SYNOPSIS
Gareth Gerald McAuley (born December 5, 1979) is a Northern Irish professional football player known for his high skilled performances and top scoring in the game. He currently lives in Larne, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. He plays as a centre-back for the West Bromwich Albion Club and the Northern Ireland national team. He has played in various professional leagues including Irish League, Premier League, English Football League and many other major leagues.
EARLY LIFE AND CAREER
McAuley grew up playing football and started his career at Linfield Club and spent some of his time in a loan at Ballyclare Comrades in early 2000. He moved to the Crusaders Club during the summer of 2000, after spending four years at Linfield. Later, he moved to the Coleraine Club after having two successful seasons with the Crusaders.
He then decided to move into full-time football and later on joined English Football League. He linked up with Edgeley Park-based club for a two-week trial under the eye of former Northern Ireland manager Sammy McIlroy. McIlroy later gives him a call up in the Northern Ireland B after attracting interest from Lincoln City and Stockport County. He seemed to sign a contract with Stockport but talks broke down and he joined Lincoln City on a two-year deal with Coleraine receiving £10,000 for his services.
He signed for Leicester City on a three-year deal on June 5, 2006 after ending his contract with Lincoln. He scored his first senior goal for Leicester on January 17 in a 4-3 defeat to Fulham in the FA Cup. He then signed for Ipswich Town on June 18, 2008, and was made captain for the 08 and 09 season.
He has officially signed a three-year contract with West Bromwich Albion on May 23, 2011, and scored his first goal for the team in a 3-2 victory at New Castle. He scored his second goal for the West Bromwich in the match against Chelsea scoring 1-0 in the 82nd minute.
McAuley scored his goal in a match against Liverpool leading them to the victory during Premier League season on February 11, 2013. He was voted as the Players' Player of the Year and Supporters' Player of the Year after his impressive performances in the 2012/2013 season.
He was one of the five Irish League players named in the squad for the Northern Ireland B team fixture with Scotland B and received his first senior international call during that time. He scored the first Northern Ireland goal in a tournament which was against Ukraine in Euro 2016 and became the second-oldest scorer at the Euros. It was a top scorer ever made in the gaming history after Coin Clarke scored at the 1986 FIFA World Cup. He became the oldest scorer in European 2018 FIFA world Cup games after scoring the second goal in Northern Ireland's 4-0 win Over Azerbaijan on November 11, 2016.
PERSONAL LIFE AND AFFAIRS
McAuley is a professional footballer who has played various games and achieved several goals throughout his career. His nationality is Irish and belongs to the white ethnic background. He is at the age of 37 now. His hard work and dedication towards the game have made him such a great football player of the present time.
His hobby was football from early childhood and started playing during his school time. He is highly concentrated towards his games and seems single as seen in the social networking sites and media. He has not yet revealed any of his details about his girlfriend and married life among the public and social networking sites. Seems like his career is everything to him and will be doing his best for his team in future.
He stands 6 feet 5 inches tall and weighs 198 pounds. He is counted among high paid players earning a salary of $572,000. He has estimated his recent net worth of over $2.2 million.
