In football, he is seen as a tough, old-fashioned full back, who is also very competent with the ball in his hands going forward and a good reader of the game.
[3] McCloy matured late in football terms and he never played at Minor or Under 21 level for Derry.
[4] He joined the Senior team during the 2000/2001 National Football League[5] and made his Championship debut in 2001 against Antrim.
After being knocked out of the Ulster Championship by Monaghan at the semi-final stage, Derry advanced through the qualifiers with victories over Armagh, Mayo and Laois.
[9] During the match against Dublin the previous year, he hit Mark Vaughan with a great shoulder tackle, however the tackle left McCloy with whiplash, hurting his other shoulder and also giving him groin problems which limited his appearances in the 2008 National League.
[10] The start of McCloy's 2008 season was an injury hit one[11] - making just two substitute appearance in the Dr. McKenna Cup.
However, despite a good opening victory against Donegal,[15] Derry exited the Ulster Championship against Fermanagh at the semi-final stage[16] and were defeated by Monaghan in the first round of the Qualifiers.
[1] McCloy was asked to attend trials for the Ireland team for the 2008 International Rules Series.