Ryan McGivern

Hibernian In August 2012, McGivern signed on loan for Pat Fenlon's Scottish Premier League side Hibernian until January 2013. Having been an unused substitute for two games, he finally made his debut, coming on for Alan Maybury, in a 2–1 loss against Aberdeen at Pittodrie Stadium. He then established himself at "Hibs", playing in the left-back position, replacing Maybury, who would play in the right-back position. His playing time having been increased, his loan deal was extended until the end of the 2012–13 season. After having his loan extended, McGivern said he would decide his future beyond then at the end of the season. During a match against Dundee United on 24 February 2013, McGivern was penalized for a foul on Gary Mackay-Steven which resulted in a penalty kick for United even though television coverage showed the incident was clearly outside the penalty area. McGivern scored his first goal for Hibernian three days later, a 2–2 draw with Kilmarnock at Easter Road.

McGivern agreed to a two-year contract with Hibernian after his contract with Manchester City came to an end. He made 38 appearances in the 2013–14 campaign, as the club suffered relegation into the Championship under the stewardship of Terry Butcher.

Port Vale McGivern signed a two-year contract with League One side Port Vale in June 2014 after newly appointed Hibernian boss Alan Stubbs agreed to release him from the remaining 12 months of his contract. He started the 2014–15 season in a centre-back partnership with Richard Duffy. He remained a regular first-team player until he fractured his arm in a 2–0 defeat to Coventry City at Vale Park on 13 December; the injury required a plate to be fitted in his arm and a six-week recovery period.

He was out of the first-team picture in the first two months of the 2015–16 season before he returned to the starting eleven due to injuries to Ryan Inniss and Remie Streete. He was released upon the expiry of his contract at the end of the season.

Shrewsbury Town McGivern signed with League One side Shrewsbury Town in June 2016, along with former Port Vale teammates A-Jay Leitch-Smith and Louis Dodds. He made his debut for the club on the opening day of the season, in a 0−1 home defeat against Milton Keynes. Featuring regularly for the club in the early part of the season saw McGivern recalled to the Northern Ireland squad for the first time in nearly two years, He was not allocated a squad number ahead of the following season, having been told he was not in the club's plans. On 31 August 2017, McGivern had his contract terminated by mutual consent.

Northampton Town On 3 November 2017, McGivern signed a two-month contract with League One side Northampton Town. Manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink said that "with Regan Poole playing a lot of his football in midfield recently and with Leon Barnett recovering from injury, while Ash Taylor and Aaron Pierre have done very well, they have had to play a lot of football recently and haven't had the benefit of competition for their places. Ryan coming in provides that and, with him having been on the training ground with us for a while, we have had the chance to have a look at him and he has already fitted in well with the group." He was released by the "Cobblers" upon the expiry of his contract on 3 January 2018.

Swindon Town On 15 March 2018, following an increasing number of injuries at the County Ground, McGivern joined Swindon Town on a deal until the end of the 2017–18 League Two campaign. He was Phil Brown's first signing as manager of the "Robins". Swindon offered him a new contract at the end of the season, but never signed it and instead left the club on 28 June after Brown confirmed that the offer had been withdrawn.

Linfield On 23 July 2018, following his release from Swindon, McGivern returned to Northern Ireland to join NIFL Premiership side Linfield on a three-year deal. "Blues" manager David Healy said that he believed McGivern would "make a major contribution to the club". However, injury problems meant that he featured only five times during the 2018–19 title-winning season after making his debut in a 1–0 victory over Ballymena United on 23 February. He was an unused substitute in the final of the Northern Ireland Football League Cup, where Linfield beat Ballymena United. He made 12 appearances during the 2019–20 season, before self-isolating after testing positive for Coronavirus disease 2019 on 10 March. Linfield were crowned league champions on points per game after the season was ended early due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland. He featured just four times in the 2020–21 campaign, scoring one goal in a 5–1 win over Carrick Rangers at Windsor Park.

Newry City On 8 June 2021, he signed a two-year contract with NIFL Championship club Newry City, his hometown club. He was sent off during a 2–0 win at Ards in November. He made 21 league appearances in the 2021–22 campaign as Newry won the Championship title and secured promotion into the NIFL Premiership. He featured in 33 league games throughout the 2022–23 season. He extended his stay into the 2024–25 season. Newry suffered a second successive relegeation. McGivern then announced his retirement.

International career McGivern was a regular at various under-age levels for Northern Ireland, winning caps at under-17 level in 2006, before elevation to the under-19 set-up in 2007. He played in the Northern Ireland elite side during their 2008 Milk Cup win.

Steve Beaglehole called McGivern to the Northern Ireland Under-21 squad for a mini-tournament in Ukraine on 19 and 20 August 2008. He did not make his under-21 debut as Nigel Worthington instead promoted McGivern into the full Northern Ireland squad as a replacement for the injured George McCartney for a friendly international against Scotland on 20 August. Aged 18, he made his debut in that match as a starter, but was sent off for two bookable offences by referee Nicolai Vollquartz. On 11 October 2008, he made his competitive debut for Northern Ireland, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against Slovenia; the match ended in a 2–0 defeat. He continued to make occasional appearances for the national team, featuring in three further 2010 World Cup qualifying games. However, he played in just one Euro 2012 qualifying game and two 2014 World Cup qualification matches. He did not feature for Northern Ireland in their Euro 2016 campaign but was recalled to the squad in September 2016 for their first 2018 World Cup qualifying match against the Czech Republic. McGivern made his first international appearance since 2014, as a half-time substitute in a 3–0 defeat to Croatia, on 15 November 2016.

Coaching career McGivenr joined the coaching staff at Portadown in July 2025.

Career statistics Club statistics

Honours Northern Ireland Milk Cup: 2008 Irish League Cup: 2018–19

Newry City NIFL Championship: 2021–22 Mid-Ulster Cup: 2023