Bailey Peacock-Farrell (born 29 October 1996) is a 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 le ...
who plays as a
goalkeeper
In many team sports which involve scoring 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 intercepting o ...
for club
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
. Born and raised in England, he plays international football for
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
.
Peacock-Farrell played in
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
's youth system before signing for
Leeds United in 2013. He signed his first professional contract in June 2015 and made his
first-team debut in April 2016. He went on
loan
In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...
to
National League North
The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...
club
York City in October 2017. Peacock-Farrell broke into the Leeds first team late into the
2017–18 season and made his debut for the Northern Ireland national team in May 2018. He started the
2018–19 season as Leeds' first-choice goalkeeper before losing his place to
Kiko Casilla in January 2019. Peacock-Farrell signed for Premier League club Burnley in August 2019. He spent the
2021–22 on loan at League One club
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
.
Club career
Leeds United
Early career

Peacock-Farrell was born in
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town.
In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...
, County Durham. He started his career in
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
's youth system in 2006 before being released in 2013, when the club chose not to offer him a scholarship.
He joined
Leeds United shortly after
[ and signed his first professional contract with the club in June 2015. Following ]Marco Silvestri
Marco Silvestri (born 2 March 1991) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Serie A club Udinese. Before joining Verona in 2017, he played in England for Leeds United and in Italy for Chievo, Reggiana, Padova and Cagl ...
's dismissal in an away match against Rotherham United on 2 April 2016, Peacock-Farrell made his first-team debut in a Championship match at home to Queens Park Rangers on 5 April.[ The match finished a 1–1 draw, in which he conceded an 87th-minute ]penalty kick
A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...
. Peacock-Farrell signed a new two-year contract at Leeds on 9 June. In October, he was ruled out with injury, after surgery on a broken hand.
Peacock-Farrell signed a new three-year contract at Leeds on 9 July 2017. He joined League One club Oldham Athletic on trial for the beginning of pre-season with the view to a season-long loan
In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...
move, although Oldham decided not to take up the option. He returned to pre-season with Leeds, competing with Andy Lonergan
Andrew Michael Lonergan (born 19 October 1983) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton.
Lonergan is a former England ...
and Felix Wiedwald
Felix Wiedwald (; born 15 March 1990) is a German former professional association football, footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. A SV Werder Bremen, Werder Bremen youth product, he played for SV Werder Bremen ...
. Peacock-Farrell joined National League North
The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...
club York City on 12 October on a one-month loan. He made his debut two days later in a 2–2 draw away to Leamington. He made four appearances for York, in which he conceded nine goals,[ returning to Leeds once the loan expired. Peacock-Farrell joined Swedish ]Superettan
Superettan (; meaning the super first (division)) is an association football league and the second highest league in the league system of Swedish men's football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Al ...
club Landskrona BoIS on a three-day trial in January 2018. After training and playing an internal friendly match
An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...
for the team, Landskrona decided not to sign him.
Nearly two years after making his debut, Peacock-Farrell played his second match for Leeds on 7 March 2018 at home to league leaders Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
, with first-choice goalkeeper Wiedwald dropped due to poor form. Leeds lost 3–0, but Peacock-Farrell received the man-of-the-match award for his performance. He retained his place in the team for the following matches and became Leeds' first-choice goalkeeper for the remainder of the 2017–18 season.[ He put in several man-of-the-match performances, including a 1–0 defeat against ]Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
, after which Dan Long of Sky Sports
Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...
wrote that Peacock-Farrell "looks incredibly assured between the sticks, particularly astounding given his age". In May, Peacock-Farrell won the Young Player of the Year award at Leeds' annual award ceremony. He finished the season with 11 appearances for Leeds[ as they finished in 13th place in the 2017–18 Championship.
]
2018–19
After beating off competition from new signing Jamal Blackman, Peacock-Farrell started the 2018–19 season in goal under new head coach Marcelo Bielsa. His understudy Blackman returned to parent club Chelsea with an injury in November, leaving Peacock-Farrell as Leeds' only senior goalkeeper. After Bielsa publicly revealed that Peacock-Farrell would have been dropped the following match had Blackman not been injured, Peacock-Farrell became the match winner on 27 November, saving a 90th-minute penalty against Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
to help Leeds to a 1–0 win.
