Michael Joseph Drennan (born 2 February 1994) is an Irish 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 ...

who played as a striker. Drennan represented 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. ...

at youth level and won the

Football Association of Ireland The Football Association of Ireland (FAI; ) is the governing body for association football in the Republic of Ireland. Organisation The FAI has an executive committee of five members under the president, who receive expenses, as well as a p ...

's Under-16 International Player of the Year in 2010. Drennan was scouted by then

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

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 ...

and spent five years in their youth and reserve sides where he was loaned out to

English 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 ...

sides

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

and

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

. He returned to Ireland, playing for

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 ...

, local side Evergreen,

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional association football, 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 1928 and have been in ...

and

St Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club, commonly known as Pat's or The Athletic, is a professional List of association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland, Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the League ...

Career

English Football

Aston Villa

Born in

Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

, Drennan began his career in hometown's Evergreen FC, playing for the youth side until before moving to

in June 2010, after being tracked by Villa and

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

since January. In his first season, he impressed for the Academy side, scoring ten goals (also one with the Reserves), and signed a professional deal in March of the following year. Drennan appeared 13 times for the reserves in 2011–12 season, also appearing four times in the NextGen Series and scoring a brace against Rosenborg. In the 2012–13 season, he played a key part for the Reserves both in U21 Development League and in NextGen Series, also being the second top goalscorer for the NextGen, despite being injured for the latter stages of the tournament. His foot injury (suffered in a NextGen game against

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

), kept him sidelined for nine months.

=Carlisle United Loan

= On 17 January 2014 Drennan joined

on a one-month youth loan deal, and made his debut as a substitute in a 2–4 home loss to

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

the following day. He returned to Villa in February after appearing six times for Carlisle, starting in three matches.

=Portsmouth Loan

= On 21 February 2014, Drennan joined League Two side

on a one-month loan. Drennan scored on his league debut in a 5–1 defeat against

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...

on 22 February 2014. On 24 March 2014, Drennan extended his loan stay with ''Pompey'' for the remainder of the 2013–14 season.

Return to Ireland

Shamrock Rovers

On 30 January 2015, Drennan returned to his home country, signing for League of Ireland side, Shamrock Rovers on a two-year deal. His first season saw him score 12 goals in 35 games across all competitions, including his first appearances in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

Time Out Of Professional Football

In 2016 Drennan took a break from football with depression, taking work in his native Kilkenny and playing for the local hurling side

James Stephens GAA James Stephens is a Gaelic Athletic Association club located in Kilkenny, Ireland. The club was founded in 1887 and has enjoyed equal success in both hurling and Gaelic football. History James Stephens was founded in 1887 as a hurling club. T ...

and local junior football side Evergreen where he began his career, he stated he might return to Shamrock Rovers in January 2017. However, Drennan continued playing for Evergreen on their run to the

FAI Junior Cup The FAI Junior Cup is a cup competition organized by the Football Association of Ireland for junior association football clubs from the Republic of Ireland. The inaugural winners were Brideville. The competition's most successful club is Fairvie ...

final, including a goal in the quarter-final against Kilmallock.

Sligo Rovers

Drennan returned to professional football on 13 June 2018, signing for

under manager Gerard Lyttle. Drennan scored an impressive 9 goals in 17 appearances in all competitions, including a hattrick against

Livingston Livingston or Livingstonemay refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North Am ...

in the

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,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 ...

club

, alongside former teammate Brandon Miele. He started off life at the Saints in excellent form, scoring the winner on his debut at home 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 ...

, as well as scoring an injury time winner in his second game, away to his former club

. On 29 March 2019, he was shown a straight red card against

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a f ...

for making comments to the referee after a soft free kick was given against him, he was suspended for 3 games as a result. Drennan's sixth goal of the season came on 26 April 2019, this proved to be his last goal of the season as he went on a disappointing 19 game goal drought across all competitions until the end of the season. Drennan featured in both legs of his sides

tie against

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

side

IFK Norrköping Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Norrköping, more commonly known as IFK Norrköping or simply Norrköping, is a Swedish professional association football, football club based in Norrköping. The club is affiliated to Östergötlands Fotbollför ...

. On 27 July, Drennan received another straight red card for making comments to the referee following a free kick being given against his side. This saw him receive a 4 match suspension. It was announced on 6 November 2019 that Drennan had been released from his contract a year early by new Saints manager Stephen O'Donnell, having failed to impress him during his 7 games in charge.

Return to Evergreen

Drennan left the professional game again in January 2020, opting to sign for his local

side Evergreen once again.

Career statistics

''Professional appearances – correct as of 31 October 2019.''

Honours

Club

;Aston Villa Under-19s * NextGen Series:

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

(1) ;Aston Villa Reserves * Premier Reserve League South: 2011–12 (1)

Individual

* FAI Under-16 International Player of the Year (1): 2010

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Drennan, Michael 1994 births Living people Sportspeople from Kilkenny (city) Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association football forwards Aston Villa F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Sligo Rovers F.C. players St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players English Football League players League of Ireland players Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Association footballers from County Kilkenny 21st-century Irish sportsmen