Damian Scannell (born 28 April 1985) is an English former

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 last played for

Tonbridge Angels Tonbridge Angels Football Club is a professional association football club based in Tonbridge, Kent, England. The team competes in the National League South, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club was founded as Tonb ...

. Earlier in his career he played for Fisher Athletic,

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the United Kingdom 2011 census, 2011 census. The town ...

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

Sutton United Sutton United Football Club is a professional association football club from Sutton, South London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Sutton started out playing in junior, ...

and

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club (), often known simply as Dagenham and abbreviated when written to Dag & Red, is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England that play in the , the sixth level of the En ...

. Scannell was educated at

Oasis Academy Shirley Park Oasis Academy Shirley Park (formerly Ashburton Community School) is a mixed all-through school located within the Ashburton Learning Village complex in the Woodside area of Croydon, Greater London, England. The school educates children of pri ...

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

, between 1996 and 2001.

Club career

Scannell made nine appearances from the bench in the 2007–08 season as

made the

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

play-offs. Scannell had a very impressive pre-season and was rewarded with his first league start against

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

on 9 August 2008. Southend won 1–0. Scannell joined League Two side

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

on a two-month loan on 27 November. He made just one start and one sub appearance before returning to Southend on 8 January 2009. After impressive substitute appearances Scannell was given only his second league start for Southend against

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

on 21 March and scored his first professional goal in a 3–0 win. His preparations for the 2009–10 season took a blow when he contracted

swine flu Swine influenza is an infection caused by any of several types of swine influenza viruses. Swine influenza virus (SIV) or swine-origin influenza virus (S-OIV) refers to any strain of the influenza family of viruses that is endemic in pigs. As ...

in July 2009. On 23 March 2010, Scannell's season was prematurely cut short when he broke his fifth metatarsal in Southend's 3–0 win over

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

. On 24 June, Scannell rejected a new two-year contract with Southend, he instead signed a two-year contract with

on 29 June 2010. On 7 December 2011, after making 34 appearances and scoring two goals for Dagenham, Scannell made a return to

. A season at

followed, before Scannell joined

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

. On 16 January 2015, Scannell joined

on loan. Scannell joined

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

Premier Division club

Dulwich Hamlet Dulwich Hamlet Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in East Dulwich in south-east London, England. They are currently members of and play at Champion Hill. History The club was formed in 1893, by Lorraine 'Pa' Wilson. The ...

for the second time in his career ahead of the 2015–16 season, going on to score two goals on his second debut for the club in a 3–0 win over

Canvey Island Canvey Island is a town, civil parish and reclaimed island in the Thames Estuary, near Southend-on-Sea, in the Castle Point district, in the county of Essex, England. It has an area of and a population of 38,170.Office for National Statistics. ...

, and another goal in his next game, a 2–0 win over

Merstham Merstham is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It lies 17 miles south of Charing Cross just beyond the Greater London border. Part of the North Downs Way runs along the northern boundary of the town. Merstham has ...

. Following one season at Dulwich, in which he made 48 appearances in all competitions whilst scoring 8 goals, he moved to

ahead of the 2016–17 season. Scannell made 40 appearances for Tonbridge during his first season at the club; however, in October 2017, having not played at all during the 2017–2018 season, he was forced to retire through injury.

Personal life

He is the brother of fellow footballer

Sean Scannell Sean Scannell (born 17 September 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Hornchurch. Scannell began his career with Crystal Palace where he scored 12 goals in 130 League appearances between 2007 and 2012. He then signed f ...

. Scannell now runs his own gym in Croydon, SimplyFitness UK. Scannell's father (died 2015) was from

County Armagh County Armagh ( ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It is located in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and adjoins the southern shore of Lough Neagh. It borders t ...

, and was also of Jamaican heritage.

References

External links

*
Profile on Southend United website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scannell, Damian 1985 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Croydon People from Croydon Men's association football wingers English men's footballers Eastleigh F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Sutton United F.C. players Bromley F.C. players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players Dulwich Hamlet F.C. players Fisher Athletic F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players English people of Irish descent English people of Jamaican descent Sportspeople of Jamaican descent Greenwich Borough F.C. players Tonbridge Angels F.C. players 21st-century English sportsmen