He scored 79 times for Hartlepools including hat tricks against Halifax Town and Stockport County.
[3] His service to the club earned him a benefit game against Newcastle United in 1956 which Hartlepools won 6–3.
As part of Hartlepool's centenary year in 2008, McGuigan was one of seven players to have a street named after them on a new housing development in the town.
[5][6] In 2017, McGuigan was nominated as a part of a vote for Hartlepool United's greatest XI by The Northern Echo.
The paper described him as a "hard-working forward" who was "full of honest endeavour and graft".