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We've broken into the 'Top 10' of our Playmaker 72 and any footballer to reach such heights has undoubtedly sprinkled their fair share of stardust across the EFL this season - and the League Two maverick up next is certainly a unique talent.
Before we introduce our latest top performer, we'd like to quickly point out that 'Playmaker's 72' is not necessarily aimed at ID'ing the best footballers across the EFL - instead, it focuses on those who have enjoyed the best campaigns across the Championship, League One and League Two this season.
At Number Nine...the one and only: Harry McKirdy!
Coming through the ranks at Aston Villa's academy, Harry McKirdy went on a series of loans at Stevenage, Crewe and Newport during which his talent flickered without fully igniting.
However, after failing to break through at Villa Park, McKirdy joined Carlisle United on a permanent deal and 11 goals and five assists in 38 games for the Cumbrians in 2019/20 showed what he could do in League Two. With a lovely touch and quicksilver movement, McKirdy seemed set to kick on...but was released by Carlisle because he wasn't 'settled' at the club, according to then manager Chris Beech.
“I respect the skill sets he has got - 100 per cent I do," Beech told BBC Cumbria Sport after releasing McKirdy.
“Harry wasn’t happy. He lives in Harry’s world. Harry needs to find a place where he is happy for those skill sets to be more consistent.
“He is getting towards his mid-twenties now, he’s not 19 and you have to really crack on at this point otherwise it is too late. In football you blink and your career is gone.”
McKirdy's career meandered last season, a short spell at Port Vale followed by a stint training with Leicester City’s under-23s.
A free agent last summer, 'Harry's world' was in danger of imploding - until he impressed on trial at Swindon and was snapped up by Robins' head coach Ben Garner, who has embraced McKirdy's mercurial talents and been paid back in spades. Well, in goals and assists, to be more accurate!
Now 25, McKirdy has played the best football of his career and was deservedly voted into the League Two 2021/22 Team of the Season earlier this month.
📋 The @FootballManager #SkyBetLeagueTwo Team of the Season. 👏
— Sky Bet League Two (@SkyBetLeagueTwo) April 24, 2022
📱 Follow live: https://t.co/TaGnQDXbbh
📺 Watch live on the @SkySports app#EFL | #EFLAwards pic.twitter.com/Qr74bixvXU
Across all competitions, McKirdy has scored 20 goals and assisted another 10 in 40 games for the Robins to make him one of only TWO players to score 20+ goals and supply 10+ assists this season along with Liverpool's Mo Salah.
In League Two terms, the spritely forward has been involved in 26 goals (18 goals and eight assists), only Newport County hotshot Dominic Telford (25 goals and three assists) more productive in the fourth tier.
To make the 'Top 10' of our countdown, you need exceptional stats - and McKirdy's 'poker' (four goal haul) against Northampton on New Year's day makes him one of only FOUR players to score four goals in a game in 'The 92' this season. Oxford's Cameron Brannagan, Cheltenham's Alfie May and most recently Manchester City's Gabriel Jesus are the other poker stars to achieve the memorable feat.
What McKirdy's numbers don't adequately reflect is his exuberance and spontaneity on and off a football pitch. A common complaint among fans and the media is that modern footballers lack personality - but they have obviously not been following Swindon's main man that closely!
His joie de vivre and quirky character are key to what makes McKirdy such an exciting and unpredictable player to watch, and Swindon coach Garner has spoken about the importance of his "outstanding" forward feeling accepted at the County Ground.
“He just needs to be loved and he is loved here. He is a different character but we embrace that..." Garner told the Swindon Advertiser.
“I think the biggest thing is that we’ve accepted him for who he is and we love him as a character.
“He’s a top player who buys in to what we’re trying to do. And I like different characters – I don’t want everyone to be the same – I want people coming in with different dress sense, a different sense of humour.
“He makes every day fun, and that’s what we want. I love him to bits as a player and as a character. He’s an extrovert. He puts a smile on people’s faces every day because he comes in with a bounce. He’s always talking, always cracking jokes and telling stories. That gives a nice energy around the group.”
Promotion with Swindon would top off a fabulous season for McKirdy, who still believes the Robins can bag a play-off spot despite them sitting just outside the top seven with two League Two games remaining.
After netting a brace as Town beat Hartlepool United 3-0 last weekend, he said: “I’d rather be in fourth place with it secured and we’re trying to get the automatic places.
“But look...we’ve said to the boys, “it’s been a long season and we all want to go on holiday, but do you really want to be on holiday and watch someone like Sutton get promoted at Wembley?".
“Let’s go together as a group after we’ve been promoted at Wembley.”
One thing on McKirdy's, and therefore Swindon's, side is momentum. In 2022, Fulham's goal machine Aleksandar Mitrovic is the ONLY player involved in more goals than the Swindon forward who has scored 13 goals and supplied five assists since the turn of the year.
Ah, there's a further highlight to add to the list! Man City have only conceded 42 goals all season - and McKirdy scored one of them: drilling home at the near post to send Swindon fans wild in their 4-1 FA Cup defeat against Pep Guardiola's side in January.
After the game, McKirdy signed off on an Instagram post with a “29.5.21” tag followed by two stars, the huge Chelsea fan not missing an opportunity to allude to the Blues' Champions League win against City last season.
Like Swindon's play-off chances this season, the prolific forward's future is likely to be up in the air this summer and Scottish Premiership side Hibernian are reportedly already circling.
Whatever happens, it has been a treat to watch McKirdy hit top form in 2021/22. It's Harry's world...and we're just living in it!
Check out the articles for all of those featured so far...
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NameHarry McKirdy Born/Age1997-03-29(27 -yrs-old) Nationality England PositionForward (Striker) | |
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