David McGoldrick: Striker on the romance of returning to childhood club Notts County
- Published
Notts return a great move for me - McGoldrick
David McGoldrick could not resist the chance to be a football romantic when deciding to return to childhood club Notts County.
The 35-year-old, who was playing in the Premier League just two years ago, was a striker in demand after scoring a career-best 25 goals last season for League One side Derby County.
More lucrative approaches from Championship clubs were knocked back, while the Rams - a club that handed him a career lifeline when he was considering retirement just 12 months ago - were also rebuffed after a chance to move back to Meadow Lane became a possibility.
In the same week that McGoldrick re-signed for the League Two club, 18 years after being sold to Southampton, Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema agreed a big-money move to Saudi Arabian champions Al-Ittihad.
Instantly, former Republic of Ireland international McGoldrick's transfer was seen as one for the romantics. "So people keep telling me," the striker replied with a smile.
"I've got to the age where money isn't everything.
"Happiness is a massive part of family and it's something I'm trying to teach my kids. How can I teach that to my kids and not practise it myself?
"I didn't want to look back in 10 years time and say I had a chance to play for Notts County but I turned it down for a few more bob somewhere else.
"It's a great move for me, for my football career. Take away all the other stuff that comes with it and it's where I want to be playing in terms of my future."
The death of his brother this year was also a major influence on his decision, one which he openly admits meant taking a "significant" pay cut.
"Money doesn't keep people alive," McGoldrick told BBC East Midlands Today.
"The money thing is at the back at the minute, it's more about being good to myself."
'I'm not 25 and searching for the big move'
David McGoldrick played in the Premier League and Championship with Sheffield United
Nottingham-born McGoldrick was nine when he first joined Notts. His first experience of treading on the Meadow Lane pitch was as a ball boy, before going on to make his first-team debut at the age of 16 in 2004.
He was quickly sold to Southampton and - after a short loan spell back at Notts in League Two in 2005 - he has spent much of his career playing in England's two top divisions.
Since last playing in the Premier League in 2021 with Sheffield United, he has featured in the Championship with the Blades and gone on to play in the third tier with Derby, where he enjoyed the most prolific season of his 19-year career.
McGoldrick, who counts Derby's fierce rivals Nottingham Forest among his former clubs, was among the high-profile names the Rams built around after they came out of administration with just five first-team players on their books last summer.
His goals quickly endeared him to the Rams faithful and he went on to scoop the club's Player of the Season and Players' Player of the Season awards.
Telling Derby boss Paul Warne that he would not take up the club's offer of a new deal was "one of the toughest conversations" of McGoldrick's two decades as a professional footballer.
"But he understood," the striker said of Warne's reaction.
"He did all he could to keep me but at the end of the day, he is a great man and he understood my decision.
"I'm not young, I'm not 25 and searching for the big move."
'Notts no retirement home'
David McGoldrick scored three hat-tricks for Derby County last season
In May, he was at Wembley as a fan, celebrating as Notts won promotion back to the English Football League with a penalty shootout win against Chesterfield.
No deal was in the making then, but Notts went on to act quickly to pull off one of the EFL's most surprising coups of the summer. It supercharges an attack that already boasts record-breaking National League scorer Macaulay Langstaff, who netted 42 times last season.
While he was not thinking how he could improve Notts at the time, the Magpies' nervy victory - which twice saw them fight back from a goal down to win promotion at the national stadium - showed McGoldrick what influence he could have on a club that intends to climb the divisions.
"I played Premier League, Championship and League One and scored goals in every one of them, so I feel like I bring a lot of experience to the team," he said.
"At Wembley, the big occasion, they didn't play their fluent football and maybe on the big occasions, I can bring that calmness and experience to the club."
And now that he is back at Meadow Lane, he is determined to make the most of his second coming as a Notts player. It is also where he intends to try to start the next chapter of his football career as a coach.
"I always had it at the back of my mind that I want to finish here," McGoldrick said. "I haven't come here as a retirement home. I've come here to play and play as many games as I can.
"The dream is to play for the next couple of years, be part of the team, be successful and you never know, maybe take the club to another division.
"I also want to go into coaching in the future so learning from Luke Williams I can gain many things. Hopefully, I can coach at some point at this football club."