Tony Folan
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Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Anthony Stephen Folan[1] | ||
Date of birth | 18 September 1978 | ||
Place of birth | Lewisham, England | ||
Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[2] | ||
Position(s) | 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 | Bohemian | ||
2002–2004 | Galway United | ||
Galway Hibernians | |||
International career | |||
1996–1997 | Republic of Ireland U18 | 3 | (0) |
1997–1999 | Republic of Ireland U21 | 6 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Anthony Stephen Folan (born 18 September 1978) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder for Brentford and Crystal Palace. Born in England, he represented Republic of Ireland at age-group level.
Club career
[edit]Crystal Palace
[edit]Folan was born in Lewisham, England.[2] Growing up in Galway, he was a classmate of Colin Hawkins at St. Joseph's Patrician College and played youth football at Galway Hibernians.[3] At the age of 14, he signed schoolboy terms at Crystal Palace.[4] 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.[4][5] With Palace's relegation from the Premiership already confirmed,[6] Folan made his first team debut in the final match of the 1997–98 season against Sheffield Wednesday, when he replaced Saša Ćurčić after 75 minutes.[7] 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.[8] Folan subsequently injured his groin and was out for six weeks after undergoing surgery. He turned down the offer of a contract extension from new manager Terry Venables and departed Selhurst Park in September 1998.[2]
Brentford
[edit]Folan dropped down two divisions to sign for Third Division club Brentford for a £110,000 fee on 22 September 1998.[9] He enjoyed a solid first season, making 35 appearances, scoring six goals and being awarded a Third Division winner's medal as Brentford dramatically beat Cambridge United on the last day of the 1998–99 season.[10][11] A broken foot kept Folan out for six months of the 1999–00 season and he only made 12 appearances.[12] He managed 23 appearances and two goals during the 2000–01 season,[13] but missed four months of the season after being forced to undergo a cartilage operation in December 2000.[9] On 23 October 2001, Folan was made available for transfer and was released on 4 November,[14] after failing to make an appearance during the early months of the 2001–02 season.[15][16] He scored 9 goals in 70 appearances in just over three years at Griffin Park.[2]
Bohemians
[edit]In November 2001, Folan returned to Ireland and signed for League of Ireland Premier Division club Bohemians.[17] He made his debut for Bohemian in a televised Dublin derby against Shamrock Rovers on 9 November, but he ended up on the losing side as Rovers won 1–0.[18] Within weeks, manager Pete Mahon was sacked and Folan found appearances limited.[19] He scored in a 4–1 rout of Longford Town in the second round of the League of Ireland Cup, as Bohemian progressed to the semi-finals before being knocked out by Derry City.[20]
Return to Galway
[edit]Folan joined hometown club Galway United during the 2002 off-season and helped the club into the League of Ireland First Division play-off final in the 2002–03 season, which ended in defeat to Premier Division side Drogheda United.[21] In August 2004, Folan departed the club to join Galway & District League club Galway Hibernians, where he began his career. He won the title with he club during the 2005–06 season.
International career
[edit]Folan appeared for the Republic Of Ireland at the 1997 UEFA European U18 Championship in Iceland, eventually losing the third place playoff to Spain.[22] He won six U21 caps as Republic Of Ireland failed to qualify for the 2000 UEFA European U21 Championship.[22]
Personal life
[edit]Folan is the older brother of footballer Stephen Folan.[23][24]
Career statistics
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Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europa | Other | Total | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Crystal Palace | 1997–98[7] | Premier League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||
1998–99[25] | First Division | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |||
Total | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |||
Brentford | 1998–99[10] | Third Division | 30 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 1[b] | 0 | 35 | 6 | |
1999–00[12] | Second Division | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | ||
2000–01[13] | 21 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 23 | 2 | |||
Total | 60 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | 70 | 9 | |||
Career total | 61 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 72 | 9 |
- ^ Appearance in Intertoto Cup
- ^ Appearance in Football League Trophy
Honours
[edit]Brentford
Galway Hibernians
- Galway & District League: 2005–06
References
[edit]- ^ "Tony Folan". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
- ^ a b c d Tony Folan at Soccerbase
- ^ "Galway Independent – Galway Hibernians AFC 1942". galwayindependent.com. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
- ^ a b Croxford, Mark; Lane, David; Waterman, Greville (2013). The Big Brentford Book Of The Nineties. Sunbury, Middlesex: Legends Publishing. p. 433. ISBN 9781906796723.
- ^ "Greatest Leeds United Games". Retrieved 11 October 2018.
- ^ "Crystal Palace results for the 1997–1998 season". Statto.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
- ^ a b "Games played by Tony Folan in 1997/1998". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- ^ "Intertoto Cup : Crystal Palace vs. Samsunspor". footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- ^ a b Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Harefield: Yore Publications. p. 58. ISBN 978-0955294914.
- ^ a b c "Games played by Tony Folan in 1998/1999". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- ^ Street, Tim (21 May 2014). "Looking back: When Brentford won the title at Cambridge". getwestlondon. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- ^ a b "Games played by Tony Folan in 1999/2000". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- ^ a b "Games played by Tony Folan in 2000/2001". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- ^ "Tony Folan". brentfordfc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 11 October 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
- ^ "Games played by Tony Folan in 2001/2002". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- ^ "Tony Folan Departs". brentfordfc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 11 October 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
- ^ "On The Move – November 2001". ESPN.com Soccernet. Archived from the original on 20 April 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- ^ "v Bohs 09/11/01". shamrockrovers.ie. Archived from the original on 12 April 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- ^ "Mahon leaves Bohemians". UEFA.com. 4 December 2001. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- ^ "Football: Paths To The Semi-finals; Bohemians". Retrieved 15 June 2015.
- ^ "Eircom League Play-off Final Special". Independent.ie. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- ^ a b "Tony Folan". 11v11.com. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
- ^ "Folan enjoying life with Newcastle". Galway First. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
- ^ Scully, Michael (12 May 2017). "Irish player reveals touching tribute to dad before every home game". irishmirror. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
- ^ "Tony Folan". footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- ^ "Vale vault Brentford to lift Vans trophy". BBC Sport. 22 April 2001. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
External links
[edit]- Tony Folan at Soccerbase
- Tony Folan at Premier League
- Tony Folan at fai.ie
- 1978 births
- Living people
- Republic of Ireland men's association footballers
- Premier League players
- English Football League players
- League of Ireland players
- Crystal Palace F.C. players
- Brentford F.C. players
- Bohemian F.C. players
- Galway United F.C. (1937–2011) players
- Association footballers from County Galway
- Men's association football midfielders