Cody McDonald

Cody McDonald
Personal information
Full name Cody Darren John McDonald[1]
Date of birth (1986-05-30) 30 May 1986[1]
Place of birth Witham, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[1]
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current team
 Gillingham
Number 10
Youth career
Valley Swifts
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2008 Witham Town 83 (48)
2008 Maldon Town 2 (1)
2008–2009 Dartford 15 (14)
2009–2011 Norwich City 24 (4)
2010–2011 → Gillingham (loan) 41 (25)
2011–2013 Coventry City 43 (7)
2013 → Gillingham (loan) 7 (4)
2013– Gillingham 116 (39)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10 September 2016 (UTC).


Cody Darren John McDonald (born 30 May 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for Gillingham.

Club career

Early career

McDonald was born in Witham, Essex.[1] He started his career playing for Valley Swifts[2] in the Braintree & North Essex Sunday League[3] before being spotted by Witham Town.[4] He made his debut at Witham aged 16 and stayed at the club for more than four years.[5]

Dartford

McDonald continued to turn out for Valley Swifts even after his move from Witham to Maldon Town in July 2008, before signing for Isthmian League Premier Division side Dartford in October 2008. Dartford put a stop to his Sunday League exploits[6] and in his short 4-month stay at Princes Park he made 17+3 appearances scoring 19 goals in all competitions,[7] including a hat-trick against Canvey Island on 30 December 2008. It was form such as this which attracted interest from higher league clubs such as Norwich and reportedly Crystal Palace, Charlton Athletic and Reading.[8]

On 26 January 2009, McDonald was accompanied by Dartford manager Tony Burman to Norwich City's training ground at Colney for a two-day trial at the club and the Darts' boss later commented that "he (McDonald) enjoyed the experience and in my opinion did not look out of place over the two days".[9]

Norwich City

On 2 February 2009, it was announced that McDonald had joined Norwich City on a one-and-a-half year deal for an undisclosed fee.[10] His first appearance for the club came three weeks later in the reserves' 3–0 win over Great Yarmouth Town, in which he scored the third goal.[11] He made his professional first team debut on 10 March 2009, as a substitute against Cardiff City at Carrow Road and scored in injury time.[11] In a League Cup tie against Sunderland on 24 August 2009, McDonald played as a goalkeeper for the final few minutes as Norwich had had a player sent off, goalkeeper Ben Alnwick injured and had used all available substitutions. Commenting after the match on organising his defence, he admitted; "If I'm being honest I didn't really know what I was doing!".[12] McDonald signed a new two-year deal with the club in March 2010. In the 2009–10 season he helped Norwich to the League One title, having been mainly used as an impact substitute.

Gillingham

McDonald signed on loan for Gillingham for a season, in the deal which took Simeon Jackson to the Canaries. McDonald was handed the number 10 jersey, which had been vacated by Jackson's departure. He picked up a niggling injury in pre-season, but upon his recovery scored four goals in eight appearances. He scored the first professional hat-trick of his career against Stockport County on 8 January 2011, his contribution helping Gills to a 5–1 away win and expressed his desire to stay at the Kent club.[13][14] On 21 April 2011, McDonald was named the ESPN PFA Fans' Player of the Year for the Football League Two.[15] McDonald also won Gillingham's Player of the Year, Player's Player of the Year, Sponsor's Player of the Year and Goal of the Season at the end of season awards ceremony held on Sunday 8 May 2011.[16] On 19 May 2011, McDonald revealed that he would not be returning to Gillingham.[17]

Coventry City

On 31 August 2011 he signed for Coventry City for an undisclosed fee.[18] He made his debut on 10 September in a 2–0 win against Derby County at the Ricoh Arena.[19] He scored his first goal on 22 October in a 2–1 home defeat against Burnley.[20] His second goal came on 6 March 2012, where he came off the bench to score a late equaliser in a 1–1 draw against Crystal Palace.[21] On 31 March he scored in a 2–0 win against Hull City.[22] He scored again in the following game; a 2–2 draw against Peterborough United.[23] He scored his first goal of the following season on the opening day, opening the scoring in a 1–1 draw against Yeovil Town.[24] On 28 August, he scored in a 3–2 win in the League Cup against midlands rivals Birmingham City.[25] and he scored the winner in the 90th minute in Coventry's 1–0 against Oldham Athletic which was Coventry's first win on the season, However, when Coventry appointed Mark Robins He was deemed surplus to requirements and Robins made him available for transfer and his future at Coventry was left in doubt. But when Robins left for Huddersfield Town he was given a chance to prove himself to new manager Steven Pressley, on 16 March he scored the first and only goal of a 1–0 win over Hartlepool United.

