Chris McKee is a boyhood Linfield supporter from Carrickfergus.

He started his youth career with local club Carrick Rangers. McKee was then in the Linfield Academy between 2014 and 2018, from the age of 12 until he was 16 when he moved to Rangers FC.

The centre forward initially went into Rangers’ U18 team before progressing into their ‘B’ team, which is effectively the reserve team, and he had his first taste of senior football with a short stint on loan with Brechin City in SPFL League Two towards the end of the 2020-21 season. He scored one goal and assisted once in 14 appearances, most of which were substitute appearances.

McKee was then loaned from Rangers to Linfield on January 10, 2022, returning to the Blues on loan for the second half of the 2021-22 season. He made his debut in a 1-0 home win over Ballymena United on January 15, 2022, before scoring his first goal for Linfield a week later with a diving header late on in a 2-0 home win over Glenavon, describing the moment as ‘a dream come true’.

The Northern Ireland Youth International made a great impact on loan at the Blues, scoring six important goals against Glenavon, Portadown, Carrick Rangers, Crusaders, Dungannon Swifts and Coleraine. His goal against Coleraine at Windsor Park on the final day of the season was a title-clincher, netting shortly before half-time as the Blues won 2-0 to pip Cliftonville to the title by a point.

Following a successful loan spell and with his contract at Rangers coming to an end in the summer of 2022, David Healy swooped to bring McKee back to Linfield, this time on a permanent, two-year contract.

In his second season McKee scored 8 goals and assisted times in 44 appearances, although it wasn’t until the latter stages of the season that he nailed down a starting spot in the team. He assisted both goals as Linfield defeated Coleraine 2-0 to win the NIFL League Cup. McKee was named Sky Sports’ Man of the Match in the final.

McKee then hit the ground running at the beginning of the 2023-24 season, scoring his first European goals with a brace in a 3-1 win over Albanian side KF Vllaznia in a UEFA Conference League first round qualifier at Windsor Park. He scored in five of Linfield’s opening six League fixtures before his season was disrupted by two separate injuries, ending the season with 14 goals in 39 appearances which made him the Blues’ second-top goalscorer in a season which he added a second NIFL League Cup medal to his collection. Towards the end of the season he signed a two-year contract extension until the end of the 2025-26 season.

He has represented Northern Ireland U21s on eight occasions, scoring once, as well as scoring twice in three outings for NI U19s, and three goals in 11 appearances for NI U17s.