Pierce Liam Sweeney (born 11 September 1994) is an Irish 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 side

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third level of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

Career

Schoolboy football

Sweeney began his career at Ardmore Rovers in his hometown of

Bray Bray may refer to: Places France * Bray, Eure, in the Eure ''département'' * Bray, Saône-et-Loire, in the Saône-et-Loire ''département'' * Bray-Dunes, in the Nord ''département'' * Bray-en-Val, in the Loiret ''département'' * Bray-et-Lû ...

, before moving on to the under-13 level with

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 ...

Bray Wanderers

In 2012, Sweeney joined

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 ...

side

Bray Wanderers Bray Wanderers Football Club are an Irish association football club playing in the League of Ireland First Division. The club in its present form was founded in 1942 in Bray, and was known until 2010 as ''Bray Wanderers A.F.C.'' It was elect ...

. He made 12 appearances for the Seagulls during the

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

season.

Reading

On 6 July 2012, Sweeney signed with 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

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

. Although he was a member of Reading's Under 21 2013-14 Premier League Cup-winning side, on 9 May 2016, Sweeney was released by Reading without having made a first-team appearance for the club.

Exeter City

On 22 July 2016, Sweeney signed with

as the 1931 Fund fan-funded player after a successful trial. He scored two goals and an assist in Exeter's 5–1 defeat of Notts County on 8 September 2018, and had already scored two additional goals before the end of September 2018.

Swindon Town

On 11 June 2021, Sweeney signed a two-year deal with

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

to begin on 1 July 2021, after rejecting an offer from Exeter City. His contract was terminated by mutual consent on 2 July 2021, with Sweeney stating that 'due to family circumstances at this current moment I am unable to fulfil relocating to be part of the team'.

Exeter City return

Following his abrupt departure from

, Sweeney returned to

on 8 July 2021. He was vice-captain as

secured a return to

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

for the first time since 2012. In June 2022, Sweeney signed a new two-year deal with the club. On 14 January 2023, in his first match as club captain following the departure of

Matt Jay Matthew William Jay (born 27 February 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for National League South side Torquay United Early life and education Jay was born in Torbay in Devon and he attended South ...

, Sweeney made his 300th appearance for

in all competitions. At the end of the

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season, Sweeney was chosen as Exeter's Player of the Year.

International career

Sweeney has 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 under-U17, under-U19, and under-U21 levels.

Career statistics

Honours

;Reading * Premier League Cup: 2013–14 Exeter City *

EFL League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English ...

runner-up: 2021–22 Individual * FAI Under-19 Irish International Player of the Year: 2013 *

Player of the Year:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sweeney, Pierce 1994 births Living people Association footballers from County Dublin Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers League of Ireland players Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers English Football League players Men's association football defenders Belvedere F.C. players Bray Wanderers F.C. players Reading F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers 21st-century Irish sportsmen