His story starts like many others, in the Ibrox academy from a young age, where he was awarded player of the year in 2019 by working up through the reserves to the fringes of the first team.
A matter of months after collecting the gong, he was given his first – and only – run-out for Steven Gerrard’s side.
His appearance off the bench in Rangers’ rout against Gibraltar’s St Joseph’s in Europa League qualifying was not a sign of things to come, as he was sent out on his first of six loan moves just one month later.
Dundee, Greenock Morton, Harrogate Town, Morecombe, Tranmere Rovers and Queen’s Park all had a taste of McPake but nothing permanent was made.
He swiftly became a bit of a football nomad.
While on Tayside, he scored the winner for Scotland Under-19s against Germany, but still he was flung from pillar to post.
On 1 September 2023, he left Rangers and, though he trained with a number of clubs – where he endured some “knocks and setbacks” – he didn’t find a home for another near-six months, until Stirling signed him on a short-term deal.
A dunt down to earth, no doubt, but McPake didn’t allow any ego to get in his way, as then-Binos boss Darren Young recalled.
“He came into training and he was brilliant – he couldn’t have done any more,” former Aberdeen midfielder Young told BBC Scotland.
“He worked very, very hard. He helped put balls away after training, he was always doing extra bits of shooting and finishing – I joked to him once or twice, ‘if you don’t get your finger out then you’ll end up back here part-time’ but it was one of those where you could see his ability, he was head and shoulders above the guys.
“It was just a case of him then doing it and getting into the kind of situation where a club – and the right club – would come and get him.”
