Edward McCallion (born 25 January 1979), commonly known as Eddie McCallion, is a former

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

defender from

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

, Northern Ireland.

Club career

Blackburn Rovers

Having played with local

Derry and District League Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Foyle. Cityside and the old walled ...

club, Oxford United, as a youth from 1995, McCallion was spotted by

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

in 1997 and moved to the English club that same year. Spending just a year at

Ewood Park Ewood Park () is a Association football, football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the English Football League, Football League and Premier League, who have played there since ...

, he never managed to break into the first-team whilst there.

Derry City

McCallion signed for his home town club from

in 1998 and made his debut away to

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 6 September 1998. He was the first choice right-back and also performed at centre-back when required. Dropped from the side for Damian Brennan at the start of the 2005 season, he fought his way back into the team and by the end of the season he was the first choice right-back, helping his club to a second-place finish in the league. He scored an important goal against Kildare County in the

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...

that same season and his overlapping runs offered

Derry City FC Derry City Football Club are a professional Association football, football club based in Derry, Northern Ireland. They play in the League of Ireland Premier Division, the top tier of league football in the Republic of Ireland, and are its only ...

another attacking option. In 2003, Eddie McCallion had a daughter called Macy, and in 2008, he had a daughter named Laila. McCallion often deputised in the role of captain when

Peter Hutton Peter Hutton may refer to: * Peter Hutton (filmmaker) Peter Barrington Hutton (August 24, 1944 – June 25, 2016) was an American experimental film, experimental filmmaker, known primarily for his silent cinematic portraits of cities and landscape ...

was absent. McCallion had captained the side on 13 occasions by the end of the 2006 season - one of the most notable of these being Derry City's

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

First Round 0–0 draw against

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

at the

Brandywell Stadium The Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium () is a municipal football stadium in Derry, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of League of Ireland team Derry City F.C., (temporarily) NIFL Championship team Institute, and also to NIWFA Championship ...

on 14 September 2006. McCallion made 52 appearances in all competitions during the 2006 season, the most of any City player that season, and, once again, helped the club finish as runners-up in the league for a second season running, consolidating his position as a firm fan-favourite. Eddie has three sisters and 4 brothers Due to his years of service and refusal to let managers move him on, Eddie has acquired hero like status with the Brandywell faithful and is viewed by many fans as the one player who embodies the club values more than any other. The defender is one of the few brothers to have played in a winning

side, as he appeared with brother Tommy in the 2002 final team. After 14 years, Eddie made his final appearance for Derry against former longtime manager Stephen Kenny's

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 ...

. He came on as a stoppage time substitute to thunderous applause from the Brandywell faithful. He would then join Glenavon on a two-year contract.

Glenavon

McCallion signed for Glenavon on a 2-year deal in July 2012, and made a total of 112

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 ...

appearances for the club.

Bangor

He signed for NIFL Championship One club Bangor in the summer of 2014, and made 5 substitute appearances during the 2014/15 season.

International career

McCallion played for Northern Ireland at schoolboy, youth and under-21 level.Northern Ireland Soccer Yearbook 2011/2012, page 130

Honours

Derry City *

(2): 2002,

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

League of Ireland Cup The League of Ireland Cup, also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', was an annual knockout competition in men's football in Ireland. It was contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited clubs from the lower levels of the Irish footb ...

(6): 1999–2000,

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

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 ...

Glenavon *

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 ...

(1): 2013–14

References

External links

Player Profile - Official Derry City site
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCallion, Eddie 1979 births Living people Derry City F.C. players League of Ireland players Northern Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Association footballers from Derry (city) Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Glenavon F.C. players NIFL Premiership players Men's association football defenders Bangor F.C. players