Gareth Gerald McAuley MBE (/məˈkɔːli/ mə-KAW-lee;[4] born 5 December 1979) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a centre back.

[5] McAuley began his career playing in Northern Irish football with Linfield, Ballyclare Comrades, Crusaders and Coleraine before joining English side Lincoln City in the summer of 2004.

[7] After impressing in his trial, McAuley seemed set to sign for Stockport[8] but talks broke down and he instead joined Lincoln City on a two-year deal with Coleraine receiving £10,000 for his services.

[citation needed] However, when Dean West was dropped from the squad and club captain Paul Morgan sidelined with an injury, McAuley moved into central defence to partner Ben Futcher.

[citation needed] However, in March 2005, McAuley earned a starting role as the right full-back, replacing the perpetually out of form fan favourite Matt Bloomer.

He enjoyed a fantastic season, which culminated ultimately in play-off defeat for Lincoln again, but saw him named in the League Two Team of the Year, and also caught the attention of a number of bigger clubs.

[13] He scored his fourth goal on 5 October against Sheffield Wednesday, helping Leicester earn their second only league win of the season,[14] and was then named in the Championship Team of the Week three days later.

[15] McAuley is one of three players (DJ Campbell & Carl Cort) who netted in three goals against Chelsea in a League Cup match on 31 October at Stamford Bridge, but could not prevent his side from losing 4–3.

[23] On 23 May 2011, West Bromwich Albion officially announced McAuley would be signing a three-year contract (pending a medical) beginning 1 July;[24] he scored his first goal for the team in a 3–2 win away at Newcastle in December 2011.

[25] The 2012–2013 season saw McAuley consolidate his place in the starting XI alongside Jonas Olsson, with the pair forming a solid partnership at the heart of the Albion defence.

[26] On 21 March 2015, McAuley was sent off in the second minute against Manchester City by referee Neil Swarbrick in a Premier League match, due to mistaken identity with Craig Dawson.

[28] After making over 200 top flight appearances for the club, McAuley is held in high regard by West Brom fans and is widely considered to be one of their best defenders of the modern era.

[31] In May 2003, McAuley received his first senior international call when he was one of five Irish League players named in the squad for the Northern Ireland B team fixture with Scotland B on 20 May 2003.

[43] Having made it out of the group stage, McAuley scored an own goal during the Euro 2016 round of 16 match against Wales, that resulted in Northern Ireland being eliminated from the tournament.

[44] At 36 years and 341 days, Gareth McAuley became the oldest scorer in European 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualification games when he scored the second goal in Northern Ireland's 4–0 win over Azerbaijan on 11 November 2016.