Graham Rickard Cummins (born 29 December 1987) is a retired Irish
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 ...
Cobh Ramblers
Cobh Ramblers Football Club (CRFC) ( ga, Cumann Peile Chóstóirí Chóbh) is an Irish football club. The club, founded in 1922 and elected to the League of Ireland in 1985, hails from Cobh, County Cork and play their home matches at St. Colm ...
in 2006 and achieved promotion with them in his second season under Stephen Henderson. He scored 11 league goals as Cobh won the First Division, and he was named in the PFAI First Division Team of the Year. He continued to play for Cobh in the Premier Division in 2008, but they were relegated that year.
Waterford United
After Cobh were relegated from the league the following season, Cummins moved onto
Waterford United
Waterford Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Phort Láirge) formerly Waterford United Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Waterford who play in the League of Ireland First Division. The club was founded and elected to the ...
, where he again linked up with Stephen Henderson, former Cobh Ramblers manager. He won the Munster Senior Cup with Waterford that year. Graham enjoyed great personal success in his first and only season with the club, he became one of the club's top scorers, scoring 17 league goals, and he was named in the PFAI First Division Team of the Year for the second time in his career.
Cork City
In March 2010 Cummins signed for his local club
Cork City
Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the island of Ireland. It is located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster. Following an extension to the c ...
. Graham was called up to the Ireland U23 squad versus Estonia in September 2010. He played the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 away win. In October 2010 Graham was named in the PFAI First Division Team of the Year and won the PFAI First Division Player of the Year award. He finished the season as City's top scorer, and joint top scorer in the First Division with 18 league goals. Graham scored his first hat-trick for City in a 5–0 league win over
Finn Harps
Finn Harps Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Chláirsigh na Finne) are an Irish football club that play in the First Division of the League of Ireland, as of 2023. The club was founded in 1954 and elected to the league in 1969. However, it was t ...
on 15 April 2011. He scored the winner against St.Pats in the quarter final of the Ea sports cup.
Record Breaker
On 4 October 2011, in a game against Monaghan, Cummins scored his 21st goal of the season, becoming the first ever Cork City player to score more than 20 league goals in a season. The previous record was held by Pat Morley (who is a first cousin of Grahams mother, Susan Morley and son of the late Jack Morley ex West Ham), who had on two occasions scored 20 league goals in a season. He went on to score 24 goals that season including the goal that clinched the First Division title for Cork City away to rivals Shelbourne in the 94th minute of the final game of the season at Tolka Park
Preston North End
On 30 January 2012, Cork City announced that they had accepted a transfer bid for Cummins from
Preston North End
Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syst ...
.
On 2 September 2013, Cummins signed for
Rochdale
Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...
on loan until January 2014.
Exeter City
On 15 August 2014, Cummins signed a one-year contract with
Exeter City
Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...
on a free transfer following his release from Preston North End. Cummins made his debut in the 3–0 defeat at
Home Park
Home Park is a football stadium in Plymouth, England. The ground has been the home of Football League One club Plymouth Argyle since 1901.2014–15 season
St Johnstone
On 25 May 2015, Cummins signed a one-year contract with
St Johnstone
St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an ol ...
of the
Scottish Premiership
The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...
, and began his Saints career by scoring off the bench on his debut against Hearts at Tynecastle in a 4–3 defeat. Cummins made 92 appearances for St Johnstone, scoring 15 goals. His last goal for the club was in a win against
Rangers
A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to:
* Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...
Cummins signed for City on a two-year deal on 30 December 2017. He scored for City in a 4-2 win on his first competitive start against
Dundalk
Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is hal ...
in the 2018
President's Cup
The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world minus Europe. Europe competes against the United States in a similar but considerably ...
at
Oriel Park
Oriel Park is a UEFA Category 2 football stadium located on the Carrickmacross Road in Dundalk, Ireland. The stadium is the home ground of Dundalk Football Club and is owned and operated by the club on land that has been leased from the Casey ...
. On his first start in the league against St. Pat's on the opening night of the
season
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...
, Cummins scored City's second goal of the night but was later sent off in a 3-2 away victory. On his return from suspension, Cummins scored a
hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three.
Origin
The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...
as City beat
Sligo Rovers
Sligo Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí Shligigh) is an Irish professional football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland.
The club was founded in 192 ...
4-1 away from home.
Cummins joined
Waterford F.C.
Waterford Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Phort Láirge) formerly Waterford United Football Club is an List of association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland, Irish association football club based in Waterford who play in the League of Ir ...
ahead of the 2020 season where he featured as a
centre half
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...
before
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...
halted the season for nearly five months. Before the season's resumption, he joined
Cork City
Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the island of Ireland. It is located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster. Following an extension to the c ...
for a third time. He was an unused substitute in two league games and received a red card in a
FAI Cup
The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...
game against
Longford Town
Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the mee ...
. In September, he announced his retirement to pursue a career in journalism.
Career statistics
.
Honours
Club
Cobh Ramblers
*
League of Ireland First Division
The League of Ireland First Division ( ga, Céad Roinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League First Division, is the second level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland football league system. ...
(1):
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...
League of Ireland First Division
The League of Ireland First Division ( ga, Céad Roinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League First Division, is the second level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland football league system. ...
President's Cup
The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world minus Europe. Europe competes against the United States in a similar but considerably ...
(1):
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
Individual
*PFAI First Division Player of the Year (2): 2011, 2010
*PFAI First Division Team of the Year (4): 2011, 2010, 2009, 2007