Mick Leahy (footballer)

Michael Leahy (born 30 April 1989) is an Irish professional footballer currently without a club, having last played for League of Ireland club, St Patrick's Athletic. He started his career with UCD, while his other previous clubs include Limerick, Sligo Rovers and St Patrick's Athletic.

Mick Leahy
Personal information
Full name Michael Leahy
Date of birth (1989-04-30) 30 April 1989
Place of birth Dublin, Ireland
Height {
Position(s) Centre Back
Youth career
Belvedere
2007–2009 UCD
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2013 UCD 88 (3)
2014 Limerick 7 (0)
2015 UCD 25 (4)
2016–2017 Sligo Rovers 53 (4)
2018 St Patrick's Athletic 10 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:15, 18 December 2018 (UTC)

Career

UCD

Leahy started playing football with Belvedere before signing for his local League of Ireland side UCD in 2007, where he played in their underage sides for 2 years. He made his debut in senior football as a 19-year-old, on 6 March 2009 on the opening day of the 2009 League of Ireland First Division season, a 2–1 win over Limerick.[1] He went on to make 7 more appearances for the first team that season as they went on to win the league, gaining promotion to the League of Ireland Premier Division. The 2010 season saw Leahy get his first taste of Premier Division football as he played in 13 league games, scoring his first career goal on 29 October away to Sporting Fingal.[2] 2011 saw Leahy establish himself as a first choice centre back in the team, being made club captain by manager Martin Russell and also playing 37 games in all competitions.[3] He played 29 league games in 2012 as UCD finished 9th. The following season in 2013 however was hampered by injuries for Leahy as he missed the majority of the season through injury but played in the last 10 games of the season.

Limerick spell and return to UCD

Leahy signed for Limerick ahead of the 2014 League of Ireland season, his first full-time professional contract.[4] On 27 May 2014, Leahy played in the Munster Senior Cup Final as Limerick lost 2–1 to Douglas Hall.[5] The season turned out to be a distater for Leahy as he again missed the vast majority through injury, playing just 7 league games for Limerick, leaving him only with contract offers from bottom half teams for the following season. For this reason Leahy returned to part-time football, signing back for UCD in the First Division, playing whilst also studying to become a solicitor. Despite being relegated the previous season, UCD qualified via Fair Play to play in the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League qualifiers. This gave Leahy his first taste of European football as he played in both games as they knocked out F91 Dudelange of Luxembourg, before being knocked out by Slovakia's ŠK Slovan Bratislava. He scored 4 goals as UCD made the promotion play-offs but were beaten over 2 legs by Finn Harps in the semi-finals.

Sligo Rovers

Leahy went on trial with Sligo Rovers in pre-season, impressing manager Dave Robertson and signing for the Bit 'O' Red ahead of the 2016 season.[6] He was a key figure for Rovers as they finished in an impressive 5th place. On 16 November 2016, Leahy signed a new one-year contract with Sligo for the 2017 season.[7] The season turned out to be a poor one for Sligo as their poor form saw Robertson sacked and replaced by Gerard Lyttle. Leahy's form was impressive however as he scored 4 vital goals over the season that helped Sligo stay up, as it took them until the final game of the season to secure their Premier Division status.[8]

St Patrick's Athletic

Leahy returned to Dublin and signed for St Patrick's Athletic on 17 January 2018, given the number 23 shirt.[9] Leahy made his debut on 9 April 2018 in the League Cup at home to Dundalk as the Saints lost 8–7 in a penalty shootout following a 4–4 draw after extra time. The game was a very eventful debut for Leahy as, in a seven-minute spell in the first half of extra time, he scored his first goal for Pats by heading in a James Doona corner, he then scored an own goal at the other end, and then restored the Saints lead with a second goal, a diving header from another Doona set piece, all of this while also scoring his penalty in the shootout.[10]

Career statistics

Professional appearances – correct as of 13 December 2018.[11]

Club Division Season League Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
UCD League of Ireland First Division 2009 700030100
League of Ireland Premier Division 2010 13100202[lower-alpha 1]0171
2011 30130212[lower-alpha 2]0372
2012 281200000301
2013 100000000100
Limerick 2014 7000001[lower-alpha 3]080
UCD League of Ireland First Division 2015 25410004[lower-alpha 4]01[lower-alpha 1]0314
Sligo Rovers League of Ireland Premier Division 2016 2602010290
2017 274101000294
St Patrick's Athletic 2018 102101221145
UCD Total 1137607140501358
Sligo Rovers Total 5343020584
Career Total 18413100103408120617
  1. Appearances in Leinster Senior Cup
  2. Appearances in Setanta Sports Cup
  3. Appearances in Munster Senior Cup
  4. Appearances in UEFA Europa League

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.