He made a total of 195 competitive appearances in an eleven-year career as a professional player before he was forced to retire in 2006, aged 28, due to injury.
He played 15 First Division games for "Valiants" during the 1998–99 season, bagging his first senior goal in a 2–1 defeat at Oxford United on 21 November 1998.
He was released by manager Brian Horton and subsequently joined Peter Taylor's Second Division side Gillingham in August 1999.
He then made 29 league appearances in 2001–02, as Plymouth topped the Third Division table; his contribution was limited after he broke his foot.
Manager Leroy Rosenior could not keep the Plainmoor club in the third tier, however, and McGlinchey played 37 games as Torquay were relegated into League Two in 2004–05.
[14] However, he continued to suffer with sciatic pain from the injury that ended his playing career and has a constant loss of feeling in his left leg.