McIlhargey was first choice goalkeeper for Morecambe's early years in the Conference, providing valuable experience to the team.

His experience was a great asset for Morecambe as he had played at Wembley in a playoff final for Blackpool and represented Scotland at school boy level.

He had a prestigious league career, playing for clubs such as Walsall, Rotherham and Chester.

His final years as a player were spent as backup goalkeeper at Morecambe but he was rarely named on the subs bench with manager Jim Harvey prefering to have five outfield players available.

McIlhargey wasn't registered as a player for the 2004/2005 season but remained at the club as goalkeeping coach.