Paul Heffernan is an Irish

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 professional footballer, currently playing for Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 side Kilmarnock

Kilmarnock F.C.

Kilmarnock Football Club is a Scottish football team based in the town of Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. Founded in 1869, "Killie" is the oldest club currently in the Scottish Premier League. Home matches are played at Rugby Park...

 after being released by 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...

. This has followed a stop and start career at Notts County

Notts County F.C.

Notts County Football Club are an English professional football club based in Nottingham. They are the oldest of all the clubs in the world that are now professional, having been formed in 1862. They currently play in League One of The Football League, the third tier of the English football system...

 and 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...

.

Bristol City paid £

Pound sterling

The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

150,000 for him in 2004, but due to the form of Steve Brooker

Steve Brooker

Stephen Michael "Steve" Brooker is an English football striker. In a twelve years professional career he has scored 86 goals in 294 games....

 and Leroy Lita

Leroy Lita

Leroy Halirou Bohari Lita , is a Congolese-born English footballer who plays for Swansea City. Lita was a product of the Chelsea youth system. He failed to play for Chelsea, and moved to Bristol City and Reading, where his form helped him earn a place with the England under-21 side...

, his chances in the first team were limited.

He joined Doncaster Rovers

Doncaster Rovers F.C.

Doncaster Rovers Football Club is an English football club, based at the Keepmoat Stadium in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. The team currently competes in the Football League Championship, after being promoted via the League One play-offs in 2008, and have remained there since.The club was founded in...

 in the summer of 2005 for £125,000, which was then a new record transfer paid by Rovers. Since joining Doncaster, the Irishman has weighed in with some key goals, including 2 in each leg of the Football League Trophy

Football League Trophy

The Football League Trophy, currently known as the Johnstone's Paint Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football knock-out competition open to the 48 clubs in Football League One and Football League Two, the bottom two divisions in the four fully professional top...

 Semi-Final against Crewe Alexandra

Crewe Alexandra F.C.

Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional football club based in Crewe, Cheshire. Nicknamed The Railwaymen due to the town's links with the rail industry, they currently play in Football League Two, the fourth tier of English football, and are based at the Alexandra Stadium.The club...

, goals which ultimately sent Rovers to the final of that competition. Heffernan also scored the second goal in the final at the Millennium Stadium

Millennium Stadium

The Millennium Stadium is the national stadium of Wales, located in the capital, Cardiff. It is the home of the Wales national rugby union team and also frequently stages games of the Wales national football team, but is also host to many other large scale events, such as the Super Special Stage...

 in Cardiff

Cardiff

Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...

 against Bristol Rovers

Bristol Rovers F.C.

Bristol Rovers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Bristol, that competes in Football League Two. The team plays its home matches at the Memorial Stadium, in the Horfield area of the city....

, which Doncaster won 3–2.

Heffernan sparked a moment of controversy in the 2008 League One Play-off semi-final

Football League One play-offs

The Football League One Playoffs are a series of playoff matches, contested by the teams finishing from 3rd to 6th in the NPower Football League One table to determine the third spot for promotion to the second tier of English football, the Championship....

 when playing for Doncaster against Southend United

Southend United F.C.

Southend United Football Club is an English football club based at Roots Hall Stadium, Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, who play in Football League Two. Their home ground is Roots Hall, and the club plan to move into a new 22,000-seater stadium located at Fossetts Farm.-Stadium:The club has had...

, when he headbutt

Headbutt

A headbutt is a strike with the head, typically involving the use of robust parts of the cranium as areas of impact. Effective headbutting revolves around striking a sensitive area with a less sensitive area, such as striking the nose of an opponent with the forehead...

ed an opponent due to frustration in the final minute of the match. Heffernan was subsequently sent-off and was unable to play in the second leg, or the final against Leeds United

Leeds United A.F.C.

Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...

 at Wembley Stadium

Wembley Stadium

The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...

.

Following his loan move to Bristol Rovers

Bristol Rovers F.C.

Bristol Rovers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Bristol, that competes in Football League Two. The team plays its home matches at the Memorial Stadium, in the Horfield area of the city....

 in February 2010, he scored four times in 10 appearances, however, on 5 April 2010, he was recalled by Doncaster because of injury problems.

In May 2010, Doncaster announced that he was one of six players who would not be offered new contracts.

On 9 June 2010, he joined 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 a free transfer. He was given the number 9 shirt shortly after. He left Sheffield Wednesday by mutual consent on June 15 2011 and signed for Kilmarnock

Kilmarnock F.C.

Kilmarnock Football Club is a Scottish football team based in the town of Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. Founded in 1869, "Killie" is the oldest club currently in the Scottish Premier League. Home matches are played at Rugby Park...

  shortly afterwards. Heffernan scored his first two goals for Kilmarnock in a 4 - 1 win over Hibernian

Hibernian F.C.

Hibernian Football Club are a Scottish professional football club based in Leith, in the north of Edinburgh. They are one of two Scottish Premier League clubs in the city, the other being their Edinburgh derby rivals, Hearts...

 at Rugby Park

Rugby Park

Rugby Park is a football stadium situated in the Scottish town of Kilmarnock. It was first used in 1899 and is the home of Kilmarnock F.C..It underwent a major redevelopment in 1994–95, becoming an all-seater stadium with a capacity of 18,128...

 on 14 August 2011.
His good form continued as he went on to score a hat-trick in the Scottish League Cup third round match against Queen of the South

Queen of the South F.C.

Queen of the South Football Club is a Scottish professional football club founded in 1919 and located in Dumfries. The club currently plays in the Scottish First Division, the second tier of Scottish football. They are officially nicknamed The Doonhamers, but usually referred to as Queens or QoS...

 in a 5-0 win.

Career statistics

Club	Season	League		Cup		League Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Kilmarnock Kilmarnock F.C. Kilmarnock Football Club is a Scottish football team based in the town of Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. Founded in 1869, "Killie" is the oldest club currently in the Scottish Premier League. Home matches are played at Rugby Park...	2011–12 2011–12 Kilmarnock F.C. season Kilmarnock F.C. will compete in the Scottish Premier League, Scottish Cup and the League Cup during the 2011–12 season.-Results And Fixtures:-Pre Season:...	14	7	0	0	2	3	0	0	–		16	10
Total		14	7	0	0	2	3	0	0	–		16	10

External links

• Paul Heffernan player profile at doncasterroversfc.co.uk