Anthony “Tony” McMahon was born 24 March 1984 at Bishop Auckland, the son of Tony and Tracy McMahon and brother to Gareth and Samantha.  Brought up in Evenwood, Tony went to local schools at Evenwood and Staindrop.  Football was always his passion.

PLAYING CAREER

• 1996:  Tony played football for Barnard Castle and Byers Green before joining MIDDLESBROUGH at the age of 12. 
• 2001: England national under-16 football team, he made 6 appearances.
• 2002:  Tony took up a 3-year scholarship with Middlesbrough.  With England U17, he made 5 appearances.  He was a member of the Middlesbrough team which reached the final of the 2002-03 FA Youth Cup, losing to Manchester United. 
• 2003:  He signed professional terms and captained the youth team to win the 2003-04 FA Youth Cup.
• 3 October 2004:  Manager Steve McClaren gave Tony McMahon his debut in the Premier League clash at Old Trafford, in a 1 – 1 draw with Manchester United.   
• 21 October 2004: Tony made his European debut in the UEFA Cup group at Egaleo FC, Athens, Greece.  It resulted in a Boro victory.
• 2004 – 05 season: Voted the club’s Players’ Young Player of the Year.
• 9 February 2005: Tony made his debut for England U19 in a 1 – 1 draw with Belgium.  He was first choice right back at the 2005 European Championships when England reached the final, only to be beaten by France. Injury plagued his career at Middlesbrough.  Whilst with Boro, he enjoyed loan spells at Blackpool and Sheffield Wednesday.
• Between 2004 and 2012:  Tony McMahon made 137 appearances for Middlesbrough in the Premier League, Championship, FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup, scoring 3 goals.

LATER CAREER

• July 2012:  Tony signed a 2-year deal with Sheffield United, making 68 appearances, scoring 3 goals in League1.
• June 2014:  He signed for Blackpool, making 51 appearances, scoring 1 goal in the Championship.
• 2014 – 18:  initially, Tony was on loan with Bradford City and joined them permanently, making a total of 128 appearances, scoring 14 goals in League 1.
• 2018 – 19:  He played for Oxford United, making 13 appearances, scoring 2 goals in League 1.
• 2018 – 19:  A short spell with League 1 Scunthorpe United (14 appearances, 1 goal) was followed by a short spell with National League North Darlington (15 appearances) before he took up a position on the coaching staff at Darlington then Scunthorpe United. 

In total, Tony McMahon made 443 appearances, scoring 25 goals.

COACHING CAREER

Tony holds a UEFA coaching licence and has worked with Jonathan Woodgate and Robbie Keane at Middlesbrough, held an academy position at Darlington and joined Neil Cox’s coaching team at Scunthorpe.

REFLECTIONS

Here’s Tony’s reflections about his career, to date:

“Highlights of my career: 

• FA youth cup winning captain with Middlesbrough, to win the youth cup is the biggest achievement as a young professional player and to do it as a captain was very special and was the kick start of many of that winning teams careers. 

• My premier league debut against Manchester United, as a kid I had a dream to just play 1 premier league game and October 3rd 2004 I achieved my dream. 

• Playing in some big European nights for Middlesbrough against some great teams, Lazio at the Riverside is a stand out, won 2-0.  And the atmosphere was electric. 

• Playing at Wembley in the play-off final for Bradford City, every kids dream to play at Wembley. Amazing experience, looking at the crowd and seeing all my family there is something that will stick with me forever. Sadly, lost the game to Millwall who were promoted to the championship. 

• Being made captain of Blackpool F.C. I had just signed and the new manager Jose Riga came in and appointed me captain of the championship club, which was a real honour.  Walking out your team on match day is an amazing feeling and something I’m proud to say I did.

Probably missed loads too as I’ve not really had time to look back but I can say I lived the dream of being a professional footballer and enjoyed every single minute of it and coming from a little village of Evenwood, I hope I did the village proud.” 

OTHER SPORTING INTERESTS

EVENWOOD CRICKET CLUB

Between July 1999 and June 2004, Tony played cricket for Evenwood C.C. under 15 and under 18 teams.  He scored 144 not out v Etherley under 15s in May 2001.  That season, the under 15 team won the Durham County League title and KO Cup.  He played for the under 18s, second team and First XI, as his football commitments allowed, the highlight being a hat-trick v Tudhoe in a first team cup game.  For the senior teams, in total, he played 59 matches, scoring 386 runs, took 51 wickets and held 21 catches. Tony was invited to play for a Durham Schoolboy XI against a touring Australian team, duly scored a century and did Evenwood proud. 

Below:

2001 Evenwood under 15s Durham County League Champions & Cup Winners

Back Row left to right: Roy Jacobs (coach); Jonathan Kellett; Dean Cummins; Tony McMahon; David Walling; James Alderson; Lee Dobinson; Mark Little

Front Row: Jamie Cummins; Adam Dowson; Mark Taube?: Lee Foster: Ryan  Nicholson: Mark Taube?

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks Tony for the assistance with the article.