Edward McNally was born in Glasgow, Scotland on October 7, 1962. At the age of eleven he moved to Canada with his family and they settled in Aurora, Ontario. After starring for the local Aurora Hearts club, Ed wad drafted by North American Soccer League club Toronto Blizzard in 1981.
After spending the 1981 season playing for Toronto Blizzard’s second eleven, Ed joined Toronto Italia before the start of the 1982 National Soccer League season. Ed played a vital part in Italia’s success in winning both the National Soccer League regular season championship and the 1982 NSL Cup.
Being a Glasgow lad who grew up supporting Celtic, probably his proudest playing memory was when he was a member of the the Toronto Italia team that defeated Glasgow Celtic by a 4-1 score on July 16, 1982.
Ed started the 1983 season with Toronto Nationals in the newly-formed Canadian Professional Soccer League. However, after only six league games the Nationals folded.
The 5’9″ and 185 lbs forward returned to Toronto Italia after the demise of the CPSL. Soccer legend Omar Sivori was the coach of Toronto Italia in the 1983 NSL season. Italia ended the season in second place in the final standings of the 1983 NSL season.
In the 1984 NSL season he was a member of the Toronto Italia squad that won all three major trophies. Italia won the 1984 NSL regular season championship, the NSL playoff championship and the NSL League Cup.
Toronto Italia finished in fourth place in the final standings in the 1985 National Soccer League season.
In the 1986 season he played for London Marconi. The Marconi club finished in fourth place in the final standings of the 1986 National Soccer League.
In November 1986 he was drafted by Ottawa National Capital Pioneers in the draft for the 1987 Canadian Soccer League season.
He played in 17 games and scored 4 goals during the 1987 CSL season.
Before the start of the 1988 Canadian Soccer League season the name of the club changed to Ottawa Intrepid. Ed played in 27 league games and scored 7 goals during the 1988 CSL season.
He spent the 1989 season playing for Ottawa Intrepid and Toronto Blizzard during the 1989 Canada Soccer League season.
Ed played in 11 international matches for the Canadian National Team.