McNamee, a versatile defender, started his career with Scottish club
St Mirren. His impressive performances for St Mirren alerted
Premier League club
Blackburn Rovers, who signed him in 1999. His £300,000 transfer to England, was unsuccessful, however. Having failed to make a single first team appearance for the
Ewood Park club, McNamee returned to Scotland in 2002 to join
Livingston for an undisclosed fee. McNamee was a member of the Livingston team which won the
2004 Scottish League Cup Final, against
Hibernian at
Hampden Park. In
2005–06, his season was blighted by injury and he only featured 15 times for Livingston, who were eventually relegated from the
Scottish Premier League. With Livingston having been relegated from the SPL, and several clubs having confirmed their interest in him, it was unlikely that McNamee would remain at Livingston. On 2 June 2006, he signed for
Coventry City of the
English Championship, for a fee of £100,000. His time at the
Ricoh Arena was blighted by injuries, and although given a chance to prove his worth to the team, manager
Chris Coleman decided against offering a new deal. McNamee was released by Coventry on 14 July 2008. The next day, McNamee signed a two-year contract with fellow Championship club
Plymouth Argyle, becoming their third signing of the summer. In May 2010, after playing nearly 20 times for Plymouth, McNamee and teammates
Yoann Folly and Lloyd Saxton were released. McNamee started training with
Motherwell in November 2010, with a view of signing a permanent deal with the Steelmen. However, following manager
Craig Brown's departure to
Aberdeen, McNamee looked set to follow him to
Pittodrie. McNamee was on his way to Aberdeen to undergo a medical when his plane from Birmingham had to turn back due to heavy snow closing
Dyce Airport. McNamee eventually signed for Aberdeen on 24 December, again teaming up with Folly. On 27 April, it was announced that McNamee would not be offered a new contract at Pittodrie and would be released at the end of the season. McNamee spent six months without a club before joining
Ross County in January 2012, signing a contract until the end of the 2011–12 season.
Conference National club
Nuneaton Town signed McNamee in October 2012. He left the club in November 2013, and signed for
Leamington later that month. ==International career==