Shamrock Rovers announce the signing of striker Marc McNulty, subject to international clearance.
Speaking to shamrockrovers.ie about the signing of the Edinburgh-born striker, Hoops’ head coach Stephen Bradley said:
“We’re delighted. Marc was in with us a few weeks ago, he trained with us for just over a week and we liked what we saw. It was former Rovers player Enda Stevens who put him onto us having mentioned him to me a few months back. But these things can take time as Marc was playing in the States and back home in Scotland. So we followed up, Enda really liked and recommended him, so when we got Marc in we saw why. So he’s done well and we’re delighted to get him in.”
What can Rovers fans expect to see from Marc in terms of his natural game? Is he an out-and-out centre forward or does he like to link up the play in the build-up phase?
“He does a bit or everything to be fair. He can come off and play, he has really good movement in behind and is a good finisher. You can see he has played at a good level, so I’m excited to get Marc in and get him into the group and he sees how we play.”
When can we hope to see him in the playing squad?
“We were hoping tonight in the first leg against Celje but it just hasn’t happened in time, but he should be definitely involved on Sunday against Drogheda at home.”
We caught a word with Marc at MD-1 training in Celje last evening:
Marc McNulty profile:
Having spent his youth career at Hutchison Vale, alongside former Rovers defender Craig Sives, and then Celtic and Hibernian, Marc joined Livingston in 2009. Livi won three promotions in four years.
By scoring 19 goals for the Scottish Championship side in the 2013/14 season, he quickly caught the eye of Sheffield United and moved south of the border at the age of 21. The Blades reached the semi-finals of the League Cup under Nigel Clough but following loan spells at Portsmouth (10 goals) and Bradford City, he was allowed leave Bramall Lane after failing to secure a regular place in the team.
In 2017, Marc signed for Coventry City who he helped win promotion back to League One with a man-of-the-match performance in the play-of final against Exeter at Wembley. He scored 28 goals for the Sky Blues in that campaign, before being sold to Reading for a reported initial fee of £1.2m.
During his time with the Royals there were loan spells at Sunderland and a return to Scotland with two spells at Hibernian. It was during his first, six-month loan at Hibs in 2019 where he scored eight goals in 17 appearances and received his first call-up to the Scottish National Team. He earned two international caps under Alex McLeish against Kazakhstan and San Marino in European qualifiers.
In October 2020, Marc joined Dundee United on a season-long loan, scoring five goals in 30 games while being utilised in a wide role. He rejoined the Tangerines on a season-long loan the following year. By the time of his stint in California, ‘Sparky’ had played for 10 different clubs in England and Scotland, scoring 127 goals and providing 61 assists. The Edinburgh native made 24 appearances for Orange County SC in the USL Championship before returning home in February to sign a short-team deal with Scottish League Two club The Spartans.
