Ryan Michael Connolly (born 13 January 1992) 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 last played for

Treaty United Treaty United Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Limerick. The club was founded in 2020 following the demise of Limerick F.C. and began playing in the League of Ireland Women's Premier Division in 2020 followed by th ...

in the

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 ...

. Connolly previously played for

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, i ...

side

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

. He plays in

midfield In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hoc ...

and 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 U-16 level.

Club career

Derby County

Connolly began his career as a scholar in the Derby County Academy, and had his first experience of first team football came when he was named as a substitute for Derby County's FA Cup 5th Round tie at home to

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

in February 2010 before making his full debut as a late substitute in Derby's 2–0 victory over

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

on the final day of the 2009–10 season. Although primarily involved with the youth team – scoring twice in a 6–1 win over

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

in the FA Youth Cup -Connolly also appeared for the Derby County Reserves side which won the 2009–10 Central League Central Section title, starting three of his nine appearances and scoring the winner in a 1–0 win over

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

. He was named as Derby's Scholar of the Year for the 2009/10 season and signed his first professional deal with the club on 8 July 2010. Connolly's career suffered a setback when he suffered a cruciate ligament injury during an Under 18's friendly in August 2010, which ruled him out for six months. Despite this setback he was given a new one-year contract extension, alongside compariate

Jeff Hendrick Jeffrey Patrick Hendrick (born 31 January 1992) is an Irish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Derby County F.C., Derby County. He will become a free agent on 1 July 2025. Hendrick spent his child ...

, in January 2011 to take him through until Summer 2012. He returned to competitive action on 3 May 2011 when he appeared as a second-half substitute in Derby County reserves 4–0 victory at

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

, which clinched the club's second consecutive totesport Central League title.

Ayr United

On 31 August 2011, Connolly joined

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. It was replaced by the Scottish Championship. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 in Scottish footb ...

side

Ayr United Ayr United Football Club are a football club in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the , the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Formed in 1910 by the merger of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., their nickname is The Honest Men, fro ...

on loan until 31 December 2011. Connolly spent the majority of his time at Ayr on the substitutes bench as he featured 12 times for ''The Honest Men''. Connolly was named on the Derby County substitute bench in a 2–0 defeat at

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

on 20 March 2012, being allocated squad number 34.

Sligo Rovers

Connolly signed for Sligo Rovers in June 2012.

Galway United

On 9 January 2014, it was announced that Ryan had signed for

Galway United Galway United Football Club () is an Irish professional football club based in Galway. They play in the League of Ireland Premier Division following promotion from the First Division in 2023. They were founded as Galway Rovers F.C. during the ...

ahead of the 2014 season.

Shamrock Rovers

Connolly spent the 2017 season with

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 ...

making four appearances in the

2017–18 UEFA Europa League The 2017–18 UEFA Europa League was the 47th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 9th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The final was played at the Parc Olymp ...

Galway United

Connolly re-signed with

in December 2017 ahead of the 2018 League of Ireland First Division season. He made his League debut for The Tribesmen in their 4–1 win over

Athlone Town Athlone Town Association Football Club is an Irish football club from Athlone who are playing in the League of Ireland. The club is the oldest in the League as it was founded in 1887. First elected to the League of Ireland in 1922, they play t ...

on Friday, 23 February.

Finn Harps

In December 2019, Connolly was announced as having joined

Finn Harps Finn Harps Football Club is 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. They hail from Ballybofey, County Donegal and play their ho ...

for the 2020

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 ...

season. On the 14th January 2020 it was announced that Ryan would be sponsored by Social Media Manager Ireland. He scored the winning goal in the opening round of the 2020 FAI Cup against St. Patrick's Athletic.

Treaty United

side

announced that they had signed Connolly for the 2023 season on 15 December 2022 after three years with Finn Harps. On 14 February 2023, it was then announced that he had left the club before the start of the season, due to work commitments.

International career

He has represented the Republic of Ireland at Under 15, 16 and Under 17 level. He was called up to the Republic of Ireland Under 19 for the first time, alongside fellow Derby County player

, on 29 July 2010.

Honours

Sligo Rovers *

(1):

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 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Connolly, Ryan 1992 births Living people Association footballers from County Mayo Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association football midfielders Derby County F.C. players Ayr United F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Football League players Sligo Rovers F.C. players Longford Town F.C. players Galway United F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players League of Ireland players Sportspeople from Castlebar Finn Harps F.C. players Treaty United F.C. players 21st-century Irish sportsmen