Damien Finbarr Delaney (born 20 July 1981) 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 ...

who played as a defender. Delaney began his career at Cork City. He later played for

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

and

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

before moving to

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

in 2009. He became a free agent after leaving the club in August 2012. He then signed for

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

and was a vital player in the centre of defence in their promotion season. He played for the club for six seasons and rejoined his former club

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 July 2018, after his contract expired. He departed Leeside at the end of the 2018 season and on 3 January 2019 it was announced that he had signed a one-year deal with Waterford. Delaney announced his retirement on Twitter on 4 July 2019. Since his retirement he has become a pundit for Virgin Media Sport Ireland appearing on coverage of UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Europa Conference League, UEFA Nations League and UEFA European Qualifiers.

Early life

Born in

Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

, Delaney attended

Coláiste Chríost Rí Coláiste Chríost Rí () is a Catholic secondary school for boys based on Capwell Road in Turners Cross, Cork, Ireland. The school, which is under the trusteeship of the Presentation Brothers Schools Trust, had an enrollment of 513 students as ...

and began his career at local club Avondale United at schoolboy level before moving on to

. He 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 ...

with the

minor team. Delaney was a Munster minor football winner with the team in 1999 and shone for his club, St Michael's. He struck 2–2 in an All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Mayo that year, before he committed fully to the association code of football.

Club career

Cork City

Delaney scored in the final of Cork's winning 2000 FAI Youth Cup side and was promoted to the senior squad for the upcoming

2000–01 League of Ireland Premier Division The 2000–01 League of Ireland Premier Division was the 16th season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The division was made up of 12 teams. Bohemians won the title. Regular season The season saw each team playing three rounds of games, ...

season under

Derek Mountfield Derek Mountfield (born 2 November 1962) is an English former association football, footballer who played as a centre-back. His time at top-flight clubs Everton F.C., Everton and subsequently Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa were where he gained m ...

. He scored on his senior debut in a

FAI Super Cup The FAI Super Cup was an association football super cup featuring clubs from the Republic of Ireland. It was played for between 1998 and 2001. It was a pre-season tournament played in the summer before the regular League of Ireland season began. ...

game in July 2000. He made his European debut in the

2000–01 UEFA Cup The 2000–01 UEFA Cup was the 30th edition of the UEFA Cup competition. Liverpool won the final with a golden goal in extra-time against Alavés for their third title in the competition. It completed a cup treble for the club, as they also won ...

playing both legs against

FC Lausanne-Sport Football Club Lausanne-Sport is a Swiss Association football, football club based in Lausanne in the canton of Vaud. Founded in 1896, Lausanne Sport compete in the top-tier Swiss Super League after being promoted in the 2022–23 Swiss Challeng ...

Delaney made his

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 ...

debut on 13 August 2000 and made a further eight league appearances before his transfer to Leicester for £50,000.

Leicester City and Hull City

He was brought to England by

Peter Taylor Peter Taylor may refer to: Arts * Peter Taylor (writer) (1917–1994), American author, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction * Peter Taylor (film editor) (1922–1997), English film editor, winner of an Academy Award for Film Editing Politic ...

, where he made eight

FA 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 ...

appearances. He had spells on loan at

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

and

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

. Whilst at Stockport, he scored his first English career goal in a match against

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

. Taylor later made Delaney his first signing for

, on 16 October 2002, for a fee of £50,000. After a rocky start to his career at Hull, during which time he was tried in midfield and at left-back, Delaney was played regularly at centre back and began to grow in stature and consistency. He was voted Player of the Year in the 2003–04 promotion-winning season, additionally his strike against

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

was voted Goal of the Season. In the 2005–06 season in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

, he played mainly at centre back, but also at left-back when two players in that position were injured, and in midfield when the manager felt that more height and solidity were required. This versatility made him a key asset to the Tigers squad. Delaney was the last Hull City player to score a goal at their old ground

Boothferry Park Boothferry Park was a Association football, football stadium in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, England, which was home to Hull City A.F.C. from 1946 until 2002, when they moved to the MKM Stadium, KC Stadium (now the MKM Stadium). In later years, ...

