Alan Cawley (born 3 January 1982 in

Sligo Sligo ( ; , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of 20,608 in 2022, it is the county's largest urban centre (constituting 2 ...

) is a retired Irish

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 ...

Career

Before signing for

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

Cawley attended

Summerhill College Summerhill College (aka The College of the Immaculate Conception) is a Roman Catholic voluntary secondary school for boys located in the town of Sligo in north-west Ireland. History The school was founded in 1857 by then-bishop of Elphin, Laur ...

. He began his career at Leeds United and had a spell at

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

before returning to Ireland to sign for UCD. His impressive performances for the students earned him a move to Shelbourne where he won a league winners medal. He had loan spells at

Longford Town Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It had a population of 10,952 at the 2022 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meeting of I ...

and

Waterford United Waterford Football Club formerly Waterford United Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Waterford who play in the League of Ireland Premier Division. The club was founded and elected to the league in 1930. Originally the ...

before returning for a second spell at Belfield. Cawley made his debut for

St Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club, commonly known as Pat's or The Athletic, is a professional List of association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland, Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the League ...

on 18 February 2009 vs a Chelsea XI, when he scored his first goal for the club, a wonderful free kick into the top left corner. Cawley signed for

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

on 24 December 2009, making him newly-appointed manager Ian Foster's first signing at the club. Foster commented "I am pleased to be able to complete the first of my new signings for next season, and Alan is a player who has impressed me over the last couple of seasons. He is a natural footballer who revels in playing the ball on the ground and is a natural fit for the attacking style that I want to employ." After being plagued with injury throughout the 2010 season Cawley made only ten appearances. On 6 February Cawley signed for

Portadown Portadown ( ) is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town is based on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population ...

. Cawley is Sligo native and has represented Ireland at all levels up to Under 18. He is a regular pundit on '' Soccer Republic'' on

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

television and on ''Game On'', RTÉ 2FM radio's daily sports show from 6p.m.-7p.m. Monday to Friday.

Honours

;Shelbourne *

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

(1):

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cawley, Alan 1982 births Living people Association footballers from Sligo (town) Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers University College Dublin A.F.C. players Shelbourne F.C. players Longford Town F.C. players Waterford F.C. players Bray Wanderers F.C. players St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players League of Ireland players Portadown F.C. players NIFL Premiership players People educated at Summerhill College Belvedere F.C. players Men's association football midfielders 21st-century Irish sportsmen