Queens Park Rangers
Alex McCarthy played for which team from 2014 to 2015?
Alex McCarthy Alex Simon McCarthy ( born 3 December 1989 ) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Southampton and the England national team . A product of Readings Academy , McCarthy spent time out on loan in the Conference Premier before signing professional terms with the club in 2008 . He made his Football League debut in 2009 whilst on loan to Aldershot Town and spent the following season at Yeovil Town before making his Reading debut in 2011 . He has since spent time on loan at Leeds United and Ipswich Town . McCarthy left for Queens Park Rangers in 2014 . At international level McCarthy has represented England and made his debut for the under-21 team in 2010 , appearing three times in total . In November 2018 , he made his debut for the senior team . Club career . Early career . Born in Guildford , Surrey , McCarthy began his career as a schoolboy at Wimbledon and Wycombe Wanderers before joining Reading on a scholarship at 16 . He was a regular in the Academy team for two years and was part of a group that included several future first-team players including Jem Karacan , Alex Pearce and Gylfi Sigurðsson . His first experience of senior football came in August 2007 on loan at Woking where he made one appearance cover for the injured Nick Gindre . On 26 March 2008 , he joined fellow Conference Premier team Cambridge United on work experience , making his debut two days later in a 3–0 defeat to Kidderminster Harriers . He made no further appearances and returned to Reading before signing his first professional contract in July 2008 . McCarthy moved on loan again on 24 October 2008 , joining Conference South team Team Bath as injury cover . He made his debut the next day in the FA Cup fourth qualifying round against Salisbury City and also played in the first round defeat to Forest Green Rovers , making four appearances in total . Another short loan spell followed with McCarthy joining League Two club Aldershot Town for one month on 2 February 2009 . He made his Football League debut 12 days later in a 3–2 defeat to Exeter City and played three further matches before returning to Reading at the beginning of March . At the start of the 2009–10 season McCarthy joined League One club Yeovil on an initial six-month loan and made his debut on 8 August in a 2–0 home win over Tranmere Rovers . A month later he received the first sending-off of his career after fouling Stockport Countys Nicholas Bignall , who was also on loan from Reading . McCarthys loan spell was renewed in January 2010 and again in February , before being extended for the rest of the season on 24 March . Over the course of his spell he played 44 league matches and kept all 12 of Yeovils clean sheets . Following his successful loan , McCarthy was given a new three-year contract at Reading , keeping him with the club until 2013 . He again departed on loan in August 2010 , joining Brentford , though he remained there for just one month before being replaced by fellow Reading loanee Ben Hamer . Reading and various loan spells . After returning from loan at Brentford in September 2010 , McCarthy spent the next five months on the bench as cover for Adam Federici . He eventually made his Reading debut on 19 February 2011 , coming on as a substitute for the injured Federici in the 84th minute against Watford and helping to secure a 1–1 draw . With Federici out for six weeks with knee ligament damage , McCarthy had a run in the team and made his full debut three days later in a 2–1 win over Millwall . In his next outing he saved a penalty against Crystal Palace as Reading twice came from behind to draw the match 3–3 . He also played an important role in the 1–0 FA Cup fifth round win over Everton , producing a late save to deny Leon Osman in a performance described as tremendous by former England manager Kevin Keegan . Despite another strong display in the next round against Manchester City at Eastlands , Reading lost the match 1–0 to a Micah Richards header . He continued in goal until 30 April when he was displaced by a fit again Federici for the 0–0 draw at Coventry City and remained an unused substitute during Readings play-off campaign . With Federici remaining the first choice Reading goalkeeper for the 2011–12 season , McCarthy was loaned to Leeds United for a month on 4 November to gain Championship experience . An injury to Andy Lonergan and the indifferent form of Paul Rachubka saw him go straight into the team for the match against Leicester City . He kept a clean sheet on debut as the match ended in a 1–0 win . Further clean sheets against Nottingham Forest and Millwall followed and were enough to keep him in the team ahead of the returning Lonergan . In the last match of his initial spell he saved an injury time penalty against Watford , allowing Leeds to rescue a point with a last minute equaliser . Following the match , he revealed that he was keen on extending his loan at Leeds , with Reading agreeing to renew it for a second month two days later . Ineligible to face his parent club on 17 December , he was replaced by Lonergan and made no further appearances , returning to Reading on 3 January 2012 . He signed a new three-year contract with Reading on 9 January before joining Ipswich Town on loan until the end of the season . On his return to Elland Road with Ipswich he was sent off for handling the ball outside the penalty area with 20 minutes remaining . Ipswich , one goal up at the time , went on to lose the match 3–1 . After 10 appearances , all coming in the league , he returned to Reading at the end of the season . 