McGrath was only at Weymouth for a short period before joining Conference National side Tamworth in July 2006.[16] On 10 May 2007, McGrath and Tamworth teammate Jake Edwards joined local rivals Burton Albion following Tamworth's relegation to the Conference North.[17] His first season at Burton saw the club make the play-off semi-finals after he had played in 60 games and scored 9 goals,[18] being named the club's Player of the Year.[19] He signed a new one-year contract with the club in May 2008,[19] despite having talks with York City managerColin Walker.[20] McGrath made 48 appearances and scored 6 goals for Burton during the 2008–09 season, as the team won the Conference Premier title and so gained promotion to League Two.[21] He signed a new contract with Burton in May 2009.[22]
McGrath signed for League Two rivals York City on an initial one-month loan on 12 February 2013,[23] making his debut later that day in a 0–0 draw at home to Gillingham.[24] Having made five appearances for York,[24] the loan was extended until the end of the 2012–13 season on 7 March 2013.[25] He was sent back to Burton on 4 April 2013 having been deemed surplus to requirements by new manager Nigel Worthington.[26] He had made 9 appearances for York.[24] He played for Burton in both legs of their 5–4 aggregate play-off semi-final defeat to Bradford City, and finished the season with 11 appearances for the club, before being released on 6 May 2013.[24][27]
After spending much of pre-season on trial with Alfreton Town, McGrath signed a one-year contract with the Conference Premier club on 3 August 2013.[28] His season was ended by a knee injury sustained during a 3–2 win away to Wrexham on 26 December 2013.[29] He had made 26 appearances and scored one goal for Alfreton in the 2013–14 season.[30]
McGrath made his debut for the Republic of Ireland national under-21 team as a half-time substitute for Peter Murphy in a 2–1 home defeat to Greece on 25 April 2000.[32][33] He made his first and only start for the under-21s in a 2–0 defeat away to the Netherlands on 1 September 2000.[32][34] He finished his under-21 career with five caps, all of which were amassed during 2000.[32]
^Williams, Mike; Williams, Tony, eds. (2007). Non-League Club Directory 2008. Kingsbridge: Tony Williams Publications. pp. 256–257. ISBN978-1-869833-57-2.