Jon McCarthy

Jonathan David McCarthy (born 18 August 1970) is a former professional footballer who is now Liam Watson's assistant manager at Southport. McCarthy played as a winger and made around 700 appearances in his career, many of which were in the English Football League. Twice a Northern Ireland B international, he went on to win 18 senior caps for Northern Ireland. He began his career at Hartlepool United in 1987, before heading into the non-league scene with Shepshed Charterhouse in 1989. He returned to the professional game the following year after signing a contract with York City. He spent the next five years with the club, helping York to promotion via the play-offs in 1993, and twice being voted Clubman of the Year. In 1995, he joined Port Vale for a £450,000 fee. In his first year at Vale Park he was awarded the club's Player of the Year award, and also played in the Anglo-Italian Cup final. In 1997, he was sold on to Birmingham City for £1.5 million. The highlight of a five-year injury-plagued stay in Birmingham would be a League Cup final appearance in 2001. The next year he was loaned out to Sheffield Wednesday, before a return to Port Vale was followed by a brief spell with Doncaster Rovers and a cameo return at York City. Settling with Carlisle United, he left the Football League in 2003 to play for non-League Hucknall Town. Hucknall were crowned Northern Premier League Premier Division champions in 2003–04, and following this success he won a deal with Northwich Victoria. He helped the club to the Conference North title in 2005–06, before he retired in 2007. He was appointed as first team coach at Chester in January 2014, and after a brief spell as caretaker, became manager of the club in May 2016, before he was sacked in September 2017.

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