Alan Blayney

Alan Blayney

Personal information
Full name	Alan Blayney
Date of birth	9 October 1981 (1981-10-09)
Place of birth	Belfast, Northern Ireland
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Linfield
Number	1
Youth career
1997–2001	Glentoran
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2001–2006	Southampton	3	(0)
2002	→ Stockport County (loan)	2	(0)
2002–2003	→ Bournemouth (loan)	2	(0)
2005	→ Rushden & Diamonds (loan)	4	(0)
2005	→ Brighton & Hove Albion (loan)	7	(0)
2005	→ Brighton & Hove Albion (loan)	8	(0)
2006–2007	Doncaster Rovers	24	(0)
2007	Oldham Athletic	1	(0)
2007	Bohemians	3	(0)
2008–2009	Ballymena United	32	(0)
2009–	Linfield	45	(0)
National team‡
2002–2003	Northern Ireland U21	5	(0)
2006–	Northern Ireland	5	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:47, 20 November 2010. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 19:53, 20 February 2012 (UTC)

Alan Blayney (born 9 October 1981) is a professional footballer from Belfast, Northern Ireland, currently with Linfield. Blayney plays as a goalkeeper.

Footballing career

Blayney started his career with Premiership side Southampton and was loaned out to Stockport County, but was cut short by a broken finger. He also he had a spell at Bournemouth on loan. He made his début for Southampton in May 2004, receiving a high amount of praise. Blayney also won Sky Sports save of the season after saving an Alan Shearer header in May 2004 on his Premier League début. The match at St Mary's ended in a 3-3 draw. Blayney also played in the following 2-1 defeat at Charlton. Blayney would play two more games for Southampton the following season, the 2-2 Premier League draw against West Bromwich Albion and the 5-2 League Cup loss against Watford. Blayney, who was then behind Antti Niemi and Paul Smith in the team's pecking order went on loan to Rushden & Diamonds and Brighton & Hove Albion. Brighton tried to sign Blayney on a permanent basis in 2005, but could not afford the transfer fee Southampton were asking. Blayney did return to Brighton & Hove Albion for a second loan spell, before returning to Southampton in mid-December.

Blayney then joined Doncaster Rovers for £50,000 from Southampton in January 2006, signing a two and half year contract, with hopes of getting the team promoted to the Championship. Blayney started off as first choice goalkeeper at Belle Vue stadium, but fell behind Ben Smith and Dane Jan Budtz in the pecking order after an ankle injury. He decided to leave the club for personal reasons.

In February 2007, Blayney joined League One side Oldham Athletic, until the end of the 2006-07 season, after impressing in a reserve team match. Blayney made his début for Oldham Athletic in a 1-2 home defeat against Bournenouth, after first choice goalkeeper Les Pogliacomi was suspended.

In 7 August, Alan Blayney joined Irish side Bohemians on a short term deal to provide cover for first choice goalkeeper Brian Murphy. He marked his debut with a clean sheet as Bohs beat Bray Wanderers 3-0 on 31 August. He failed to gain the number 1 shirt from Brian Murphy though and was released at the end of the season. On 15 March 2008 it was revealed that Blayney had signed for Ballymena United, although he was unable to play for the Braidmen until the 2008-09 season. In June 2009, Blayney signed a three year contract for Linfield.

Blayney was chosen as the Ulster Footballer of the Year for the 2010/11 season.

International football

Blayney, a former Northern Ireland under-21 international, played his first match for the Northern Ireland senior national team in their 2006 summer tour of the United States. Northern Ireland lost the match against Romania 2-0. He followed this with 3 appearances in 2010.

Honours

Linfield

• IFA Premiership champions: 2009–10
• Irish Cup winners: 2010

External links

• Alan Blayney career stats at Soccerbase
• Northern Ireland international career details