Dominic Foley

Dominic Foley

Personal information
Full name	Dominic Joseph Foley
Date of birth	7 July 1976 (1976-07-07) (age 35)
Place of birth	Cork, Ireland
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Cercle Brugge
Number	15
Youth career
	Charleville
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1994–1995	St. James's Gate
1995–1999	Wolverhampton Wanderers	20	(3)
1998	→ Watford (loan)	8	(1)
1998	→ Notts County (loan)	2	(0)
1998–1999	→ Ethnikos Piraeus (loan)	7	(3)
1999–2003	Watford	33	(5)
2001	→ Queens Park Rangers (loan)	1	(0)
2002	→ Swindon Town (loan)	7	(1)
2002	→ Queens Park Rangers (loan)	4	(1)
2003	→ Southend United (loan)	5	(0)
2003	→ Oxford United (loan)	6	(0)
2003–2004	Sporting Braga	12	(1)
2004–2005	Bohemians	30	(7)
2005–2009	Gent	103	(29)
2009–	Cercle Brugge	64	(16)
National team
1996	Republic of Ireland U21	?	(1)
2000	Republic of Ireland	6	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Dominic Joseph Foley (born 7 July 1976 in Cork) is an Irish footballer who plays for Cercle Brugge K.S.V. in Belgium, as a striker.

Without really settling in his early career, he played for almost ten clubs in England, in his late 20's and 30's, he found stability in Belgium, where he represented two teams.

Football career

A native of Charleville, Cork, Foley was signed in 1995, aged 19, by English First Division Wolverhampton Wanderers, from St. James's Gate. He made his Wolves debut on 18 November 1995 as a substitute in a 1–3 defeat to Oldham Athletic, but never managed to stake a claim to a regular place though, and appeared in just 27 games in total over four seasons at Molineux Stadium.

In order to gain playing time, Foley was loaned several times in the following years, to Watford, Notts County and Greek club Ethnikos Piraeus. He eventually moved to Watford, signed by Graham Taylor - who had originally brought him to Wolverhampton - on a free transfer.

He played 12 times in his first season with the Hornets (one goal), also making his Premier League debuts. Even though the campaign ended in relegation, he received his first call-up to the Republic of Ireland national team;^[1] his debut came on 30 May 2000 in a 1–2 friendly defeat to Scotland. Five days later, his second cap (against Mexico) saw him score the first of his two international goals, with all six appearances coming during the year.^[2]

Early into the 2000–01 season, Foley scored a last-minute winner against Barnsley,^[3] but overall found playing opportunities scarce, being successively loaned by the Vicarage Road outfit to Queens Park Rangers (two spells), Swindon Town, Southend United^[4] and Oxford United.

He left England in 2003 for Portuguese club Sporting de Braga, being scarcely used during one sole season, after which he returned to his country after one decade, signing for Bohemian FC. He impressed in the club's 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup game against Belgian side K.A.A. Gent, who signed him soon afterwards.

At the age of 29, Foley established at his new club, scoring six goals in 25 first division matches his first year, but bettered his totals in the following two seasons, netting in double digits (respectively 10 and 11) as the Flemish club finished fourth and sixth in the table, respectively; additionally, he helped the team reach the semifinals of the Belgian Cup in 2007, scored three goals in that year's UEFA Intertoto Cup to help the side reach the third round, notably scoring against Cliftonville F.C. in a 2–0 home win (6–0 on aggregate),^[5] and was named club captain at the start of the 2007–08 season.

Foley helped Gent reach the final of the domestic cup in 2007–08, opening the score against R.S.C. Anderlecht after just six minutes, but eventually losing the match 2–3. The next season however, new coach Michel Preud'homme rarely used him in his starting eleven and, with the player's contract ending that season, he was sold during the winter break to fellow first-divisioner Cercle Brugge.

Transfer controversies

Foley caused controversy in 2005 when he successfully had his contract with Bohemians terminated over the failure of payment by the club of "bonuses". He then signed for Gent which had played against the Irish side only a few weeks before, sparking rumours of secret meetings between player and management after the game.

In 2009, Gent accused Cercle Brugge of secret reunions with Foley before he was allowed to speak to clubs to discuss his future. With his contract due to expire at the end of the season, the former's general manager, Michel Louwagie, claimed the player had discussed a contract before the allowed date of 1 January, saying: "I don't at all appreciate the way Cercle have behaved in relation to Foley. It is against the rules." On January 21, Cercle announced that Foley had signed a three-year contract with the club, starting in June 2009.^[6] On the 27th, however, both clubs agreed on an immediate transfer, during the winter transfer window.

References

1. ^ "Holland and Foley get Republic call". BBC Sport. 25 August 2000. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/896133.stm. Retrieved 23 August 2010. 
2. ^ "Ireland's International Players". Football Association of Ireland. 17 February 2010. http://www.fai.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=100690&Itemid=353. Retrieved 12 April 2010. 
3. ^ "Watford 1-0 Barnsley". BBC Sport. 19 August 2000. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/885686.stm. Retrieved 23 August 2010. 
4. ^ "Foley joins Southend". BBC Sport. 11 February 2003. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/southend_utd/2749105.stm. Retrieved 19 August 2011. 
5. ^ "Ghent 2-0 Cliftonville". BBC Sport. 7 July 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/irish/6261006.stm. Retrieved 23 August 2010. 
6. ^ "Foley (Gent) voor drie jaar naar Cercle Brugge [Foley (Gent) to Cercle Brugge for three years]" (in Dutch). GVA.be. 22 January 2009. http://www.gva.be/nieuws/sport/voetbal-binnenland/foley-gent-voor-drie-jaar-naar-cercle-brugge.aspx. Retrieved 23 August 2010. 

External links

• Dominic Foley career stats at Soccerbase
• Stats at ForaDeJogo (Portuguese)
• Dominic Foley at National-Football-Teams.com
• UEFA.com stats

Sporting positions
Preceded by Oleg Iachtchouk	Cercle Brugge top scorer 2010	Succeeded by Reynaldo

Persondata
Name	Foley, Dominic
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	7 July 1976
Place of birth	Cork, Ireland
Date of death
Place of death