at Reading and fulfill his dream of playing in the Premier League.^[10][11] His first goal for Reading came in a 3–3 draw with Fulham.^[12]

McCleary signed a new contract with Reading on 3 October 2014, keeping at the club until the summer of 2017.^[13]

International career

In October 2012 he was earmarked by the Jamaica Football Federation to play for Jamaica during their 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign.^[14] He received his first call up on 24 January 2013 alongside Reading team mates Jobi McAnuff and Adrian Mariappa for the World Cup qualifier against Mexico on 6 February.^[15] McCleary started the match and helped Jamaica to a 0–0 draw at the Estadio Azteca.^[16]

Career statistics

As of match played 20 March 2016.^{[17][18][19][20]}

McCleary playing for Nottingham Forest in 2010

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Oxford City	2004–05	Southern West	22	3	1	0	—		6[lower-alpha 1]	3	29	6
Slough Town	2005–06	Isthmian Premier	24	7	0	0	—		7[lower-alpha 2]	2	31	9
	2006–07		9	0	1	0	—		1[lower-alpha 3]	0	11	0
	Total		33	7	1	0	—		8	2	42	9
Bromley	2006–07	Isthmian Premier	6	2	0	0	—		9	1	15	3
	2007–08	Conference South	18	6	4	2	—		5	0	27	8
	Total		24	8	4	2	—		14	1	42	11
Nottingham Forest	2007–08	League One	8	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	1
	2008–09	Championship	39	1	2	0	2	0	—		43	1
	2009–10		24	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	27	0
	2010–11		18	2	2	0	1	0	1[lower-alpha 4]	0	22	2
	2011–12		22	9	1	0	0	0	—		23	9
	Total		111	13	7	0	4	0	1	0	123	13
Reading	2012–13	Premier League	31	3	3	1	3	0	—		37	4
	2013–14	Championship	42	5	1	0	0	0	—		43	5
	2014–15		26	1	4	2	0	0	—		30	3
	2015–16		27	4	2	0	2	1	—		31	5
	Total		126	13	10	3	5	1	—		141	17
Career total			316	44	23	5	9	1	29	6	377	56

1. Two appearances and two goals in the FA Trophy, one appearance and one goal in the Southern League Cup and three appearances in the Oxfordshire Senior Cup
2. Five appearances and two goals in the Isthmian League Cup, two appearances in the Berks & Bucks Senior Cup
3. Appearance in the Isthmian League Cup
4. Appearance in the Championship play-offs

International

As of match played 13 November 2015.^[21]

International statistics

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Jamaica	2013	7	0
	2014	1	1
	2015	11	2
Total		19	3

Honours

Nottingham Forest

• Player of the Season: 2011–12

References

1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 263. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0.
2. Smith, Russell (7 February 2008). "Ex-City star shines at Forest". The Oxford Times (Newsquest). Retrieved 20 March 2012.
3. "Team | Player Profiles | Garath McCleary". Nottingham Forest F.C. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
4. "Garath McCleary". Bridportred.com. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
5. "Countdown To Kick-Off: Nottingham Forest (H)". dcfc.co.uk (Derby County F.C.). 13 March 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
6. "Garath McCleary; Season 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Racing Post. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
7. "Leeds United 3–7 Nottingham Forest". BBC Sport. 20 March 2012. Retrieved 21 March 2012.
8. "McCleary named Player of the Month". The Football League. 6 April 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
9. "G-Mac And Adi Land Awards". nottinghamforest.co.uk (Nottingham Forest F.C.). 28 April 2012. Archived from the original on 4 July 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
10. "Royals Appointment For McCleary". nottinghamforest.co.uk (Nottingham Forest F.C.). 16 May 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
11. "Royals sign Garath McCleary". readingfc.co.uk (Reading F.C.). 16 May 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
12. "Reading 3–3 Fulham".
13. "McCleary pens new Royals deal". http://www.readingfc.co.uk/. Reading F.C. 3 October 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2015. External link in |website= (help)
14. "Reggae, steady, go for Prem stars". The Sun. 31 October 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
15. "Pearce earns call up". Reading FC. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
16. "Reggae Boyz hold Mexico nil all at the Azteca". Jamaica Observer. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
17. "Oxford City 2004–05 fixtures". Citystats. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
18. "Garath McCleary profile". Slough Town F.C. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
19. "2007–08 First Team statistics". Bromley F.C. Archived from the original on 21 February 2009. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
    FA Cup ties sourced individually to: "Lillies have lucky escape". Bromley News Shopper. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
    "Lillies leave it late". Bromley News Shopper. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
    "Bromley through to next round". Bromley News Shopper. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
    "Lillies fury at penalty exit". Bromley News Shopper. Retrieved 29 October 2013.
20. "Garath McCleary career statistics". Soccerbase. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
21. "Garath McCleary". National Football Teams. Retrieved 27 July 2015.

External links

• Garath McCleary profile at Reading F.C.
• Garath McCleary profile at the Jamaica Football Federation
• Garath McCleary career statistics at Soccerbase
• Garath McCleary at National-Football-Teams.com