Damien Delaney

Damien Finbarr Delaney (born 20 July 1981) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a defender.

For the Gaelic football player for Laois, see Damien Delaney (Gaelic footballer).

Damien Delaney
Delaney playing for Crystal Palace in 2016
Personal information
Full name Damien Finbarr Delaney[1]
Date of birth (1981-07-20) 20 July 1981[2]
Place of birth Cork, Ireland
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[3]
Playing position(s) Centre back
Youth career
Avondale United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2000 Cork City
2000–2002 Leicester City 8 (0)
2001–2002 → Stockport County (loan) 12 (1)
2002 → Huddersfield Town (loan) 2 (0)
2002 → Mansfield Town (loan) 7 (0)
2002–2008 Hull City 224 (5)
2008–2009 Queens Park Rangers 54 (2)
2009–2012 Ipswich Town 98 (2)
2012–2018 Crystal Palace 170 (6)
2018 Cork City 10 (1)
2019 Waterford 20 (1)
Total 605 (18)
National team‡
2008–2014 Republic of Ireland 9 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 01:20, 5 July 2019 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:37, 25 May 2014 (UTC)

Delaney began his career at Cork City. He later played for Leicester City, Hull City and Queens Park Rangers before moving to Ipswich Town in 2009. He became a free agent after leaving the club in August 2012. He then signed for Crystal Palace and was a vital player in the centre of defence in their promotion season. He played for the club for six seasons and rejoined former club Cork City on 1 July 2018, after his contract expired. He departed Leeside at the end of the 2018 season and on 3 January 2019 it was announced that he had signed a one year deal with Waterford.

Delaney announced his retirement on Twitter on 4 July 2019.[4]

Early life

Born in Cork, Delaney attended Coláiste Chríost Rí and began his career at local club Avondale United at schoolboy level before moving on to Cork City.[5]

He also played Gaelic football with the Cork minor team. Delaney was a Munster minor football winner with the team in 1999 and shone for his club, St Michael's. He struck 2–2 in an All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Mayo that year, before he committed fully to proper football.

Club career

Leicester City and Hull City

He was brought to England by Peter Taylor at Leicester City, where he made eight FA Premier League appearances. He had spells on loan at Stockport County, Huddersfield Town and Mansfield Town. Whilst at Stockport, he scored his first career goal in a match against Rotherham United.[6] Taylor later made Delaney his first signing for Hull City, on 16 October 2002, for a fee of £50,000.[7]

After a rocky start to his career at Hull, during which time he was tried in midfield and at left-back, Delaney was played regularly at centre back and began to grow in stature and consistency. He was voted Player of the Year in the 2003–04 promotion-winning season, additionally his strike against Rochdale was voted Goal of the Season.

In the 2005–06 season in the Championship, he played mainly at centre back, but also at left-back when two players in that position were injured, and in midfield when the manager felt that more height and solidity were required. This versatility made him a key asset to the Tigers squad.

Delaney was the last Hull City player to score a goal at their old ground Boothferry Park, prior to their move to the KC Stadium.

Queens Park Rangers

On 18 January 2008 Delaney signed for Queens Park Rangers on a three-and-a-half-year contract.[8] On 8 March 2008 Delaney scored his first goal for QPR in a 2–1 away defeat to Sheffield Wednesday.

Ipswich Town

On 2 July 2009, Delaney signed for Ipswich Town on a two-year contract for a fee of £750,000, £250,000 if Ipswich reached the play-offs and an extra £100,000 after he has made 50 appearances for the club.[9] He suffered a freak injury in the following year's pre-season which almost cost him his life. A blood clot in his thigh resulted in him potentially losing a leg but he was rushed to an emergency surgery procedure that resolved the issue. He scored his first goal for the club in the East Anglian derby in November 2010, before being sent off following a straight red card. He left the club by mutual consent in August 2012.[10]

Crystal Palace

On 31 August 2012, following his departure from Ipswich, Delaney signed for Crystal Palace on a short-term contract until January 2013.[11] He scored his first goal for the club in Palace's 4–3 comeback against Burnley on 6 October. Due to Delaney's impressive start to his Palace career, he signed a new contract on 22 November 2012, which expired summer 2014.[12] He scored his first ever goal in the Premier League in a 3–3 draw against Liverpool, with his initial 25-yard shot deflected slightly into the net by Glen Johnson. Palace were 3–0 down at the time, but Delaney's goal combined with two goals from Dwight Gayle made it 3–3. Delaney was a regular for Palace for their first four seasons back in the Premier League and stayed at the club until the end of the 2017–18 season, making a total of 193 appearances in all competitions, scoring seven goals.

