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Kevin Foley (footballer)
Encyclopedia
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
-born Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
footballer who plays as a defender
Defender (association football)
Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....
for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...
and the Republic of Ireland national football team
Republic of Ireland national football team
The Republic of Ireland national football team represents Ireland in association football. It is run by the Football Association of Ireland and currently plays home fixtures at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, which opened in May 2010....
. Foley previously spent twelve years at Luton Town
Luton Town F.C.
Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...
. He joined Wolves in 2007 and has become known among the Wolves fans as “Mr Consistent”.
Luton Town
Born in LutonLuton
Luton is a large town and unitary authority of Bedfordshire, England, 30 miles north of London. Luton and its near neighbours, Dunstable and Houghton Regis, form the Luton/Dunstable Urban Area with a population of about 250,000....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to Irish parents, Foley joined hometown club Luton Town
Luton Town F.C.
Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...
at the age of nine, and progressed through the youth ranks until graduating to the first team. He finally broke into the first team squad in 2002-03, making his league debut on 19 April 2003, in a 2-2 draw with Bristol City
Bristol City F.C.
Bristol City Football Club is one of two football league clubs in Bristol, England . They play at Ashton Gate, located in the south-west of the City...
. The following season he established himself as first choice right-back at the club and was named Luton's Young Player of the Season. He also won this award the following season. Foley won promotion with Luton to the Football League Championship
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...
in 2005, and spent two seasons at this level before the club dropped back into League One
Football League One
Football League One is the second-highest division of The Football League and third-highest division overall in the English football league system....
in 2007. Foley made a total of 151 appearances for Luton, scoring three times.
Wolverhampton Wanderers
On 14 August 2007, Foley joined Wolverhampton WanderersWolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...
on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee. He made his first league start against Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...
on 19 August 2007, winning the game 3-1 at Hillsborough
Hillsborough Stadium
Hillsborough Stadium is the home of Sheffield Wednesday football club, Sheffield, England. Football has been played at the ground since it was opened on 2 September 1899, when Wednesday moved from their original ground at Olive Grove. Today it is a 39,812 capacity all-seater stadium, making it the...
. He scored his first league goal for the club against Norwich City
Norwich City F.C.
Norwich City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. As of the 2011–12 season, Norwich City are again playing in the Premier League after a six-year absence, having finished as runner up in the Championship in 2010–11 and winning automatic promotion.The...
on 22 September 2007, at Molineux
Molineux stadium
Molineux Stadium is a Premier League football stadium situated in Whitmore Reans, Wolverhampton, England. It has been the home ground of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club since 1889, and has a long and illustrious history as the first 'new build' stadium in Football League history, one of the...
. He ended his first season for Wolves as a vital member of the squad, starting 42 games out of 48, missing only six league games.
The following season Foley found his second league goal on the 13 December 2008, against Barnsley
Barnsley F.C.
Barnsley Football Club are a professional English football club based in the town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Nicknamed the Tykes, they were founded in 1887 under the name Barnsley St. Peter's...
, winning the game 2-0 at Molineux
Molineux stadium
Molineux Stadium is a Premier League football stadium situated in Whitmore Reans, Wolverhampton, England. It has been the home ground of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club since 1889, and has a long and illustrious history as the first 'new build' stadium in Football League history, one of the...
. Foley found this to be his best season yet for the club as Wolves clinched the Football League Championship
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...
title at the end of the 2008-09 season. He made a total of 47 appearances in the league, missing just one game. This is where fans gave him the nickname “Mr Consistent”. He also achieved the Club's Player of the Season award, voted by Wolves fans. His good form was rewarded with a new contract at the end of the season for his outstanding performances and he signed a new four-year deal with the club, keeping him at Wolves until the summer of 2013.
Foley made his Premier League debut against West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
on 15 August 2009, losing the game 2-0 at Molineux, and also picking up a medial knee ligament injury. This injury kept him out for four months and it was not until December 2009 that Foley got a sustained run in the team at right-midfield and central-midfield. Although these were not Foley's favoured positions he went on to excel there in the 4-5-1 formation, and completed his first season in the Premier League with 23 league starts, plus two outings from the bench. Half way into the 2010-11 season, Foley had got two consecutive league goals at Molineux, the first against Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....
, on 13 November 2010, losing the game 3-2, and the second against Sunderland, on 27 November 2010, winning the game 3-2.
International career
Foley qualified to play for Ireland as his parents are from County KerryCounty Kerry
Kerry means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich. In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective...
. He made his debut for Ireland u21s
Republic of Ireland national under-21 football team
The Republic of Ireland national under-21 football team, is the national under-21 football team of the Republic of Ireland and is controlled by the Football Association of Ireland and competes in the biennial European Under-21 Football Championship and has competed since 1978.-Competition...
in May 2004 against Scotland
Scotland national under-21 football team
The Scotland national under-21 football team, controlled by the Scottish Football Association, is Scotland's national under 21 football team and is considered to be a feeder team for the Scotland national football team....
. In 2005 he was named as the FAI under-21 player of the year.
On 29 May 2009, Foley made his debut for Ireland against Nigeria
Nigeria national football team
The Nigeria national football team, nicknamed the Super Eagles or Green Eagles, is the national team of Nigeria and is controlled by the Nigeria Football Federation . The team has ranked as high as 5th in the FIFA World Rankings, in April 1994...
in an international friendly. On 26 May 2011, he made his first competitive start for Ireland against Macedonia at right-back playing the full 90 minutes. On 4 May, he was called up for the 2011 Nations Cup games against Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland national football team
The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. Before 1921 all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association...
and Scotland
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
. He played the full 90 minutes against Northern Ireland at the Aviva Stadium
Aviva Stadium
The Aviva Stadium is a sports stadium located in Dublin, Ireland, with a capacity for 50,000 spectators. The stadium is built on the site of the old Lansdowne Road venue, which was demolished in 2007, and replaces that stadium as home to its chief tenants: the Irish rugby union team and the...
.
Club
Luton Town- Football League OneFootball League OneFootball League One is the second-highest division of The Football League and third-highest division overall in the English football league system....
(1): 2005
Wolverhampton Wanderers
- Football League ChampionshipFootball League ChampionshipThe Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...
(1): 2009
Individual
- Luton Town Young Player of the Season (2): 2003-04, 2004–05
- Wolverhampton Wanderers Player of the Season (1): 2008-09