, prior to their move to the

KC Stadium The MKM Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Kingston upon Hull, England. It has a current capacity of 25,586. The stadium is home to both association football club Hull City A.F.C. of the EFL Championship and rugby league club Hull F.C. of ...

Queens Park Rangers

On 18 January 2008 Delaney signed for

on a three-and-a-half-year contract. On 8 March 2008 Delaney scored his first goal for QPR in a 2–1 away defeat to Sheffield Wednesday.

Ipswich Town

On 2 July 2009, Delaney signed for

on a two-year contract for a fee of £750,000, £250,000 if Ipswich reached the play-offs and an extra £100,000 after he has made 50 appearances for the club. He suffered a freak injury in the following year's pre-season which nearly cost him his life – a blood clot in his thigh. He was rushed to an emergency surgery procedure. He scored his first goal for the club in the

East Anglian derby The East Anglian derby is a term used to describe football matches held between Norwich City and Ipswich Town, the only fully professional football clubs in the neighbouring East Anglian counties of Norfolk and Suffolk respectively. In recent ...

in November 2010, before being sent off following a straight red card. He left the club by mutual consent in August 2012.

Crystal Palace

On 31 August 2012, following his departure from Ipswich, Delaney signed for

on a short-term contract until January 2013. He scored his first goal for the club in Palace's 4–3 comeback against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

on 6 October. Due to Delaney's impressive start to his Palace career, he signed a new contract on 22 November 2012, which expired summer 2014. He scored his first ever goal in the

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 ...

in a 3–3 draw against Liverpool, with his initial 25-yard shot deflected slightly into the net by

Glen Johnson Glen McLeod Cooper Johnson (''né'' Stephens; born 23 August 1984) is an English former professional footballer who played predominantly as a right back. Johnson began his career at West Ham United, spending time on loan at Millwall, and was ...

. Palace were 3–0 down at the time, but Delaney's goal combined with two goals from Dwight Gayle made it 3–3. Delaney was a regular for Palace for their first four seasons back in the Premier League and stayed at the club until the end of the 2017–18 season, making a total of 193 appearances in all competitions, scoring seven goals.

Return to Cork City

After the end of the 2017–18 Premier League season, Cork City announced that Delaney had signed with the club, and returned on 1 July 2018 after his contract with Palace expired and the Irish transfer window opened. He made 14 appearances, scoring one goal, before leaving the club at the end of the season. His first League of Ireland goal came against Derry in his first month back

Waterford

At the start of 2019, Delaney signed for

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

for 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 ...

. His fist goal was a 89th minute equaliser in a game against Finn Harps,who went on to win the game 3-2.Delaney left the club when announcing his retirement from football in July 2019.

International career

On 13 May 2008, Delaney was called up to the

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. ...

squad for the first time by the new manager

Giovanni Trapattoni Giovanni Trapattoni (; born 17 March 1939), popularly nicknamed "Trap" or "Il Trap", is an Italian former Association football, football manager and former player, considered the most successful club coach of Football in Italy, Italian football ...

. On 4 May 2011, he was called into the Irish squad for the

2011 Nations Cup The 2011 Nations Cup (also known as the Carling Nations Cup after its headline sponsor) was a Round-robin tournament, round-robin association football, football tournament between the Northern Ireland national football team, Northern Ireland, Re ...

games against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. On 24 May 2011, he started and played the full 90 minutes against

as Ireland beat them 5–0. On 11 October 2013, he made a belated competitive debut in a World Cup qualifier against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:Source:

Honours

Cork City * FAI Youth Cup: 2000 Hull City *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 Football League, 1920–21 and again from 1958–59 Football League, 1958 until 1991–92 Football League, 1992. When the FA Premier League ...

runner-up: 2003–04 *

Football League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

runner-up: 2004–05 Crystal Palace *

Football League Championship play-offs The English Football League (EFL) Championship play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL Championship table and are part of the English Football League play-of ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

runner-up: 2015–16 Republic of Ireland * Nations Cup:

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Individual *

Player of the Year: 2003–04

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Delaney, Damien 1981 births Living people People educated at Coláiste Chríost Rí Association footballers from Cork (city) Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Men's association football defenders Cork City F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Waterford F.C. players League of Ireland players Premier League players English Football League players 21st-century Irish sportsmen