David John Foley (born 12 May 1987) is an English

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 ...

. He played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

and in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

for the

Puerto Rico Islanders The Puerto Rico Islanders were a professional association football team based in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. They played in several different leagues from 2004 to 2012, when they suspended operations. In their last two seasons they played in the Nort ...

and the

Fort Lauderdale Strikers Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994) The Fort Lauderdale Strikers were an American soccer team establishe ...

Career

England

Foley was trained as a scholar in

's youth academy. As a scholar, he represented the

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

on several occasions and became Hartlepool's youngest ever player when he came on as a substitute against Port Vale at the age of 16. Foley also played a key role in Hartlepool's Under 19s Dallas Cup winning team in 2004. During his time at the club Foley failed to score a league goal. However, he was more successful in cup competitions, scoring seven goals, most notably against

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

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

which earned Hartlepool a famous 2–0 victory in 2009. When his first-team appearances started to become limited Foley joined

Conference National The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National League (English football), National Le ...

side Barrow on a month's loan in August 2009, he played three times but failed to score.

North America

In February 2010 Foley's Hartlepool contract was cancelled so he could join the

. After playing for the team throughout the 2010 pre-season, he made his debut for the team on 16 April 2010, in a

2010 CFU Club Championship The 2010 CFU Club Championship was the 12th edition of the CFU Club Championship, the annual international club football competition in the Caribbean region, held amongst clubs whose football associations are affiliated with the Caribbean Football ...

game against

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

an team

Racing des Gonaïves In sports, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific go ...

. Foley signed with the

in January 2013. He dressed in 5 games for the club and scored 2 goals before picking up a season-ending injury. On 10 March 2014, the Strikers announced that the club and Foley had officially parted ways by mutual agreement.

Return to England

After leaving Fort Lauderdale Strikers, Foley returned to England, and in June 2015 he joined hometown club South Shields on a free transfer. He scored on his competitive debut for the club on 8 August, but it was not enough to prevent a 3–2 defeat against Northallerton Town in the Northern League Division Two. He netted again for the Mariners three days later, with his stunning 25-yard volley sealing a 3–2 win against Billingham Town after Shields had earlier found themselves 2–0 down with 12 minutes to play. He also scored in Shields' next game, notching the opener in a 6–0 win over Darlington Railway Athletic. He suffered a hamstring injury against Heaton Stannington on 18 August, and returned as a substitute in a win over Ryhope Colliery Welfare on 6 October. He went on to play a key part in a successful season for the Mariners, as they gained promotion to Division One of the Northern League as champions. In June 2017, Foley turned down a new contract at South Shields to join

National League North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National League (English footb ...

side Spennymoor Town, indicating his desire to play at a higher level. He scored eight league goals in total for Spennymoor. However, on 6 September 2018, Foley re-joined South Shields. On 31 October 2019 it was confirmed, that Foley had left the club for final time due to work commitments.South Shields FC announce David Foley has left the club
shieldsgazette.com, 31 October 2019

Honours

Club

Hartlepool United * League Two runners-up: 2006–07 Puerto Rico Islanders *

USSF Division 2 Pro League The USSF Division 2 Professional League (D2 Pro League) was a temporary professional soccer league created by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) for the 2010 season. The twelve-team league was formed as a compromise between the feuding U ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

CFU Club Championship The Caribbean Club Championship, also known as the CFU Club Championship or CFU Club Champions' Cup, was an annual international football competition held amongst association football clubs that are members of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU). ...

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 ...

South Shields * Northern League Division Two champions: 2015–16

References

External links

In The Mad Crowd profile

Vital Hartlepool Profile: David Foley
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foley, David 1987 births Living people Footballers from South Shields English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Men's association football midfielders Hartlepool United F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Puerto Rico Islanders players Fort Lauderdale Strikers players South Shields F.C. players Spennymoor Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players USSF Division 2 Professional League players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players Northern Football League players English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Puerto Rico English expatriate sportspeople in Puerto Rico English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States 21st-century English sportsmen