Darragh Patrick Lenihan (born 16 March 1994) 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 ...

who plays as a defender for

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 ...

Career

Blackburn Rovers

In the summer of 2011 Lenihan signed for Blackburn Rovers from

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 ...

. Two years later, he signed a contract with the club and then again in May 2014.

Loan to Burton Albion

In October 2014 he signed for

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home gro ...

on a months loan. Lenihan made his league debut on 25 October coming off the bench against

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Ste ...

. On 24 November 2014, Lenihan's loan spell with Burton Albion was extended until 3 January 2015. Lenihan's loan spell with Burton Albion was extended twice for another month on 5 January 2015 and on 9 February 2015. He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–1 draw with

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

on 17 January 2015. After five months at Burton Albion, Lenihan was recalled by Blackburn on 4 March 2015.

Return to Blackburn Rovers

In April 2015, Lenihan made his debut for Rovers against

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, ea ...

coming off the bench in the first half to replace

Matthew Kilgallon Matthew Shaun Kilgallon (born 8 January 1984) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Kilgallon began his career at Leeds United, where he came through the youth set up before becoming a fixture in their first ...

. After making his debut, Lenihan said in his post-match interview that it was a great experience playing at

Ewood Park Ewood Park () is a football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the Football League and Premier League, who have played there since 1890. It is an all seater multi-sports facil ...

and that hard work and patience had helped to earn him a first team place. The following game he made his full debut starting against

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. ...

. After Blackburn were relegated to

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

in 2016–17, he helped the club secure an immediate return to the Championship, although he was injured for most of 2017–18. He subsequently became first choice at centre back and regularly captained the side in the 2020-21 season. On 17 June 2022, Lenihan was confirmed to be leaving the club at the end of his contract on 30 June.

Middlesbrough

On 24 June 2022, Lenihan agreed to join

on a four-year contract upon the expiration of his Blackburn Rovers contract.

International career

After appearing twice for the Republic of Ireland U17 level, Lenihan was called up by Republic of Ireland U19 in September 2012. Lenihan made his only Ireland U19 debut on 8 September 2012, in a 1–1 draw against Latvia U19. Lenihan was called up by Republic of Ireland U21 for the first time in May 2014. Lenihan made his Ireland U21 debut, playing 90 minutes and as captain, in a 1–1 draw against Qatar U23. On 2 June 2018, Lenihan made his debut for the Ireland senior team in a 2–1 win over the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

in Dublin, he was credited with the assist for Ireland’s opening goal scored by

Graham Burke Graham Dylan Burke (born 21 September 1993) is an Irish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Shamrock Rovers. Burke has represented the Republic of Ireland national football tea ...

after a Lenihan volley which was on target. Lenihan became the first person from

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the ...

to represent the Republic of Ireland at senior level. Lenihan made his competitive debut for Ireland nearly four years after his last cap, starting in a 1–1

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

draw against

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

Career statistics

International

Honours

Blackburn Rovers * EFL League One runner-up: 2017–18

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lenihan, Darragh 1994 births Living people Republic of Ireland youth international footballers Republic of Ireland under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland international footballers Republic of Ireland association footballers Association football defenders Belvedere F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players English Football League players Association footballers from County Meath