Jump to content

Kevin Foley (footballer, born 1984)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 86.44.249.31 (talk) at 17:14, 8 December 2012. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Kevin Foley
Foley playing for Wolves in April 2010
Personal information
Full name Kevin Patrick Foley
Date of birth (1984-11-01) 1 November 1984 (age 39)
Place of birth Luton, England
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position(s) Right back / Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Number 32
Youth career
1995–2002 Luton Town
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2007 Luton Town 151 (3)
2007– Wolverhampton Wanderers 175 (4)
International career‡
2004–2006 Republic of Ireland Under 21 8 (1)
2006 Republic of Ireland B 1 (0)
2009– Republic of Ireland 8 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 8 December 2012 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17 November 2010
Kevin Foley - 2008 Player of the Season

Kevin Patrick Foley (born 1 November 1984) is a professional footballer who plays for the Republic of Ireland and for Football League Championship club Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Foley, a right back also able to operate in midfield, previously spent twelve years at Luton Town before joining Wolves in 2007 with whom he won promotion to the Premier League in 2009.

Club career

Luton Town

Born in Luton, England, to Irish parents, Foley joined hometown club Luton Town at the age of nine, and progressed through the youth ranks until graduating to the first team. He finally broke into the first team squad in 2002-03, making his league debut on 19 April 2003, in a 2-2 draw with Bristol City. The following season he established himself as first choice right-back at the club and was named Luton's Young Player of the Season. He also won this award the following season. Foley won promotion with Luton to the Football League Championship in 2005, and spent two seasons at this level before the club dropped back into League One in 2007. Foley made a total of 151 appearances for Luton, scoring three times.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 14 August 2007, Foley joined Wolverhampton Wanderers on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee. He made his first league start against Sheffield Wednesday on 19 August 2007, winning the game 3-1 at Hillsborough. He scored his first league goal for the club against Norwich City on 22 September 2007, at Molineux. He ended his first season for Wolves as a vital member of the squad, starting 42 games out of 48, missing only six league games.

The following season Foley found his second league goal on the 13 December 2008, against Barnsley, winning the game 2-0 at Molineux. Foley found this to be his best season yet for the club as Wolves clinched the Football League Championship title at the end of the 2008-09 season. He made a total of 47 appearances in the league, missing just one game. He also achieved the Club's Player of the Season award, voted by Wolves fans. His good form was rewarded with a new contract at the end of the season for his outstanding performances and he signed a new four-year deal with the club, keeping him at Wolves until the summer of 2013.

Foley made his Premier League debut against West Ham United on 15 August 2009, losing the game 2-0 at Molineux, and also picking up a medial knee ligament injury. This injury kept him out for four months and it was not until December 2009 that Foley got a sustained run in the team at right-midfield and central-midfield. Although these were not Foley's favoured positions he went on to excel there in the 4-5-1 formation, and completed his first season in the Premier League with 23 league starts, plus two outings from the bench. Half way into the 2010-11 season, Foley had got two consecutive league goals at Molineux, the first against Bolton Wanderers, on 13 November 2010, losing the game 3-2, and the second against Sunderland, on 27 November 2010, winning the game 3-2.

International career

Foley qualified to play for Ireland as his parents are from County Kerry. He made his debut for Ireland u21s in May 2004 against Scotland. In 2005 he was named as the FAI Under-21 Player of the Year.

On 29 May 2009, Foley made his senior debut for Ireland against Nigeria in an international friendly.[2] On 26 March 2011, he made his first competitive start for Ireland against Macedonia at right-back playing the full 90 minutes.[3] He played two full games during Ireland's success at the 2011 Nations Cup.[4]

Having been part of the team that achieved Ireland's first qualification for a major tournament since 2002, Foley was initially named in Giovanni Trapattoni's 23-man squad for UEFA Euro 2012.[5] However, a hamstring troubles during pre-tournament preparations meant he did not make the final list.[6] Foley said he "felt betrayed" by Trapattoni's decision to exclude him on the morning of the squad submission.[7][8] His replacement, Paul McShane, did not play a game at the tournament. Foley never returned.[9]

Honours

Club

Luton Town
Wolverhampton Wanderers

International

Republic of Ireland

Individual

  • Luton Town Young Player of the Season (2): 2003-04, 2004–05
  • Wolverhampton Wanderers Player of the Season (1): 2008-09
  • FAI Under-21 Player of the Year (1): 2005

References

  1. ^ "Premier League Player Profile". Premier League. Retrieved 18 March 2011.
  2. ^ "Rep of Ireland 1–1 Nigeria". BBC Sport. 29 May 2009.
  3. ^ "Republic earn vital victory". skysports.com. 26 March 2011.
  4. ^ "Republic of Ireland 5-0 Northern Ireland: Robbie Keane brace & Stephen Ward debut strike take Trapattoni's men top of Home Nations standings". goal.com. 24 May 2011.
  5. ^ "EURO 2012 squad named". FAI. 7 May 2012. {{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help)
  6. ^ "McShane named in squad ahead of Foley". RTE Sport. 29 May 2012.
  7. ^ "Kevin Foley feels betrayed by Giovanni Trapattoni". BBC Sport. 30 May 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  8. ^ "'Betrayed' Kevin Foley Told He'd Been Dropped By Trap Half Hour Before Deadline". Balls.ie. 30 May 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  9. ^ "Kevin Foley refuses Republic of Ireland call-up, senior players excused for Serbia friendly". RTÉ Sport. 20 July 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2012.

Template:Persondata

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kevin_Foley_(footballer,_born_1984)&oldid=527046299"