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Ciaran Donnelly (footballer)

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For the director, see Ciaran Donnelly (director).

Ciaran Donnelly
Personal information
Date of birth (1984-04-02) 2 April 1984 (age 40)
Place of birth Blackpool, England
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Blackpool (Academy Director)
Youth career
Blackpool
Blackburn Rovers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2005 Blackburn Rovers 0 (0)
2004 → Blackpool (loan) 9 (0)
2005–2007 Blackpool 32 (2)
2006–2007 → Southport (loan) 11 (1)
2007 → Macclesfield Town (loan)
2007–2008 Fleetwood Town
2008 Glenavon 7 (0)
2009 AFC Blackpool
2010–2011 Barrow 16 (0)
2011–? Kendal Town
International career
2000 England U16
2002 England U18
2002–2003 England U19 9 (7)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ciaran Donnelly (born 2 April 1984) is an English former professional footballer. He is now the Academy Director at Blackpool.[1]

He has played for England at Under-16, Under-18 and Under-19 levels.

Early life

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Born in Blackpool, Lancashire, Donnelly attended Claremont Primary School and Warbreck Hill High School in North Shore, Blackpool. He joined the Centre of Excellence at his hometown club, where he stayed until he was fourteen years old, when he joined the Academy at Premier League club Blackburn Rovers.[2]

Club career

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Donnelly started out in the youth team and then as a trainee at Blackburn Rovers in 2002. After being an ever-present in the club's reserve team in the 2003–04 season, on 25 March 2004 he was sent on loan to Blackpool who were then in League One.[3] He played nine league matches before the loan spell ran out on 9 May. However, he did not make any first-team appearances for Blackburn Rovers and he signed for his hometown club on a free transfer on 16 March 2005 initially until the end of the season, with an option for a further year.[2][4] On 2 September 2005, Donelly scored the winning goal as Blackpool beat Doncaster Rovers 1–0 at Belle Vue in League One.[5]

On 23 November 2006, Blackpool sent him on loan to Southport, who were then in the Conference National,[6] where he played eleven league games, scoring one goal. Then, after he returned from Southport, he was sent on loan to League Two club Macclesfield Town on 22 March 2007 until the end of the season.[7]

After making one appearance, in the Football League Trophy, in 2006–07 for Blackpool, and failing to break into the first-team squad as the club was promoted to the Championship, he was released at the end of the season.[8][9] He signed a two-year contract with Fleetwood Town,[10] who were then in the Northern Premier League Premier Division for the start of the 2007–08 season, scoring just three minutes into his debut on 18 August 2007 in a 1–0 away win at Ossett Town.[11]

He moved to Northern Ireland in January 2008 to play for IFA Premiership club Glenavon.[12] His only goal for the club came in a 6–3 defeat to Loughall in the Mid-Ulster Cup.[13] He left Glenavon at the end of the 2007–08 season.

Without a club, Donnelly returned home to Blackpool, where he played Sunday League football in the Blackpool & Fylde Sunday League Alliance.[14] In the 2009–10 season, he played part-time with local club AFC Blackpool in the North West Counties Football League First Division.[15]

After impressing during a series of trials in the summer of 2010, Donnelly signed for Barrow in July 2010.[16] Donnelly left the club on 31 January 2011 after the club decided not to extend his contract.[17]

International career

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Donnelly has played for his country at under-16, under-18 and under-19 level.

On 1 July 2000, he scored England's under-16s goal as they lost 2–1 to Brazil at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland.[18] and in September 2000 he played in the under-16 team that beat their Republic of Ireland counterparts 3–1 at the Bescot Stadium in Walsall.[19]

In June 2002 he played for the under-18 side at the Under 18s International Tournament in Lisbon, Portugal.[20]

He helped England under-19s qualify for the finals of the 2003 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship. He played in all three group games in the first qualifying round, as England played in a mini-group tournament. And in the final game, Donnelly scored all four of England's goals as they beat Romania under-19s 4–0.[21][22] In the second qualifying round, he scored the winning goal as England beat the Republic of Ireland 1–0 at Tolka Park in Dublin[23] and followed that up two days later with two goals against Slovenia as England won 3–0 at Dalymount Park in Dublin.[24] and then played in the final group game against Switzerland at United Park in Drogheda which England won 1–0 to qualify for the finals.

