Saturday afternoon turned out to be one to remember for Northern Ireland internationals past and present across the water with Grant McCann celebrating League One promotion while Conor McMenamin struck in St Mirren’s draw against Scottish giants Rangers.

McCann, who enjoyed spells with the likes of West Ham United, Cheltenham Town and Peterborough United as a player before returning home to Linfield in 2015, registered 39 international appearances and has since forged a career as a successful manager.

The 45-year-old led Hull City to the League One title in 2021 and he’s now back in England’s third-tier after guiding Doncaster Rovers to promotion following their weekend 2-1 win over Bradford City.

McCann could yet celebrate further success next weekend with victory away to Notts County sealing the League Two title.

placeholder image — Doncaster Rovers manager Grant McCann celebrates promotion to League One during the Sky Bet League Two match at Eco-Power Stadium, Doncaster. (Photo by Ian Hodgson/PA Wire)

There’s further Northern Irish representation in Doncaster’s ranks with former Coleraine midfielder Patrick Kelly making 30 league appearances and scoring twice during his season-long loan spell from West Ham United.

“It feels great and I feel a real sense of pride for the city, our fans, my staff, the players and everyone associated with this football club because we’ve all worked so hard for this,” said McCann. “I knew Billy (Sharp) would score. I really did.

“He’s been champing at the bit and telling me that he was going to score and, with no disrespect to any of our other players, I don’t think there’s anybody else who would have stayed so calm in that situation and just put their shot into the side-netting like he did.”

Elsewhere, St Mirren, who are managed by Lisburn-born Stephen Robinson, kicked their Scottish Premiership post-split schedule off with a 2-2 draw at home to Rangers with substitute McMenamin grabbing the decisive equaliser.

The 29-year-old joined the Paisley outfit from Glentoran in 2023 but has missed most of this season through injury after undergoing surgery on a knee issue last summer before suffering another setback in November.

McMenamin returned against Ross County earlier this month and boosted his chances of sealing a St Mirren stay – the club hold a one-year option to extend his contract – by scoring just 10 minutes after coming off the bench at the SMISA Stadium.

"Conor gave us a different dimension,” Robinson told the club’s media channel. “It’s brilliant to see Conor back on the scoresheet.

"Him and Roland (Idowu) give us a dimension we haven’t had. There were some very good performances.”

Speaking ahead of their weekend match, McMenamin stated his desire to remain at St Mirren and confirmed talks were underway.

“Now that I’m back on the pitch, hopefully something can be done,” he said. “The manager has spoken to me and talks are ongoing at the minute.

“The club and my representatives are speaking at the minute about the clause and about activating and seeing what’s best going forward, so I’m hopeful as we speak that I’ll be here next year.

“I like it here. I’m settled here.

“Obviously, it’s not in my hands. I’ve been out injured a long time, but I think obviously this year when I’ve come back and played a couple of games (earlier in the season), I felt like I’d benefited from it and done well for the team.

“I’m just hoping that I can get another run here in the next five games and obviously if I stay here next year, just be injury-free and really help the boys kick on and try and get top six again next year if that’s the case.

“But listen, it’s out of my hands and I’m not really worried about it, to be honest. If it’s meant to be, it’ll be and if not, then we can move on.”