Gillingham

In January 2013 McDonald rejoined Gillingham on a loan deal until the end of the season with the option of a callback after one month by Coventry. He scored on his début for the Gills against York City on 26 January,[26] but was recalled to Coventry in early February. In July 2013, however, he signed a two-year contract with the "Gills" after Coventry agreed to terminate his contract. He signed a two-year contract extension on 12 March 2015 that would keep him with the Gills until the summer of 2017.

Career statistics

As of 18 June 2016.[27]
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other[A] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Witham Town 2003–08 Isthmian League83480000008348
Total 83480000008348
Maldon & Tiptree 2008 Isthmian League2100000021
Total 2100000021
Dartford 2008–09 Isthmian League Premier Division15140000001514
Total 15140000001514
Norwich City 2008–09 Championship7100000071
2009–10 League One173202041254
2010–11 Championship0000000000
Gillingham (loan) 2010–11 League Two41251000104325
Norwich City Total 244202041325
Coventry City 2011–12 Championship234000000234
2012–13 League One203102110244
Gillingham (loan) 2012–13 League Two7400000074
Coventry City Total 437102110478
Gillingham 2013–14 League One 44172010104817
2014–15 43161010424918
2015–16 225101020265
Gillingham Total 1576750308217369
Career total 3241418071133352145
A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals (including substitutes) in the Football League Trophy.

Honours

Norwich City

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 265. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0.
  2. ↑ http://www.bnesl.co.uk/vs.htm
  3. ↑ http://m6live.gazette-news.co.uk/sport/football/nonleaguefootball/4106575.Witham_to_ban_Sunday_football
  4. ↑ http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/football/Witham-chairman-backs-McDonald/article-688635-detail/article.html
  5. ↑ http://www.halsteadgazette.co.uk/sport/countywide/4079870.Cody_set_for_League_chance_/
  6. ↑ http://m6live.braintreeandwithamtimes.co.uk/sport/3685065. Awesome_Arms_see_off_Casuals
  7. ↑ http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/content/Sport/story.aspx?brand=ENOnline&category=Sport&tBrand=ENOnline&tCategory=Sport&itemid=NOED02%20Feb%202009%2015%3A10%3A39%3A110 Dartford Stats
  8. ↑ http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/content/Sport/story.aspx?brand=ENOnline&category=Sport&tBrand=ENOnline&tCategory=Sport&itemid=NOED02%20Feb%202009%2015%3A10%3A39%3A110 McDonald watched by Championship clubs
  9. ↑ http://www.dartfordfc.co.uk/managersnotes.htm
  10. ↑ "City swoop for McDonald". Norwich City F.C. 2 February 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
  11. 1 2 "McDonald scores on debut". Norwich City F.C. 23 February 2009. Retrieved 23 February 2009.
  12. ↑ "Cody on 'keeper role". Norwich City F.C. 28 August 2009. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
  13. ↑ "Stockport 1–5 Gillingham". BBC News. 8 January 2011.
  14. ↑ "McDonald wants to stay with Gills". BBC News. 28 March 2011.
  15. ↑ http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story/_/id/909806/raul-meireles-named-espn-pfa-fans'-player-of-the-year?cc=5901
  16. ↑ http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kentonline/sport/2011/may/9/gills_player_of_the_year.aspx
  17. ↑ "On-loan striker Cody McDonald confirms Gillingham exit". BBC News. 19 May 2011.
  18. ↑ "Norwich City striker Cody McDonald joins Coventry City" BBC Sport. 31 August 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  19. ↑ "Coventry 2–0 Derby" BBC Sport. 10 September 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  20. ↑ "Coventry 1–2 Burnley" BBC Sport. 22 October 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  21. ↑ "Coventry 1–1 Crystal Palace" BBC Sport. 6 March 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  22. ↑ "Hull 0–2 Coventry" BBC Sport. 31 March 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  23. ↑ "Coventry 2–2 Peterborough" BBC Sport. 7 April 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  24. ↑ "Yeovil 1–1 Coventry" BBC Sport. 18 August 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  25. ↑ "Coventry 3–2 Birmingham" BBC Sport. 28 August 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
  26. ↑ "The return of the Mac". Gillingham FC. 25 January 2013.
  27. ↑ Cody McDonald career statistics at Soccerbase
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