Alan Blayney (born 9 October 1981) is a retired professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

and is now the first team goalkeeper coach at

NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and Irish Premiership colloquially, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football L ...

side

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory)Larne/Latharna
Placenames Database of Ireland. is a to ...

. Beginning his professional career with

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

where he made three appearances, Blayney had additional loan spells with

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...

Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town F.C., Ket ...

and

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

(twice). He then spent just over a year with

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

before having successive quick spells with

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

and

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a f ...

, before returning to his native Northern Ireland with

Ballymena United Ballymena United Football Club is a semi-professional football club from Northern Ireland. Based in Ballymena, County Antrim, the team competes in the NIFL Premiership and plays home matches at the Ballymena Showgrounds. The club has been man ...

. After one season he moved to Linfield where he won three league titles and three

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Clearer Water Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary Association football, football single elimination, knockout cup compet ...

s. He subsequently played for Glenavon, Ballymena United again, Dundela, Warrenpoint Town and Ballyclare Comrades before retiring. He also represented

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

at international level and under-21 level, winning five caps for both sides.

Club career

England

Born from

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, Northern Ireland, Blayney started his career with Premiership side

and was loaned out to

, but the loan was cut short by a broken finger. He also he had a spell at

on loan. He made his début for Southampton in May 2004, receiving a high amount of praise. Blayney also won

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

save of the season after saving an

Alan Shearer Alan Shearer (born 13 August 1970) is an English Association football, football pundit and former professional player who played as a striker (association football), striker. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of all time and one of t ...

header in May 2004 on his Premier League debut. 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 West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

and the 5–2 League Cup loss against

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

. Blayney, who was then behind Antti Niemi and

Paul Smith Paul Smith is the name of: Music * Paul Smith (composer) (1906–1985), American film music composer * Paul Smith (pianist) (1922–2013), Los Angeles jazz pianist * Paul Smith (English singer) (born 1979), vocalist and songwriter of British in ...

in the team's pecking order went on loan to

and

. 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

for £50,000 from Southampton in January 2006, signing a two-and-a-half-year contract, with hopes of getting the team promoted to the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

. Blayney started off as first choice goalkeeper at

Belle Vue stadium Belle Vue Stadium was a Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom, greyhound racing track in Belle Vue, Manchester, England, where the first race around an oval track in Britain was held on 24 July 1926. It has also been used for motorcycle speedw ...

, but fell behind Ben Smith and Dane

Jan Budtz Jan Helstrup Budtz (born 20 April 1979) is a Danish footballer who plays as a goalkeeper. He works as the head of operations for League One side Doncaster Rovers, as well as playing semi-professionally for Rossington Main. He has previously pl ...

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

, until the end of the 2006–07 season, after impressing in a

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

match. Blayney made his début for Oldham Athletic in a 1–2 home defeat against Bournemouth, after first choice goalkeeper

Les Pogliacomi Leslie Amado Pogliacomi (born 3 May 1976) is an Australian former association football player. Club career He was dropped for Chris Day by Ronnie Moore in the 2005–06 season, and went to Blackpool; however, John Sheridan brought him back t ...

was suspended.

League of Ireland & Irish League

On 7 August, Alan Blayney joined Irish side

on a short term deal to provide cover for first choice goalkeeper

Brian Murphy Brian Murphy may refer to: Sportspeople * Brian Murphy (Jamaican cricketer) (born 1973), Jamaican cricketer * Brian Murphy (Zimbabwean cricketer) (born 1976), Zimbabwean cricketer * Brian Murphy (baseball) (born 1980), American head baseball coac ...

. He marked his debut with a clean sheet as Bohs beat

Bray Wanderers Bray Wanderers Football Club are an Irish association football club playing in the League of Ireland First Division. The club in its present form was founded in 1942 in Bray, and was known until 2010 as ''Bray Wanderers A.F.C.'' It was elect ...

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, Blayney signed for Irish Premiership side

, 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. Following good performances for Linfield on their way to the

2010–11 IFA Premiership The 2010–11 IFA Premiership (known as the Carling Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 3rd season of the IFA Premiership, the highest level of league football in Northern Ireland, and the 110th season of Irish league football overall. ...

title, Blayney was chosen as the

Ulster Footballer of the Year The Ulster Footballer of the Year is an association football player of the year award in Northern Ireland. One of two player of the year awards in Northern Ireland, the other is the Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association award. The Ulst ...

for the 2010–11 season. He joined fellow NIFL Premiership club

Ards Ards (or ARDS, ARDs) may refer to: Medical * ARDS, Acute respiratory distress syndrome * ARDs, age-related diseases Places * Ards Peninsula, Northern Ireland ** Ards (territory), several historical territorial divisions on the Ards Peninsula ...

on loan for the second half of the 2013–14 season. Following his loan spell at Ards, Blayney left Linfield at the end of the

2013–14 NIFL Premiership The 2013–14 NIFL Premiership (known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 6th season of the NIFL Premiership, the highest level of league football in Northern Ireland, the 113th season of Irish league football overall, ...

season to sign for 2013–14 Irish Cup winners Glenavon. Despite a strong start to the season, Blayney later lost his starting spot at Glenavon to number two goalkeeper James McGrath, and left the club for a second spell at

on 5 May 2015. Blayney initially started his second spell at Ballymena as the number one choice, following the departure of Australian goalkeeper Tim Allen. However, the arrival of former Linfield manager

David Jeffrey David Jeffrey (born 28 October 1962) is a Northern Irish former football player and manager. He managed Linfield between 1997 and 2014 and Ballymena United from 2016 to 2023. Jeffrey began his professional playing career with Linfield, follo ...

saw his game time limited, with Linfield loanee Ross Glendinning usurping Blayney as number one during the 2016–17 season. The return of Tim Allen to the club meant that Blayney was free to talk to other clubs. He left Ballymena by mutual consent on 27 January 2017. Blayney signed for

NIFL Premier Intermediate League The NIFL Premier Intermediate League (Known as the Playr-Fit NIFL Premier Intermediate League for sponsorship reasons) is the third level of the Northern Ireland Football League, the national association football league in Northern Ireland, and t ...

side Dundela on 1 February 2017. He returned to the

in the 2017-18 season, having signed a pre-contract with 2016–17 NIFL Championship winners Warrenpoint Town. On 14 December 2017, it was announced that Blayney had signed for Ballyclare Comrades.

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 Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

2–0. He followed this with three appearances in 2010.

Honours

Linfield *

IFA Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and Irish Premiership colloquially, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football L ...

: 2009–10,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, 2011–12 *

: 2009–10,

, 2011–12

References

External links

*
Northern Ireland international career details
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blayney, Alan 1981 births Living people Association footballers from Belfast Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland 21st-century sportsmen from Northern Ireland Men's association football goalkeepers Premier League players English Football League players League of Ireland players NIFL Premiership players Ballymena United F.C. players Bohemian F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Linfield F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Rushden & Diamonds F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Northern Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Northern Ireland men's international footballers Ulster Footballers of the Year Warrenpoint Town F.C. players Ballyclare Comrades F.C. players Dundela F.C. players Ards F.C. players Glenavon F.C. players NIFL Championship players