Return to Cork City

After the end of the 2017–18 Premier League season, Cork City announced that Delaney had signed with the club, and returned on 1 July 2018 after his contract with Palace expired and the Irish transfer window opened.[13] He made 14 appearances, scoring one goal, before leaving the club at the end of the season.

Waterford

At the start of 2019, Delaney signed for Waterford for the 2019 season.[14]

International career

On 13 May 2008, Delaney was called up to the Republic of Ireland squad for the first time by the new manager Giovanni Trapattoni. On 4 May 2011, he was called into the Irish squad for the 2011 Nations Cup games against Northern Ireland and Scotland. On 24 May 2011, he started and played the full 90 minutes against Northern Ireland as Ireland beat them 5–0. On 11 October 2013, he made a belated competitive debut in a World Cup qualifier against Germany.

Career statistics
As of match played 1 July 2019[15][16]
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Leicester City 2000–01 Premier League 50200000–70
2001–02 Premier League 300010––40
Total 80201000–110
Stockport County (loan) 2001–02 First Division 1210000––121
Huddersfield Town (loan) 2001–02 Second Division 200000–0020
Mansfield Town (loan) 2002–03 Second Division 700000–0070
Hull City 2002–03 Third Division 3011000–00311
2003–04 Third Division 4621010–00482
2004–05 League One 4313010––471
2005–06 Championship 4601010––480
2006–07 Championship 3711010––391
2007–08 Championship 2201030–00260
Total 22458070––2395
Queens Park Rangers 2007–08 Championship 1710000––171
2008–09 Championship 3712031––422
Total 5422031––593
Ipswich Town 2009–10 Championship 3602010––390
2010–11 Championship 3220041––363
2011–12 Championship 2901000––300
2012–13 Championship 100000––10
Total 9823051––1063
Crystal Palace 2012–13 Championship 4032000–3[lower-alpha 1]0453
2013–14 Premier League 3712000––391
2014–15 Premier League 2902010––320
2015–16 Premier League 3126021––393
2016–17 Premier League 3002010––330
2017–18 Premier League 201010––40
Total 170615051–301937
Cork City 2018 League of Ireland Premier Division 10100004[lower-alpha 2]0–141
Waterford 2019 League of Ireland Premier Division 2010000––201
Career total 60518300213403066321
  1. Appearances in Championship play-offs
  2. Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, two in UEFA Europa League

International
Source:[17]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Republic of Ireland
200820
201130
201330
201410
Total90

Honours

Cork City

Hull City

Crystal Palace

Republic of Ireland

Individual

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References
  1. "Updated squads for 2017/18 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  2. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 113. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0.
  3. "Barclays Premier League Player Profile Damien Delaney". Premier League. 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  4. Buckingham, Philip (4 July 2019). "Former Hull City star Damien Delaney confirms retirement after living out his 'dreams'". Hull Daily Mail. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 October 2006. Retrieved 30 July 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. "Rotherham 3–2 Stockport". BBC. 9 February 2002. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  7. "Hull seal Delaney deal". BBC Sport. BBC. 16 October 2002. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  8. "QPR recruit Hull defender Delaney". BBC Sport. 17 January 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  9. "Defender Delaney moves to Ipswich". BBC Sport. 2 July 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  10. Gooderham, Dave (30 August 2012). "Right time for me to leave says departing Damien Delaney". East Anglian Daily Times. Ipswich. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
  11. "Delaney joins up". Crystal Palace F.C. 31 August 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  12. "Eagle Delaney puts pen to paper for two-year deal".
  13. "Damien Delaney signs for City – Cork City Football Club". www.corkcityfc.ie. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  14. "Former Ireland and Crystal Palace defender Damien Delaney signs for Waterford FC". Independent.ie. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  15. "Damien Delaney". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  16. "Republic of Ireland - D. Delaney - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". uk.soccerway.com. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  17. Damien Delaney at National-Football-Teams.com
  18. Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2004). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2004–2005. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 49, 206–207. ISBN 978-0-7553-1311-2.
  19. Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2005). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2005–2006. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 49, 208–209. ISBN 978-0-7553-1384-6.
  20. Fletcher, Paul (27 May 2013). "Crystal Palace 1–0 Watford". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 13 March 2015.
  21. McNulty, Phil (21 May 2016). "Crystal Palace 1–2 Manchester United". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  22. "Robbie Keane earns Ireland deciding win over Scotland in Nations Cup". Guardian. 29 May 2011. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  23. "'Anyone who played with me will tell you I achieved more than I ever should have'". The 42. 27 July 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
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