John McGinn is renowned as the resident comedian in Scotland’s Euros squad, so it is perhaps fitting that he was at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival three years ago when his life changed forever.
It was then that Aston Villa offered McGinn the chance to leave his country and join them in the Championship. He had already established himself with St Mirren and Hibernian, winning a promotion, Scottish League Cup and Scottish Cup, and was attracting the interest of Brendan Rodgers at Celtic, the club he supported as a boy.
But McGinn was determined to prove himself in England and the move has paid off spectacularly. He has emerged as a pivotal figure in Villa’s evolution under Dean Smith and, on Monday, the man previously known as “Meatball” will be one of Steve Clarke’s main weapons as Scotland begin their first major tournament campaign in 23 years with a game against the Czech Republic at Hampden Park. McGinn has earned his reputation in the squad as the king of knockabout humour, but Clarke is serious when it comes to the importance of a 26-year-old who epitomises Scotland’s underdog spirit.
“He is one of those lads who is a massive influence and sometimes goes under the radar,” says Paul Lambert, the former Scotland midfielder and Villa manager. “If you take him out of that Scotland team, or the Villa team, you would miss him so much. He’s got incredible work rate, desire and leadership.”
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McGinn’s journey from the academy pitches of Paisley to Euro 2020 has been an unconventional one, defined by a hunger to make the most of his ability. It was during his time in Scotland where the “Meatball” nickname first emerged, due to the short hair and, in his own words, his round head, although when he was a child he used to pretend he was Zinedine Zidane, practising overhead kicks on the trampoline at his Clydebank home. His family have a rich football history, with brothers Stephen and Paul both professionals.
There is also a close association with Celtic: grandfather Jack was a club chairman and parents Stephen and Mary attend matches in the directors’ box. McGinn joined St Mirren’s academy at the age of seven and broke into the first team as a teenager, catching the eye as a brave, dynamic midfielder.
Gary Teale, a former St Mirren team-mate and caretaker manager, says: “He had the vision to find these passes other players wouldn’t notice. The big moment for me was when we played Celtic in the Scottish League Cup semi-final [in 2013]. John was up against the likes of Scott Brown and Victor Wanyama, but he more than held his own that day.”
There was another moment McGinn will never forget, when he was at the centre of a “stupid” training ground prank at the age of 20. Team-mate Steven Thompson hurled a spiked pole at him, which punctured his thigh and cut seven centimetres into the leg, a millimetre away from the artery. He spent nearly four months out of football after being released.
He signed for Hibernian in July 2015 for £100,000 in compensation to St Mirren and played a key role in their win over Rangers in the 2016 Scottish Cup final, the club’s first trophy in 114 years. Nottingham Forest had three bids of up to £1.5million turned down in the summer of 2017.
McGinn has often reflected that it could have been a different career path if he did not have brothers David and Robbie Threlfall as his representatives. They told him to bide his time in Scotland and wait for more offers.
The move to Villa came a year later. When he flew down for talks, Villa were in the Championship with Steve Bruce under pressure after defeat by Fulham in the play-off final. McGinn had a firm offer from Celtic, but Villa produced a charm offensive, turning on the floodlights at an empty Villa Park to show off the towering Holte End in all its glory. The move was wrapped up within hours.
McGinn made an instant impact and, after Smith succeeded Bruce, promotion to the Premier League followed via the drama of the play-off final. Now known simply as “Ginny”, he remains an integral member of the squad.
A versatile, tireless runner and a high-pressing machine, he has been described as an “absolute snip” due to the £2m transfer fee.
He is particularly close to Jack Grealish and they could face each other at Wembley next Friday. The flow of WhatsApp messages has been suspended until then.
At international level, McGinn has added goals to his all-round game and is now in double figures. Clarke even refers to him as a “support striker” because of his unerring ability to get himself into goalscoring positions. It is a long way from those days on the trampoline but, with McGinn in their ranks, Scotland are no longer an international football punchline.