Damien Delaney

Damien Delaney

Delaney playing for Crystal Palace in 2016
Personal information
Full name	Damien Finbarr Delaney[1]
Date of birth	20 July 1981
Place of birth	Cork, Ireland
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) [2]
Playing position	Centre back
Club information
Current team	Crystal Palace
Number	27
Youth career
	Avondale United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1998–2000	Cork City
2000–2002	Leicester City	8	(0)
2001–2002	→ Stockport County (loan)	12	(1)
2002	→ Huddersfield Town (loan)	2	(0)
2002	→ Mansfield Town (loan)	7	(0)
2002–2008	Hull City	224	(5)
2008–2009	Queens Park Rangers	54	(2)
2009–2012	Ipswich Town	98	(2)
2012–	Crystal Palace	135	(6)
National team^‡
2008–	Republic of Ireland	9	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 08:41, 21 April 2016 (UTC). † Appearances (goals) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:37, 25 May 2014(UTC)

Damien Finbarr Delaney (born 20 July 1981) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club Crystal Palace.

Delaney began his career at Cork City. He later played for Leicester City, Hull City and Queens Park Rangers before moving to Ipswich Town in 2009. He became a free agent after leaving the club in August 2012. He then signed for Crystal Palace as he became a vital player in the centre of defence in their promotion season.

Early life

Born in Cork, Delaney attended Coláiste Chríost Rí and began his career at local club Avondale United at schoolboy level before moving on to Cork City.^[3]

He also played football with the Cork minor team. Delaney was a Munster minor football winner with the team in 1999 and shone for his club St Michael’s. He struck 2-2 in an All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Mayo that year, before he committed fully to soccer. He has explained he never demanded a guaranteed starting berth with his country

Club career

Leicester City and Hull City

He was brought to England by Peter Taylor at Leicester City, where he made eight FA Premier League appearances. He had spells on loan at Stockport County, Huddersfield Town and Mansfield Town. Whilst at Stockport, he scored his first career goal in a match against Rotherham United.^[4] Taylor later made Delaney his first signing for Hull City, on 17 October 2002, for a fee of £50,000.

After a rocky start to his career at Hull, during which time he was tried in midfield and at left-back, Delaney was played regularly at centre-back and began to grow in stature and consistency. He was voted Player of the Year in the 2003–04 promotion-winning season, additionally his strike against Rochdale was voted Goal of the Season.

In the 2005–06 season in the Championship, he played mainly at centre-back, but also at left-back when two players in that position were injured, and in midfield when the manager felt that more height and solidity were required. This versatility made him a key asset to the Tigers squad.

Delaney was the last Hull City player to score a goal at their old ground Boothferry Park, prior to their move to the KC Stadium.

Queens Park Rangers

On 18 January 2008 Delaney signed for Queens Park Rangers on a three-and-a-half-year contract.^[5] On 8 March 2008 Delaney scored his first goal for QPR in a 2–1 away defeat to Sheffield Wednesday.

Ipswich Town

On 2 July 2009, Delaney signed for Ipswich Town on a two-year contract for a fee of £750,000, £250,000 if Ipswich reached the play-offs and an extra £100,000 after he has made 50 appearances for the club.^[6] He suffered a freak injury in the following year's pre-season which ultimately almost cost him his life. A blood clot in his thigh could have resulted in him losing a leg but he was rushed to an emergency surgery procedure that, he was told, saved his life. He scored his first goal for the club in the East Anglian derby in November 2010, before being sent off following a straight red card. He left the club by mutual consent in August 2012.^[7]

Crystal Palace

On 31 August 2012, following his departure from Ipswich, Delaney signed for Crystal Palace on a short-term contract until January 2013.^[8] He scored his first goal for the club in Palace's 4–3 comeback against Burnley on 6 October. Due to Delaney's impressive start to his Palace career, he signed a new contract on 22 November 2012, which expires summer 2014.^[9] He scored his first ever goal in the Premier League in a 3-3 draw against Liverpool, with his initial 25-yard shot deflected slightly into the net by Glen Johnson. Palace were 3-0 down at the time, but Delaney's goal combined with two goals from Dwight Gayle made it 3-3.

International career

On 13 May 2008, Delaney was called up to the Republic of Ireland squad for the first time by the new manager Giovanni Trapattoni. On 4 May 2011, he was called into the Irish squad for the 2011 Nations Cup games against Northern Ireland and Scotland. On 24 May 2011, he started and played the full 90 minutes against Northern Ireland as Ireland beat them 5–0. On 11 October 2013, he made a belated competitive debut in a World Cup qualifier against Germany.

Career statistics

As of match played 24 April 2016^[10]

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other^[A]		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Leicester City	2000–01	Premier League	5	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
	2001–02	Premier League	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	4	0
	Total		8	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	11	0
Stockport County (loan)	2001–02	First Division	12	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	12	1
	Total		12	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	12	1
Huddersfield Town (loan)	2001–02	Second Division	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
	Total		2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Mansfield Town (loan)	2002–03	Second Division	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
	Total		7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
Hull City	2002–03	Third Division	30	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	31	1
	2003–04	Third Division	46	2	1	0	1	0	0	0	48	2
	2004–05	League One	43	1	3	0	1	0	0	0	47	1
	2005–06	Championship	46	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	48	0
	2006–07	Championship	37	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	39	1
	2007–08	Championship	22	0	1	0	3	0	0	0	26	0
	Total		224	5	8	0	7	0	0	0	239	5
Queens Park Rangers	2007–08	Championship	17	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	17	1
	2008–09	Championship	37	1	2	0	3	1	0	0	42	2
	Total		54	2	2	0	3	1	0	0	59	3
Ipswich Town	2009–10	Championship	36	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	39	0
	2010–11	Championship	32	2	0	0	4	1	0	0	36	3
	2011–12	Championship	29	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	30	0
	2012–13	Championship	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	Total		98	2	3	0	5	1	0	0	106	3
Crystal Palace	2012–13	Championship	40	3	2	0	0	0	3	0	45	3
	2013–14	Premier League	37	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	39	1
	2014–15	Premier League	29	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	32	0
	2015–16	Premier League	28	2	5	0	2	1	0	0	35	3
Total			134	6	11	0	3	1	3	0	151	7
Career total			539	16	26	0	19	3	3	0	587	19

A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Football League play-offs.

Honours

Cork City

• League of Ireland Cup: 1998–99

Hull City

• Football League Third Division runner-up: 2003–04
• Football League One runner-up: 2004–05

Crystal Palace

• Football League Championship play-offs: 2013

International

• Nations Cup: 2011

References

1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 113. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0.
2. "Barclays Premier League Player Profile Damien Delaney". Premier League. 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2014.
3. http://www.fai.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=46&Itemid=60
4. "Rotherham 3–2 Stockport". BBC. 9 February 2002. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
5. "QPR recruit Hull defender Delaney". BBC Sport. 17 January 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
6. "Defender Delaney moves to Ipswich". BBC Sport. 2 July 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
7. Gooderham, Dave (30 August 2012). "Right time for me to leave says departing Damien Delaney". East Anglian Daily Times (Ipswich). Retrieved 30 August 2012.
8. "Delaney joins up". Crystal Palace F.C. 31 August 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
9. Delany signs 18-month contract Palace
10. "Damien Delaney". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 April 2014.

External links

• Damien Delaney career statistics at Soccerbase