Rory, a strong and tall centre-back, made steady progress through the Owls youth academy during which time he also represented the Northern Ireland Under 21s on a regular basis.
During the 2005/06 season McArdle was sent to League Two side Rochdale for first team experience. He spent most of the season there and made 20 appearances, three as a sub, and scoring once for them.
He made his Owls debut early in the 2006/07 season as an injury time substitute at Plymouth, before making another showing off the bench weeks later in a disastrous League Cup exit at the hands of Wrexham.
When Rochdale made an approach for the youngster in the January transfer window Owls boss Brian Laws agreed to an 'undisclosed fee' with the lower league side. |
