William McFrederick

Football player infobox
playername =William McFrederick
fullname = William McFrederick
height = (6'1")
dateofbirth = Birth date and age|1985|2|24|mf=y
cityofbirth = Enniskillen
countryofbirth = Northern Ireland
currentclub = Glentoran F.C.
position = Goalkeeper
youthyears =
youthclubs = Lisbellaw United
Larne Youth
Ballinamallard United
years = 2001-2004 2004 2004-
clubs = Fulham Crawley Town (loan)
Ballymena United
Glenavon F.C.
Glentoran F.C. (loan)
caps(goals) = 0 (0) 44 (0)
nationalyears = 1995-
pcupdate = June 1 2006
ntupdate = June 1 2006

William McFrederick (born February 24, 1985 in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland) is a Northern Irish football player who plays as a goalkeeper. He currently plays for Glentoran F.C. in the Irish League, on loan from Glenavon F.C..

Career

McFrederick started off his football career at local team, Ballinamallard United, and after impressive performances for County Fermanagh in the prestigious Northern Ireland Milk Cup competition, he followed in the footsteps of fellow Fermanagh goalkeeper, Roy Carroll, and moved to the English Premier League with Fulham in 2001. Within a week of joining the Craven Cottage club; then managed by Jean Tigana, he was travelling with the squad to Monaco for a friendly as first choice goalkeepers; Edwin van der Sar and Maik Taylor were away on international duty. He was loaned out to Conference side, Crawley Town in 2004 to gain experience.

While at Fulham, McFrederick was gaining international recognition, and worked his way through the international ranks with Northern Ireland and was part of the Northern Ireland Under-20 Milk Cup squad that defeat Brazil at Windsor Park, with Dean Shiels scoring the winning goal.

After being released by Fulham in the summer of 2004, it was Kenny Shiels, then Ballymena United manager, who called in need of a goalkeeper for their forthcoming Intertoto Cup First Round game against OB Odense in Denmark. Regular backup keeper, Dwayne Nelson had contracted appendicitis leaving him unavailable for the trip. McFrederick signed a short term deal at the Braid to cover the European ties, and travelled with the squad for the Sky Blues' first European venture in 16 years, as second-choice behind Robert Robinson.

Despite not playing in either leg of the European games, William stuck around the club, and after a breach of discipline by his rival Nelson, which led to the Maghera goalkeeper being released; McFrederick was offered a one-year-deal at the Showgrounds for the 2004/2005 season. He made his debut in the 2-1 win over Dungannon Swifts at Stangmore Park in an Irish Premier League match on October 9 2004. He proceeded to hold onto the number one jersey for a number of weeks and performed well, especially in a 1-0 victory over Linfield at Windsor Park, when he pulled off a string of fantastic saves. William went onto make eight first team appearances that season.

With the departure of Robert Robinson to Newry City saw the arrival Gregg Shannon from Linfield in what was one of new manager, Tommy Wright's first signings. William however, managed to fight his way ahead of Shannon in the pecking order and remained the first-choice goalkeeper for the majority of the season, winning The Seven Towers' Supporters Club Player of the Month award for November. His good form also earned him a call-up to the Northern Ireland Under-21 squad, managed by Roy Millar for their European Championship qualifiers.

Honours

County Antrim Shield Runner-Up 2006

Northern Ireland International: Under-21, Under-20, Under-19, Under-17, Under-16.