Leeds signed goalkeeper Kiko Casilla from Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
on 17 January 2019 to compete with Peacock-Farrell for a starting place. He dropped to the bench against Rotherham United on 26 January, with Casilla establishing himself as the club's first-choice goalkeeper. Bielsa stated that he believed that taking Peacock-Farrell out of first-team action would help his development. However, he did return for a single match later in the season on 30 March, for the suspended Casilla, in a 3–2 home win over Millwall. Leeds qualified for the play-offs with a third-place finish in the 2018–19 Championship, and Peacock-Farrell was an unused substitute in both legs of the semi-final as Leeds were beaten 4–3 on aggregated by Derby County. During the 2018–19 season, Peacock-Farrell made 29 appearances in all competitions.[
In June 2019, Peacock-Farrell revealed he had turned down the option of starting pre-season training a week later after featuring on international duty for Northern Ireland, in order to compete for the goalkeeping position with Casilla. Peacock-Farrell had previously stated that he would be reluctant to sign a new contract with Leeds should he continue to be second choice in goal. However, assurances of a first-team place were not forthcoming as the 2019–20 season approached, with Casilla still preferred in goal by Bielsa.
]
Burnley
Peacock-Farrell signed for Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
club Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
on 2 August 2019 on a four-year contract with the option of a further year for an undisclosed fee, reported by ''BBC Sport
BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...
'' as £2.5 million. He was signed to provide competition with Joe Hart and Nick Pope after the departure of Tom Heaton.[ On 28 November 2020, Peacock-Farrell made his league debut for Burnley in 5–0 away defeat against ]Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
.
Peacock-Farrell joined Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...
on 27 July 2021 on a season-long loan. He made his debut on 1 August 2021, at home to Huddersfield Town in the first round of the 2021–22 EFL Cup
The 2021–22 EFL Cup is the 62nd season of the EFL Cup (known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons). The competition is open to all clubs participating in the Premier League and the English Football League.
The winner of the competition qua ...
, keeping a clean sheet in a 0–0 draw after extra time
Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...
, although the team would eventually lose in a penalty shoot-out. He would become the first ever goalkeeper for Sheffield Wednesday not to concede in the opening five games of the season, keeping clean sheets against Huddersfield Town, Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...
, Doncaster Rovers, Fleetwood Town
Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...
and Rotherham United, including a spectacular penalty save in the later game. His form did not go unnoticed by the fanbase and he was named the club's Player of the Month for August as well as being nominated by the EFL for Player of the Month for August. He would win Wednesday's Player of the Month again for December, which would see a clean sheet against Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
and his fourth penalty save for club and country of the season, against Crewe Alexandra.
International career
Peacock-Farrell qualified for Northern Ireland as his grandfather, Jim Farrell, was from Enniskillen
Enniskillen ( , from ga, Inis Ceithleann , 'Cethlenn, Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of ...
. He was called up to the Northern Ireland national team
The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. From 1882 to 1920, all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Foo ...
in May 2017 for a training camp. In August, he was called up for 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia qualifying automatically as hosts. All 210 ...
matches against San Marino
San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...
and Czech Republic. Peacock-Farrell was called up the Northern Ireland U21 squad in March 2018 by manager Ian Baraclough for their matches against Spain and Iceland in 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification
The 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying competition was a men's under-21 football competition that determined the 11 teams joining the automatically qualified hosts Italy in the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship final tour ...
. He made his debut on 26 March, keeping a clean sheet as Northern Ireland played out a 0–0 draw with Iceland.
After impressing as Leeds' first-choice goalkeeper, Peacock-Farrell was named in the Northern Ireland squad in May 2018 ahead of friendlies against Panama and Costa Rica
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
. He made his debut on 30 May against Panama as a half-time substitute in a 0–0 draw. Peacock-Farrell revealed in September that he had been approached by members of the England national team staff about the possibility of changing his allegiance, which he would be able to do since he had not yet made his competitive debut for Northern Ireland. Peacock-Farrell, however, affirmed his wish to represent Northern Ireland, who had shown interest in him at an early stage.[ He made his competitive debut for Northern Ireland on 8 September, starting in a 2–1 home defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the ]2018–19 UEFA Nations League
The 2018–19 UEFA Nations League was the inaugural season of the UEFA Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. The league phase of the competition ...
.
Career statistics
Club
International
Honours
Individual
* Leeds United Young Player of the Year: 2017–18[
]
References
External links
Profile
at the Burnley F.C. website
Profile
at the Irish Football Association website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peacock-Farrell, Bailey
1996 births
Living people
Footballers from Darlington
English footballers
Association footballers from Northern Ireland
Association football goalkeepers
Leeds United F.C. players
York City F.C. players
Burnley F.C. players
Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players
English Football League players
National League (English football) players
Premier League players
Northern Ireland under-21 international footballers
Northern Ireland international footballers
English people of Northern Ireland descent