McCormick spent two seasons at Aberdeen making 28 appearances without scoring, before moving to England with teammate Tom White to play for Crystal Palace.
[2] White had been Head's main target[citation needed] but it was McCormick, after initially understudying Alan Stephenson,[3] who helped the club to its promotion to the First Division for the first time in 1968–69.
[3] In the top flight he formed a solid defensive partnership with fellow centre-half Mel Blyth and won Palace's first ever "Player of the Year" award at the end of the 1971-72 season.
[3] During the early part of the 1972–73 season McCormick lost his place, which was taken by Bobby Bell,[4] and was subsequently allowed to leave on a free transfer.
He joined Wealdstone, then managed by former Palace colleague Eddie Presland, and helped the club to win the Southern League division one south in 1973–74.