Alex Simon McCarthy (born 3 December 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Southampton.

[5] On 26 March 2008, he joined fellow Conference Premier team Cambridge United on work experience,[6] making his debut two days later in a 3–0 defeat to Kidderminster Harriers.

[14][15] At the start of the 2009–10 season McCarthy joined League One club Yeovil on an initial six-month loan[16] and made his debut on 8 August in a 2–0 home win over Tranmere Rovers.

[23] He eventually made his Reading debut on 19 February 2011, coming on as a substitute for the injured Federici in the 84th minute against Watford and helping to secure a 1–1 draw.

[24] With Federici out for six weeks with knee ligament damage, McCarthy had a run in the team and made his full debut three days later in a 2–1 win over Millwall.

[27] He also played an important role in the 1–0 FA Cup fifth round win over Everton, producing a late save to deny Leon Osman in a performance described as "tremendous" by former England manager Kevin Keegan.

[29] He continued in goal until 30 April when he was displaced by a fit again Federici for the 0–0 draw at Coventry City[30] and remained an unused substitute during Reading's play-off campaign.

[31] With Federici remaining the first choice Reading goalkeeper for the 2011–12 season, McCarthy was loaned to Leeds United for a month on 4 November to gain Championship experience.

[35][36] In the last match of his initial spell he saved an injury time penalty against Watford, allowing Leeds to rescue a point with a last minute equaliser.

[45] Again starting the season as second choice goalkeeper, several mistakes and an injury meant McCarthy replaced Adam Federici for the 3–1 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur on 16 September 2012.

[citation needed] He retained his place in the team for the next few matches and put in an impressive performance against Swansea City on 6 October leading to suggestions of a senior England call up in the future.

[52] After making ten saves during the match, he was widely praised with his performance described as "fantastic" by Nigel Adkins and "absolutely staggering" by Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers.

[58] On 23 July 2015, McCarthy joined Premier League club Crystal Palace for an undisclosed fee, reported to be £3.5 million, on a four-year contract.

[67] However, he began the 2019–20 Premier League season as second choice behind Angus Gunn, with manager Ralph Hasenhüttl using McCarthy in the EFL Cup games.

[77] The injury to McCarthy meant there were no senior goalkeepers available since Forster was also injured, and this led to Southampton signing free agent Willy Caballero.

[69] On 1 September 2016, he was called up to the senior squad again by Sam Allardyce to replace the injured Fraser Forster for a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Slovakia.

[102] He made his debut on 15 November as a half-time substitute in England's 3–0 win over the United States at Wembley Stadium in a friendly match, nearly five and a half years after his first call-up.