Aston Villa midfielder John McGinn hailed by Shrewsbury Town coach David Longwell
The childhood coach of Villa midfielder John McGinn has told of his pride in seeing his former charge develop into one of his country’s most influential players.
McGinn was a seven-year-old when he first came under the tutelage of David Longwell, in the academy at St Mirren, in his native Scotland.
Even then McGinn was small for his age but the size of his talent and determination impressed those around him.
McGinn is the youngest of three brothers, with older siblings Stephen and Paul both also having played for the club.
While the older McGinn brothers built careers north of the border and recently played together at Hibernian – the club from which Villa signed John for a bargain £2million in 2018 – their younger brother is now the toast of Scotland with a string of stellar performances for the national side.
The latest of which saw him score twice as the Scots despatched the Faroe Islands 4-0 on Wednesday night. That took the midfielder’s international record to 10 goals in just 32 appearances.
And Longwell, now first-team coach at Shrewsbury Town, recalled his days with McGinn the younger north of the border.
“I had John since he was seven,” said Longwell. “It is incredible to see boys like that progress coming from a small provincial club like St Mirren and then playing at that level.
“Whether it be Premier League or playing at the highest level at the European Championships.”
Longwell said McGinn’s lack of stature as a youngster did not ever look like being a barrier to his success, such was the youngster’s desire.
“He is a strong character John,” added Longwell. “When he was younger it took him a long time to grow.
“He was small and his body was growing at different stages. It was tough for him to try to deal with that.
“But I think it shows how strong a character he is that he has come through and just kept working. He is great type and he plays the game with a hunger and a desire. He is a great example to anybody. The biggest credit to him is he has never changed and he is still the same humble young man he has always been.
“He even sent me a Scotland top last year out of the blue – we have never asked for anything. It epitomises who he is as a person and he comes from a great family and those values he has been given have taken him through his whole life and he still has them to this day.”
And Longwell was there when McGinn was given the unflattering nickname of Meatball as a youngster – something that might have upset many of his peers.
Longwell remembered: “A lot of guys would take offence to that but he thought it was funny.
“In football people always have a nickname and that was his. He did go for the skinhead – which John admits himself didn’t suit him.”
