1071 Josh Magennis

Biography

Versatile Northern Irish striker Josh Magennis joined Hull City in August 2019 to add depth to the Grant McCann’s frontline options and soon impressed with his bustling performances, initially from the bench. As Autumn loomed Magennis scored goals and earned a starting place, though his progress was hampered by a red card at Nottingham Forest and a four match ban, then a hamstring injury. He returned to the first team during the closing weeks of the season that was delayed by COVID-19 and studded with a string of defeats, which led to Championship relegation in July 2020.

Josh started the 2020/21 season at the centre of City’s attack, holding up play for others and contributing goals. By the latter stages of the season he was contributing a string of crucial goals that kept the Tigers at the top of the League One table – Josh claimed a title winners’ medal and scored 19 goals, the best return of his senior career. Magennis initially took that form into the 2021/22 Championship season but he found goals harder to come by and in January 2022, on the eve of a new owner buying Hull City, Josh transferred to League One side Wigan Athletic.

Joshua Brendan David “Josh” Magennis was born in the coastal town of Bangor, thirteen miles east of Belfast in Northern Ireland. He spent his youth career as both a striker and goalkeeper at Belfast-based side Glentoran before moving to the Cardiff City youth setup in the summer of 2007. He sat on the first team bench as a goalkeeper in October 2007 but when he signed his first professional contract in April 2009 he had reverted to being a forward. He made his first team debut for the Bluebirds in an August 2009 Championship match against Scunthorpe United, two weeks later he scored his first senior goal in a League Cup tie against Bristol Rovers and went on to score one goal in 10 senior appearances for Cardiff City during the 2009/10 season. He also made two appearances for League Two side Grimsby Town during October 2009, joining the Mariners on a one month loan that was terminated after a fortnight when Grimsby sacked their manager Mike Newell.

In July 2010 Magennis transferred to Scottish Premier League side Aberdeen and made his debut for Mark McGhee’s Dons side in August 2010, leading the line at centre forward on the opening day of the season. He scored his first goal for Aberdeen ten days later in a League Cup tie against Alloa Athletic but the goals then dried up until the New Year and Josh was deployed mostly as substitute by new manager Craig Brown, ending his first season at Pittodrie with five goals in 36 appearances – Josh played in both the 2010/11 season Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup semi-finals, losing both to Celtic. This form continued into the 2011/12 season as Josh scored just one goal, though he did make his third semi-final appearance for the Dons when he played in the April 2012 Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Hibernian.

During the 2012/13 season Josh was deployed in both defence and attack and started more games, also scoring more regularly including a March 2014 brace in a narrow 3-4 defeat to Celtic. However he reverted to the impact substitute role during the first half of the 2013/14 season, making one appearance in an early round of the Dons’ Scottish League Cup campaign that eventually saw them lift the trophy. In January 2014 Josh joined SPL rivals St Mirren on a half season loan, failing to score in 13 appearances. Magennis left Aberdeen in the 2014 close season having scored 13 goals in 123 appearances, 72 of which were made as a substitute.

In July 2014 Josh signed a three year contract to join SPL side Kilmarnock. At Rugby Park he finally secured a regular first team start and for two seasons he was part of the Killie side that twice narrowly avoided relegation, the second time after defeating Falkirk in an end-of-season play-off. By the 2016 close season Magennis had scored 20 goals for Kilmarnock in 80 senior appearances.

In August 2016 League One side Charlton Athletic paid a six figure sum to sign Magennis, who was now a bona fide reliable goalscorer. During two seasons at The Valley he continued his SPL form, netting double figures in both seasons, scoring a January 2017 hattrick against Bristol Rovers and helping the Addicks reach the 2017/18 end-of-season play-offs only to lose out to Shrewsbury Town at the semi-final stage. When his time at Charlton drew to close Josh had scored 20 goals in 88 appearances.

In July 2018 Josh joined Championship side Bolton Wanderers for a £200,000 fee. However his only season with the Trotters was studded by financial woes and ended in relegation – Josh scored seven goals in 45 appearances including a January 2019 FA Cup hattrick against Walsall. He left the Trotters in August 2019 to join Hull City.

Magennis left the Tigers and joined League One side Wigan Athletic in January 2022, boosting the Latics’ successful bid for promotion to the Championship. However Josh managed only two goals in the 2022/23 season as he suffered his second Championship relegation in three seasons, reverting to his previous role as impact substitute for much of the season. This continued during the 2023/24 season as Wigan consolidated in League One, though Josh’s goal tally reached double figures for the season – he scored his third career hattrick in a September 2023 Football League Trophy tie against Leicester City’s Under-21s side. By the end of the 2023/24 season Magennis had scored 14 goals in 98 appearances for Wigan Athletic.

In June 2024 Josh left Wigan on expiry of his contract and signed for League One side Exeter City.

Magennis played twice for Northern Ireland under-17s as a goalkeeper but his subsequent appearances at under-19, under-21 and the senior team have been as a striker. He made four appearances for Northern Ireland Under-19s, scoring once, before his Under-21s debut in August 2009 against Portugal. He scored twice against Iceland a month later and by the time of his final appearance against England in November 2012 Josh had scored four goals in 16 Northern Ireland Under-21 appearances.

Magennis rose to the Northern Ireland senior squad in May 2010 when he won his first cap against Turkey but it wasn’t until June 2016 that he graduated from occasional substitute to regular starter, coinciding with his return to the English Leagues. He scored a brace in September 2017 against San Marino while amongst his other senior international goals were efforts against Greece, Germany and Netherlands. By the summer of 2024 Magennis had scored 11 senior goals in 79 international caps for Northern Ireland – his 21 caps won during his time at Hull City ranked him in the top dozen most capped players in the club’s history when he departed in January 2022.

Details

Nationality: Northern Ireland
Date/Place of Birth: 15 August 1990, Bangor
Hull City First Game: 13 August 2019, Tranmere Rovers A (League Cup First Round), 28 years, 363 days old
Hull City Final Game: 1 January 2022, Blackpool A (Championship), 31 years 139 days old

Clubs

Cardiff City (2007-2010), Grimsby Town (2009, loan), Aberdeen (2010-2014), St Mirren (2014, loan), Kilmarnock (2014-2016), Charlton Athletic (2016-2018), Bolton Wanderers (2018-2019), Hull City (2019-2022), Wigan Athletic (2022-2024), Exeter City (2024-current)

Hull City Record

Career: 95 apps, 26 goals

Josh Magennis
SeasonLGE
App
LGE
Gls
FAC
App
FAC
Gls
FLC
App
FLC
Gls
EUR
App
EUR
Gls
OTH
App
OTH
Gls
2019/2020 (9)40 (1)02 (0)1
2020/2129 (11)181 (0)11 (0)02 (0)0
2021/2218 (1)2

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.