2012–13 season . Again starting the season as second choice goalkeeper , several mistakes and an injury meant McCarthy replaced Adam Federici for the 3–1 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur on 16 September 2012 . After debuting in the Premier League , he achieved the feat of playing in the six top levels of English football at the age of 22 . He retained his place in the team for the next few matches and put in an impressive performance against Swansea City on 6 October leading to suggestions of a senior England call up in the future . His good form continued with a man of the match performance in Readings next match against Queens Park Rangers , firstly tipping Esteban Graneros free-kick onto the crossbar before saving from Adel Taarabt at close range . The match ended badly though as he injured himself colliding with the goal post after diving to stop a Taarabt shot . Despite initial hopes the injury was not too serious , he was forced to undergo shoulder surgery in early December potentially ruling him out for remainder of the season . He recovered quicker than expected though and returned to the team on 13 April 2013 , keeping a clean sheet in a 0–0 draw with Liverpool . After making ten saves during the match , he was widely praised with his performance described as fantastic by Nigel Adkins and absolutely staggering by Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers . He remained in goal for the rest of the season , making 14 appearances in total . 2013–14 season . In the 2013–14 season , McCarthy became first choice keeper , making 44 appearances in the Championship as Reading finished 7th , just missing out on the playoffs . Queens Park Rangers . On 29 August 2014 , McCarthy joined newly promoted Queens Park Rangers in the Premier League for an undisclosed fee . McCarthy made his Rangers debut at home against Liverpool in a blockbuster narrow 3–2 defeat . Crystal Palace . On 23 July 2015 , McCarthy joined Premier League club Crystal Palace for an undisclosed fee , reported to be £3.5 million , on a four-year contract . McCarthy made his Palace debut on 8 August 2015 in a 3–1 win away to Norwich City . Southampton . On 1 August 2016 , he joined Southampton on a three-year contract , for an undisclosed fee . McCarthy was initially used as back-up to regular keeper , Fraser Forster , but on 30 December 2017 he took over from the latter , following the regular goalkeepers drop in form . On 27 June 2018 , McCarthy signed a new four-year contract with the club , keeping him on their books until 2020 , and making him one of their highest earning players , reflecting his status as first-choice keeper . However he began the 2019–20 Premier League season as second choice behind Angus Gunn , with manager Ralph Hasenhüttl using McCarthy in the EFL Cup games . He made his first Premier League start of the season in November 2019 after Gunn had conceded nine goals to Leicester City . On 3 January 2021 , it was announced that McCarthy had tested positive for COVID-19 . The positive test saw him miss Southamptons 1–0 win over Liverpool . International career . McCarthy trained with the England under-19s before joining the under-21 set-up for the first time in September 2009 . He received several further call-ups to the under-21s in 2009–10 and eventually made his debut as a second-half substitute against Uzbekistan in August 2010 . In March 2011 he was named in a 31-man squad to face Denmark and Iceland as preparation for the UEFA European Under-21 Championship . He played a full 90 minutes in the first match and 45 in the second as England won 4–0 and lost 2–1 respectively . He travelled with the squad to championships in Denmark but did not play any matches , finishing with three caps at under-21 level . In April 2012 , McCarthy was named in the 80-man longlist of potential players for the Great Britain football team at the 2012 Summer Olympics , and in June , he made it down to the shortlist of 35 players provisionally selected for the tournament , although he did not make the final 18 . In May 2013 he was called up to the England senior team for the friendlies against Republic of Ireland and Brazil , becoming the first Reading youth team graduate to gain a full England call-up since the Academy era began in 1998 , although he did not make an appearance . On 1 September 2016 , he was called up to the senior squad again by Sam Allardyce to replace the injured Fraser Forster for a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Slovakia . In August 2018 , McCarthy was called up for Englands first squad since the 2018 World Cup , for matches against Spain and Switzerland . He made his debut on 15 November as a half-time substitute in Englands 3–0 win over the United States at Wembley Stadium in a friendly match , nearly five and a half years after his first call-up . Honours . Individual - Football League Young Player of the Month : March 2011 - Southampton Players Player of the Season : 2017–18 - Southampton Fans Player of the Season : 2017–18 External links . - Profile at the Southampton F.C . website - Profile at the Football Association website