He was in the England squad for the finals which were held in Liechtenstein in July 2003, and he played in all three of England's games as they went out of the competition at the group stage.[25]

Coaching career

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After retiring from playing in 2011, Donnelly began working with Blackpool F.C.'s Community Trust, headed by former Northern Ireland international Derek Spence.[26]

He later became Academy Manager at Blackpool, before leaving to coach at nearby Fleetwood Town between 2017 and 2020. He returned to Blackpool as Academy Director on 10 August 2020.[1]

Honours

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Blackpool

References

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  1. ^ a b "Welcome Back… Ciaran!" - Blackpool F.C., 10 August 2020
  2. ^ a b "Donnelly's bid to copy Clarke". Blackpool Gazette. 17 March 2005. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
  3. ^ "Donnelly heads to Blackpool". bbc.co.uk. 25 March 2004. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
  4. ^ "Donnelly seals deal at Blackpool". bbc.co.uk. 17 March 2005. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
  5. ^ "Doncaster 0-1 Blackpool". bbc.co.uk. 2 September 2005. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
  6. ^ "Southport net midfielder Donnelly". bbc.co.uk. 24 November 2006. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
  7. ^ "Rankin joins Macclesfield on loan". bbc.co.uk. 22 March 2007. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
  8. ^ "Three released as Pool look ahead". Blackpool. 31 May 2007. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
  9. ^ "Parker wants new Blackpool deal". Blackpool Gazette. 1 June 2007. Retrieved 7 November 2008.[permanent dead link‍]
  10. ^ "Fleetwood Announce Two Major Signings". Unibond League. 15 August 2007. Archived from the original on 8 November 2007. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
  11. ^ "Opening Day Review" (PDF) (Press release). Unibond League. 18 August 2007. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
  12. ^ "Glenavon v Larne". bbc.co.uk. 25 January 2008. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
  13. ^ "Embarrassing exit from Mid-Ulster Cup for Blues". Derry Journal. 31 January 2008. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
  14. ^ "Veteran Gouck sees off Seniors ... again". Blackpool Gazette. 6 November 2008. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
  15. ^ "Parker's nine find their way to amazing win". Blackpool Gazette. 25 January 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  16. ^ "Donnelly agrees deal - new left back on show tonight". Barrow A.F.C. 27 July 2010. Archived from the original on 17 January 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
  17. ^ "Almond Loan Extended - Donnelly & Grant Leave". Barrow A.F.C. 31 January 2011. Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
  18. ^ "Youngsters lift nation's spirits". The Football Association. 1 July 2000. Archived from the original on 29 October 2007. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
  19. ^ "Bent at the double". The Football Association. 2 September 2000. Archived from the original on 28 January 2004. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
  20. ^ "Slovakia Browned off by U18s". The Football Association. 6 June 2002. Archived from the original on 19 June 2004. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
  21. ^ "Group 3: England on song". UEFA. 8 November 2002. Archived from the original on 30 October 2004. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
  22. ^ "England 4-0 Romania". UEFA. 8 November 2002. Retrieved 7 November 2008. [dead link‍]
  23. ^ "Republic of Ireland 0-1 England". UEFA. 19 May 2003. Retrieved 7 November 2008. [dead link‍]
  24. ^ "England 3-0 Slovenia". UEFA. 21 May 2003. Retrieved 7 November 2008. [dead link‍]
  25. ^ "UEFA Under-19 European Championship 2002–03". UEFA. 16–20 July 2003. Archived from the original on 1 September 2008. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
  26. ^ Preview Show, Tangerine TV, Blackpool F.C., 8 April 2022
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