Alan Reilly (born 22 August 1980) is an Irish former 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 ...

. Reilly played as a

left midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

Career

Reilly was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland. He played his schoolboy football for Stella Maris, and he has also played with

Belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to: Places Australia *Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region Africa * Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco * Belvedere, Harare, Zi ...

. He was spotted by

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

who offered him a one-year YTS deal while playing for Stella Maris. Reilly also went on to represent

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

at youth level during this period. At Manchester City, Reilly impressed enough to be offered a three-year professional contract. He became a regular for City's youth and reserves teams alongside the likes of

Shaun Wright-Phillips Shaun Cameron Wright-Phillips (born 25 October 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger. He played in the Premier League and Football League for Manchester City, Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers, in Major Leagu ...

. He struggled to breakthrough to the first team and moved to

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of English football league system. They replaced Halifax Town, who went i ...

on a three-year contract. He was a regular in the Halifax team during his time at

The Shay The Shay is a multi-purpose sports stadium in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It is home to the FC Halifax Town association football club and the Halifax Panthers rugby league team. The stadium is owned by the Calderdale Metropolitan Bo ...

but when his contract expired, he decided to return to Ireland. Upon returning to his homeland, Reilly signed for Stephen Kenny's

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 ...

and made his debut in a 1–1 draw with

Cork City Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...

on 1 November 2002. He made numerous appearances during the 2002–03 season as Bohs won the

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 ...

Premier Division. After his time at Bohs, he played for

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 ...

(twice),

Drogheda United Drogheda United Football Club is a professional Irish association football club based in Drogheda, County Louth playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They play their home matches at Sullivan & Lambe Park. The current club is the ...

and

St. Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club, commonly known as Pat's or The Athletic, is a professional Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the League of Ireland Premier Division. Founded in May 1929, they played ...

. In July 2006, Reilly rejoined Waterford United but his second spell at the club was short-lived as he was released from his latest club within two weeks of joining and having not played once since his return. During that two-week period Mike Kerley was sacked as Waterford manager and Gareth Cronin replaced him resulting in Reilly's departure as he was not part of Cronin's plans. Reilly stayed out of the game for the next 12 months until he joined Shelbourne in July 2007. Reilly made his Shelbourne debut as a second-half substitute against

Finn Harps Finn Harps Football Club is an Irish football club that play in the First Division of the League of Ireland, as of 2023. The club was founded in 1954 and elected to the league in 1969. They hail from Ballybofey, County Donegal and play their ho ...

on 20 July 2007 at

Finn Park Finn Park () is a football stadium in Ballybofey, County Donegal in Ireland. The home ground of League of Ireland team Finn Harps, it has a 'safe capacity' of 4,200 with 351 seats. The first recorded Finn Harps game in Finn Park was in May 1954 ...

. Reilly made seven appearances for Shelbourne before being released at the end of the 2007 Season.Player Update
→ www.shelbournefc.com

References

External links

Alan Reilly's profile at www.shelbournefc.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reilly, Alan Living people 1980 births Association footballers from County Dublin Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association football midfielders Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers League of Ireland players Stella Maris F.C. players Belvedere F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Halifax Town A.F.C. players Bohemian F.C. players Drogheda United F.C. players St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players Waterford F.C. players Shelbourne F.C. players English Football League players 21st-century Irish sportsmen