Born in Slough, England, to Irish parents, McDermott’s first experience in the game was at Arsenal transitioning from an apprentice to a First Team player going on to make 61 appearances before departing. During that time, he was also named Sweden’s Player of the Year for his time at IFK Norrköping.
He went on to play for a plethora of clubs all over the world, going on to make 308 career appearances and scoring 46 goals.
Following his playing career, the now 62-year-old made his first step into coaching in 1996 becoming Player Manager at Slough Town. However, just prior to this, he built up a Slough in the Community project from scratch, coaching young people both men and women.
After two years with Slough and a further two with Woking, he joined Reading in 2000 as Alan Pardew's Chief Scout and Under-17 Coach.
In this dual role, day-to-day he would work with the Royals’ young players producing training sessions to aid their development and managing their games, and on a Saturday, he would then scout Reading’s upcoming opponents.
Once Pardew departed and Steve Coppell was appointed, McDermott’s scouting role changed with his main focus being on recruiting players for the First Team squad, alongside coaching the U19s.
He scouted the likes of Dave Kitson, Kevin Doyle and Shane Long who helped Reading to promotion to the Premier League and went on to have good careers in the English top-flight.
In 2009 he became Caretaker Manager before being hired as First Team Manager shortly after. He helped Reading reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup for the first time in 83 years and won them promotion to the Premier League in 2012 being named the League Managers Association Championship Manager of the Year. He left Reading in March 2013 and joined Leeds United shortly after for a year-long period.
In October 2014, McDermott went back to where his success began and was appointed as Arsenal’s Senior International Scout. He went all over the world – including Scotland – scouting for the Gunners and played an important role in bringing the likes of William Saliba to the Club.
He held that role until July 2020, with a brief six-month spell as Reading Manager in-between.
For the last three years, he has been a football and business consultant sharing his story and offering his experience in a more corporate setting. He has also worked with the LMA (League Managers’ Association) mentoring a number of managers throughout the English Football League, and supported Celtic’s recruitment department with video scouting.
Away from work, McDermott has also been a leading voice in discussing mental health.
