Josh Magennis

WHEN he was a youth team goalkeeper at Cardiff City it is a safe bet that Josh Magennis never dreamed he would one day be heading off to the Finals of a major International Championship with Northern Ireland as a striker!

After starting off with Glentoran in the Irish League he made the move into the professional game signing trainee forms with Cardiff City as a goalkeeper.

Magennis even made the substitutes bench for the first-team in a League Cup tie at Anfield, but the coaches at Ninian Park obviously saw his potential to play up front rather than between the sticks.

Barely two years after converting to an outfield player he was picking up his first full cap against Turkey in an end of season tour of the USA in May 2010.

He also played in the following game against Chile and then six months later in a friendly versus Morocco however it was to be February 2013 before he featured for the senior team again.

When Magennis was released by Cardiff City in the close season of 2010 he made the switch to Scotland and joined Aberdeen on a free transfer.

After four years at Pittodrie the Dons did not offer him a new deal and despite interest from clubs in England he decided to remain in Scotland by signing a three-year contract with Kilmarnock.

Magennis really came to the wider public’s attention in October 2015 when he scored his first international goal and Northern Ireland’s second in the 3-1 Windsor Park success over Greece which secured Michael O’Neill’s side their place in France.

From a club perspective the 2015/16 season was his most prolific as a striker to date when he found the net on 13 occasions in 39 appearances for Kilmarnock.

Magennis returned to England in August 2016 when he joined League One Charlton Athletic on a two-year contract.

Prior to the start of the 2018/19 season he left the Addicks and signed a two-year deal with Championship side Bolton Wanderers for an undisclosed fee.

In August 2019 Magennis left Bolton Wanderers to sign a two-year deal with Championship outfit Hull City.

Wigan Athletic moved for Magennis in January 2022 and he put pen to paper on a two-and-a-half year deal with the Latics.