Tony Folan

Tony Folan
Personal information
Full name Anthony Stephen Folan[1]
Date of birth (1978-09-18) 18 September 1978
Place of birth Lewisham, England
Height 1.8 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position Midfielder
Youth career
Galway Hibernians
1994–1997 Crystal Palace
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–1998 Crystal Palace 1 (0)
1998–2001 Brentford 68 (9)
2001–2002 Bohemians
2002–2004 Galway United
Galway Hibernians
National team
1996–1997 Republic of Ireland U19 3 (0)
1997–1999 Republic of Ireland U21 6 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Anthony Stephen "Tony" Folan (born 18 September 1978 in Lewisham) is a retired Irish professional football midfielder who played for Brentford and Crystal Palace. He represented Republic of Ireland at age-group level.

Club career

Crystal Palace

Growing up in Galway, Tony was a classmate of Colin Hawkins at St. Joseph's Patrician College and played youth football at Galway Hibernians.[2] At the age of 14, he signed schoolboy terms at Crystal Palace.[3] He made steady progress through the ranks at the club, signing a professional contract in 1995 and appearing in the 1997 FA Youth Cup final against Leeds United.[3][4] With Palace's relegation from the Premiership already confirmed, Folan made his first team debut in the last game of the 1997–98 season against Sheffield Wednesday, when he replaced Saša Ćurčić after 75 minutes.[5] Early in the 1998–99 season he appeared in the first leg of Palace's Intertoto Cup third round match against Samsunspor, but was replaced by Simon Rodger after 63 minutes.[6] Folan subsequently injured his groin and was out for six weeks after an operation. He turned down the offer of a contract extension from new manager Terry Venables.

Brentford

Folan dropped down two divisions to sign for Division Three side Brentford for £110,000 on 22 September 1998, following former Palace chairman Ron Noades, coach Ray Lewington and players Hermann Hreiðarsson, Danny Boxall and Rob Quinn to Griffin Park.[7] He enjoyed a solid first campaign, making 35 appearances,[8] scoring six goals and picking up a Division Three winner's medal as Brentford dramatically beat Cambridge United on the last day of the 1998–99 season.[9] A broken foot kept Folan out for six months of the 1999–00 season and he only managed 12 appearances.[10] He managed 23 appearances and two goals during the 2000–01 season,[11] but missed four months of the season after being forced to undergo a cartilage operation in December 2000.[12] Folan was released on 4 November 2001, after failing to make an appearance during the early months of the 2001–02 season.[13] He scored 9 goals in 70 appearances in just over three years at Griffin Park.[3]

Bohemians

In November 2001, Folan returned to Ireland and signed for League of Ireland Premier Division side Bohemians.[13] He made his debut for Bohemians in a televised Dublin derby against Shamrock Rovers but he ended up on the losing side as Rovers won 1–0.[14] Within weeks, manager Pete Mahon was sacked and Folan found appearances limited.[15] He scored in a 4–1 rout of Longford Town in the second round of the League of Ireland Cup, as Bohemians progressed to the semi-finals before being knocked out by Derry City.[16]

Return to Galway

He joined hometown club Galway United in the summer of 2002 and helped the club into the League of Ireland First Division playoff final in the 2002–03 season, which ended in defeat to Premier Division side Drogheda United.[17] In August 2004, Folan departed the club to join Galway & District League side Galway Hibernians, where he began his career. He won the title with he club during the 2005–06 season.

International career

Folan appeared for the Republic Of Ireland at the 1997 UEFA European U18 Championship in Iceland, eventually losing the third place playoff to Spain.[12] He won six U21 caps as Republic Of Ireland failed to qualify for the 2000 UEFA European U21 Championship.[12]

Honours

Brentford

Galway Hibernians

Career statistics

Club statistics
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Crystal Palace 1997–98[5] Premier League 1 0 0 0 0 0 — 1 0
1998–99[18] First Division 0 0 — — 1[lower-alpha 1] 0 1 0
Total 100 00 01020
Brentford 1998–99[8] Third Division 30 4 3 2 1 0 1[lower-alpha 2] 0 35 6
1999–00[10] Second Division 9 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 12 1
2000–01[11] 21 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 23 2
2001–02[19] 0 0 — 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 6074 25 010709
Career total 617425020729
  1. ↑ Appearance in Intertoto Cup.
  2. ↑ Appearance in Football League Trophy.

External links

References

  1. ↑ "Barry Hugman's Footballers - Tony Folan". Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  2. ↑ "Galway Independent - Galway Hibernians AFC 1942". galwayindependent.com. Archived from the original on 2013-11-03. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 Croxford, Mark; Lane, David; Waterman, Greville (2013). The Big Brentford Book Of The Nineties. Sunbury, Middlesex: Legends Publishing. p. 433. ISBN 9781906796723.
  4. ↑ http://www.ozwhitelufc.net.au/15-05-1997%20Crystal%20Palace%20v%20LUFC.htm
  5. 1 2 "Tony Folan | Football Stats | No Club | Season 1997/1998 | 1994-2002 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  6. ↑ "Intertoto Cup : Crystal Palace vs. Samsunspor". footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  7. ↑ Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920-2006. Harefield: Yore Publications. p. 58. ISBN 978-0955294914.
  8. 1 2 "Tony Folan | Football Stats | No Club | Season 1998/1999 | 1994-2002 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  9. ↑ Street, Tim. "Looking back: When Brentford won the title at Cambridge". getwestlondon. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  10. 1 2 "Tony Folan | Football Stats | No Club | Season 1999/2000 | 1994-2002 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  11. 1 2 "Tony Folan | Football Stats | No Club | Season 2000/2001 | 1994-2002 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  12. 1 2 3 "Tony Folan". 11v11.com. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  13. 1 2 "ESPN.com Soccernet On The Move - November 2001". www.espnfc.com. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  14. ↑ User, Super. "v Bohs 09/11/01". shamrockrovers.ie. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  15. ↑ uefa.com. "Mahon leaves Bohemians – UEFA.com". www.uefa.com. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  16. ↑ "Football: PATHS TO THE SEMI-FINALS; BOHEMIANS.". thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  17. ↑ "EIRCOM LEAGUE PLAY-OFF FINAL SPECIAL - Independent.ie". Independent.ie. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  18. ↑ "Tony Folan". footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  19. ↑ "Tony Folan | Football Stats | No Club | Season 2001/2002 | 1994-2002 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/1/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.