Conor Keeley (born 13 December 1997) is an Irish 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 plays as a defender for

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Men's Premier Division (), also known as the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Republic of Ireland and the highest level of the Republic of I ...

club

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 ...

. His previous clubs are Shelbourne,

Cabinteely Cabinteely () is a suburb of Dublin's southside. It is in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, County Dublin, Ireland. The population of all electoral divisions labelled as Cabinteely was 15,864 as of the 2022 census. Geography Cabinteely lies around t ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

Career

Youth career

A native of

Dunboyne Dunboyne () is a town in County Meath, Ireland, north-west of Dublin city centre. It is a commuter town for Dublin. In the 20 years between the 1996 and 2016 censuses, the population of Dunboyne more than doubled from 3,080 to 7,272 inhabitan ...

County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...

, Keeley began playing with top

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 ...

academy St Kevin's Boys, where he played from under-5s level to under 10's, before returning to his local side Dunboyne AFC for two years. He then moved on to the academy of

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 ...

club Shelbourne, where he won an under-13 SFAI Cup medal in his first season with the club.

Shelbourne

Keeley made his senior debut for Shelbourne on 17 October 2015, in a 2–0 win over

Cobh Ramblers Cobh Ramblers Football Club (CRFC) is an Irish football club. The club, founded in 1922 and elected to the League of Ireland in 1985, hails from Cobh, County Cork and play their home matches at St. Colman's Park. The club's colours are clare ...

in the final game of the season. The 2016 season saw him struggle for appearances, making just 12 in all competitions resulting in him departing the club in search of more first team opportunities.

Cabinteely

Keeley signed for fellow

League of Ireland First Division The League of Ireland First Division, also known as the SSE Airtricity League First Division for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland football league system. The division w ...

side

ahead of the 2017 season and on 25 March 2017, he scored his first goal in senior football, in a 4–1 win over

. On 26 May 2017, he scored against his old side Shelbourne in a 4–1 win at

Tolka Park Tolka Park () is an Ireland, Irish association football ground located in the Northside Dublin, north Dublin suburb of Drumcondra, Dublin, Drumcondra, on the northern banks of the River Tolka. It is currently the home ground of League of Irelan ...

. The

2019 season Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

saw Keeley help the club to a 4th place playoff, qualifying them for the

Promotion Playoffs Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

, in which they defeated

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 ...

on penalties in the first stage, which Keeley stated was the best moment of his career up to that point. He signed a new one-year contract with the club in January 2020. He departed the club at the end of the 2020 season, following 81 appearances and 9 goals in all competitions during his 4 seasons with the club.

Ballymena United

On 12 January 2021, Keeley signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with

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 ...

club

. He scored his first goals for the club on 2–1 March 2021, scoring both goals in a 2–1 win at home to Linfield. On 10 December 2021, he scored in a 2–1 win at home to

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

. Keeley captained the side for the first time on 15 January 2022, in a 1–0 defeat away to Linfield. Keeley signed a new two-year contract with the club in July 2022. Keeley featured in all 5 of the club's games in their 2021–22 Irish Cup run, including the Final, as his side were defeated 2–1 by

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

Windsor Park The National Football Stadium at Windsor Park (officially the Clearer Twist National Stadium at Windsor Park for sponsorship reasons), or the National Football Stadium, also known as Windsor Park is a association football, football stadium in B ...

via a 121st-minute goal. On 31 December 2022, it was announced that the club had 'reluctantly' agreed to put Keeley on the transfer list to allow him his wish to move back closer to home. On 7 January 2023, he scored in what turned out to be his final appearance for the club, as they defeated

Carrick Rangers Carrick Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional Northern Irish football club playing in NIFL Premiership. The club, founded in 1939, hails from Carrickfergus, County Antrim and plays its home matches at Taylors Avenue which is known as th ...

on penalties after a 1–1 draw in the

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 ...

. He made a total of 70 appearances in all competitions for the club, scoring 9 goals.

Drogheda United

He signed for

club

for an undisclosed fee on 10 January 2023. His first goal for the club came on 14 July 2023, in a 3–1 win away to UCD at the

UCD Bowl The UCD Bowl, also known as the Belfield Bowl, is a rugby union and football stadium in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland. It is the home ground of University College Dublin R.F.C. in the AIB All Ireland League and League of Ireland Premier ...

. Keeley's performances drew interest from several clubs, including

EFL League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English ...

side

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

, whom Drogheda rejected several bids for Keeley from in August 2023. He was voted Drogheda United Supporters Player of the Year for his performances in 2023.

St Patrick's Athletic

On 15 December 2023, it was announced that Keeley had signed a multi-year contract with

. His first goal for the club came on 22 April 2024, volleying home a Brandon Kavanagh free-kick away to Derry City. On 8 October 2024, Keeley was part of the Pats side that defeated St Mochta's 2–1 in the final of the 2023–24 Leinster Senior Cup. On 17 December 2024, the club announced that his contract had been cancelled by mutual consent after he struggled for game time following the appointment of former

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

manager Stephen Kenny in May.

Return to Drogheda United

On 17 December 2024, Keeley returned to his former club

ahead of their 2025 season. He scored his first goal since returning to the club on 14 March 2025, opening the scoring in a 2–1 defeat at home to

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

International career

Keeley featured for the Republic of Ireland Universities team in June 2018 in a 2–1 win over the second ranked team in the world at the time, France.

Personal life

Keeley is the brother of fellow professional footballer Josh Keeley, who is a goalkeeper that began his career at

, before moving on to

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 ...

side

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

in the summer of 2022. Their father Brendan Keeley was also a goalkeeper, who played for

club Newry City among others. As a teenager Keeley also played

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

and in May 2014 he scored 2–4 for St Peters Dunboyne in their 3–7 to 2–5 victory over Summerhill as they won the MFL Div 1 title. He also represented

Meath GAA The Meath County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) () or Meath GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Meath, as well as for Meath county teams. Football County team ...

at county minor level.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

;St Patrick's Athletic * Leinster Senior Cup (1): 2023–24

Individual

Supporters Player of the Year (1): 2023

References

External links

Conor Keeley Extratime.com Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keeley, Conor 1997 births Living people Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Shelbourne F.C. players Cabinteely F.C. players Ballymena United F.C. players Drogheda United F.C. players St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players League of Ireland players Men's association football defenders Association footballers from County Meath People from County Meath People from Dunboyne 21st-century Irish sportsmen NIFL Premiership players