Neil Yves Farrugia (born 19 May 1999) is a 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 plays as a defender for

EFL League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

club

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

. Born in France, he has represented the Republic of Ireland at youth level.

Club career

Youth career

Born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

to a French father and Irish mother, Farrugia moved to

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 ...

aged 7, where he played with St James' Athletic, St Joseph's Boys and

Belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to: Places Australia *Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region Africa * Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco * Belvedere, Harare, Zi ...

before moving to the youth academy of UCD in 2015. He attended secondary school in St Andrew's College in

Blackrock, Dublin Blackrock () is an affluent suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, northwest of Dún Laoghaire. It is named after the local geological rock formation to be found in the area of Blackrock Park. In the late 18th century, the Blackrock Ro ...

and was named the FAI Schools Player of the Year for 2016–17.

UCD

On 24 February 2017, Farrugia made his senior debut for UCD in the opening game of the

2017 League of Ireland First Division The 2017 League of Ireland First Division season is the 33rd season of the League of Ireland First Division. The league began on 24 February 2017 and concludes on 7 October 2017. The 2017 season had no promotion/relegation play-off system like t ...

season, in a 1–0 win away to

Cabinteely Cabinteely () is a suburb of Dublin's southside. It is in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, County Dublin, Ireland. The population of all electoral divisions labelled as Cabinteely was 15,864 as of the 2022 census. Geography Cabinteely lies around t ...

. He scored the first goal of his senior career on 13 July 2018 in a 3–0 win away to

Wexford Wexford ( ; archaic Yola dialect, Yola: ''Weiseforthe'') is the county town of County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the ...

Ferrycarrig Park Ferrycarrig Park has been the home of League of Ireland side Wexford Football Club since joining the league in 2007. The building works for the new stadium and facilities, at Newcastle, Crossabeg, have been ongoing since 2003. Spectator facil ...

. Farrugia was part of the team that won the

2018 League of Ireland First Division The 2018 League of Ireland First Division season was the 34th season of the League of Ireland First Division. The league began on 23 February 2018 and concluded on 22 September 2018. Contrary to the previous editions, this tournament had 10 team ...

title, gaining promotion to the Premier Division. His first ever Premier Division goal came on 25 February 2019, when he opened the scoring in an eventual 2–1 loss away to reigning champions

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

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 ...

. Farrugia went on trial with the Manchester City U23 side during the summer transfer window but opted to remain in Ireland to complete his degree in

biomedical science Biomedical sciences are a set of sciences applying portions of natural science or formal science, or both, to develop knowledge, interventions, or technology that are of use in healthcare or public health. Such disciplines as medical microbi ...

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

Shamrock Rovers

On 26 June 2019, it was announced that Farrugia had signed 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 ...

. On 3 November 2019, he came off the bench in the 2019 FAI Cup Final, as his side won the trophy after a penalty shootout win over

at the

Aviva Stadium Aviva Stadium, also known as Lansdowne Road (, ) or Dublin Arena (during UEFA competitions), is a List of stadiums in Ireland by capacity, sports stadium located in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,711 spectators ...

. He was part of the squad that won the

2020 League of Ireland Premier Division The 2020 League of Ireland Premier Division, known as the SSE Airtricity League for sponsorship reasons, was the 36th season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The league began on 14 February 2020 and concluded on 9 November 2020. The f ...

, his first time winning the title. His first few years at the club were blighted with injuries, resulting in a large amount of fixtures being missed, with 17 appearances being the highest amount he made in a season up until 2022. After an impressive campaign in 2022 and continued good form in 2023, Farrugia's form saw him called up to 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. ...

squad for a training camp in May 2023. Farrugia made the most appearances of his career in his last season in Tallaght which included goals in the

2024–25 UEFA Europa League The 2024–25 UEFA Europa League was the 54th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 16th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. This was the first season played under ...

against

NK Celje Nogometni klub Celje (), commonly referred to as NK Celje or simply Celje (), is a professional association football, football club from Celje, Slovenia. They play in the Slovenian PrvaLiga, the top tier of Slovenian football. Together with NK M ...

and in the

2024–25 UEFA Conference League The 2024–25 UEFA Conference League was the fourth season of the UEFA Conference League, Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA. From this season, the competition was renamed from the UEFA Europa Conference League to the ...

against

FK Borac Banja Luka Fudbalski klub Borac Banja Luka (Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Serbian Cyrillic: Фудбалски клуб Бopaц Бања Лука, ) is a Bosnian Serb professional association football, football club, based in the city of Banja Luka, Republika ...

as Rovers became the first Irish side to qualify for the knockout stages of a UEFA club competition.

Barnsley

On 3 January 2025, Farrugia signed a two-and-a-half year contract with

club

on a free transfer, after his contract at

had ended at the end of the previous month.

International career

Farrugia is eligible to play for France, Ireland,

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

, but opted for Ireland during his youth career and turned down approaches from Malta for an international callup. Farrugia represented both the Republic of Ireland U19 and Republic of Ireland U21 teams, scoring on his debut for the U21s in a 3–0 win over Luxembourg U21 at

Tallaght Stadium Tallaght Stadium () is an List of association football stadiums in the Republic of Ireland, association football stadium in Ireland based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club Shamrock Rovers F.C., Shamrock Rovers originally announced details of ...

on 24 March 2019. In May 2023, former U21 manager Stephen Kenny called him up to the

senior squad for the first time, for a training camp in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, England, before putting him on standby for the June 2023 fixtures against

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

Personal life

Farrugia completed a degree in

, graduating in 2020.

Career statistics

Honours

;UCD *

League of Ireland First Division The League of Ireland First Division, also known as the SSE Airtricity League First Division for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland football league system. The division w ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

;Shamrock Rovers *

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Men's Premier Division (), also known as the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Republic of Ireland and the highest level of the Republic of I ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

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 ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

President of Ireland's Cup The President of Ireland's Cup, also known simply as the President's Cup, is an association football super cup featuring clubs from the Republic of Ireland football league system. It is a one-off match between the winners of the previous season's ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farrugia, Neil 1999 births Living people Men's association football defenders University College Dublin A.F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players League of Ireland players English Football League players Association footballers from County Dublin Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Irish people of French descent Irish people of Spanish descent Irish people of Maltese descent People educated at St Andrew's College, Dublin 21st-century Irish sportsmen Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in England