Alan McDermott (born 22 January 1982) is an Irish former footballer who played as a defender.

Born in Dublin, McDermott was signed as a trainee by Manchester United in July 1998,^[1] before signing his first professional contract with the club on his 17th birthday.^[1] In his first season, he played 18 times for the under-17s team and three times for the under-19s, scoring four goals.^[2] In 1999–2000, he played just twice for the under-19s at the start of the season before missing the next six months; he returned for the final two matches of the campaign, scoring in the play-off second round match against Leeds United.^[2] He also made his debut for the reserve team in the Manchester Senior Cup match against Oldham Athletic on 5 April.^[2] He played twice more for the under-19s and once for the reserves in 2000–01, then six more appearances for the reserves in 2001–02, before being released at the end of the season.^[2]

McDermott joined Ayr United in 2002.^[3] After a spell on trial at Arbroath, he joined Hamilton Academical in March 2003.^[4] He went on to have spells with Shelbourne and Newry,^[5] before signing for Kildare County towards the end of 2005.^{[citation needed]}

At the beginning of the 2006 season, he had a brief stint with Dundalk, before re-signing for Kildare County to fill a much needed void in the County defence.^[6] He held down a steady place with Kildare due to injuries, firstly to Phil Byrne and then to Ian Malone. He scored his first goal for Kildare in a defeat to Finn Harps in Ballybofey in September 2006.^{[citation needed]}

McDermott proved his versatility during the 2007 season, playing in almost every position except in goal. He added to his goal tally with a dramatic equaliser against Shelbourne at Station Road and one against Kilkenny in the same stadium, but the other end. He was released on 25 August 2007.^[7]

McDermott made three appearances for the Republic of Ireland under-17 team at the Lisbon Invitational Tournament in June 2000.^[8] He played in games against the United States, Norway and Portugal, and was voted as the player of the tournament.^[8][9] He has also represented Eircom League U21s team.^[10]