Gareth Farrelly (born 28 August 1975) is an Irish football manager and 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 ...

. He played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

notably 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 ...

for

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

and Everton. He also 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 Rotherham United,

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 ...

, Bradford City,

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

and

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

, as well as in his native Ireland for Bohemians and

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 ...

and English non-league team Warrington Town. He also played six times for 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. ...

Club career

Born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Farrelly played schoolboy football for Bohemians F.C.

signed him as a 16-year-old in 1992, and he made his Villa debut on 20 September 1995 against Peterborough United. Farrelly moved to Everton in July 1997 for approximately £700,000, and after a season where Everton, and Farrelly personally, struggled, he scored the goal (ironically with his weaker right foot after numerous wayward efforts with left foot throughout the season) that preserved their Premier League status on the final day of the 1997–98 season against Coventry City. Ironically, this goal also relegated his next club, Bolton Wanderers. He also scored once in the League Cup against Scunthorpe United. However, he was soon on the move to

, initially on loan. He won promotion back to the Premier League with Bolton in 2001, scoring the opening goal for them in the play-off final, but then fell out of favour. He was subsequently loaned out to Rotherham United,

, Bradford City, and latterly

. Farrelly joined Bohemians in late August 2004 as player-manager, making his début as a late substitute in the 1–0 home win against

on 17 September 2004. He was sacked on 30 August 2006 following Bohemians' elimination from 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 ...

at the hands of Shamrock Rovers, in which he missed a penalty late in the game. Farrelly then underwent a trial with Leicester City. He left the Foxes after they ended their interest in him. On 24 November 2006, he joined

on a short-term contract, which expired in February 2007. On 15 February 2007, he agreed to sign for Eircom League of Ireland Premier Division side Cork City on a two-year contract. Farrelly was however not allowed to play for Cork until 1 July 2007 as FIFA regulations at the time allowed players to play professionally for a maximum two clubs in the period between 1 July of one year and 20 June of the next (see FIFA Two for an explanation on this case and an ensuing amendment to the regulation in question:). On 12 May 2008 Farrelly underwent a serious operation to remove a tumour from his pancreas. His manager Alan Matthews reported: "Gareth has had major surgery and remains in intensive care in Warwick hospital." The operation was an apparent success. Following his illness he had spells at

and

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

. Farrelly settled a case against Cork City for unfair dismissal in October 2009.

International career

Farrelly made his full international debut for

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

as a 21-year-old, and has six caps.

Personal life

Since retiring as a professional footballer, Gareth moved into a career in law. He undertook an LLB degree at Edge Hill University, before training as a solicitor in London. During his training he spent time on secondment in the legal team at Everton.

Honours

;Cork City *

(1):

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 ...

Managerial statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Farrelly, Gareth Living people 1975 births Men's association football midfielders Association footballers from Dublin (city) Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's B international footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Home Farm F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Everton F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Bohemian F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Cork City F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players League of Ireland players Bohemian F.C. managers League of Ireland managers Warrington Town F.C. players Republic of Ireland association football managers Irish solicitors