A childhood friend of future
Rangers captain
Barry Ferguson, McBride started his career as a youth player with
Celtic after leaving
Holy Cross High School. He was with Celtic's reserve team for three years before
St Johnstone signed him for £200,000 in 1999. He made his debut on 31 July 1999 against
Hearts. McBride scored his first professional goal on 18 December 1999 in St Johnstone's game against
Kilmarnock. After suffering injury problems, he joined
Danish club
Aarhus Fremad on a non-contract basis before joining up with
Derry City in Northern Ireland in 2003. McBride made his debut for the
Jags against
Livingston on 9 August 2003. He was released after a single season with Partick after not doing enough to secure a new deal. McBride signed with
Stenhousemuir after being released by Partick Thistle. He made his debut with Stenhousemuir under manager
Des McKeown in the
Scottish League Challenge Cup against
Queen's Park, and remained with the club for three years, scoring 19 goals. McKeown formed the opinion that McBride could have performed at the highest levels of football had he shown the required application and attitude to match his talent, but acknowledged that he had to cope with various issues in his personal life. McBride left Stenhousemuir in May 2007 to join
Stirling Albion. He was released by the
Binos at the end of the 2007–08 season. After a period without a club, McBride joined
Junior side
Wishaw on a one-year deal in 2010 after playing at Amateur level with Low Waters Miners Welfare. ==Later years==