Anthony Breslin

Anthony Breslin

Breslin in action for St Patrick's Athletic in 2024.
Personal information
Full name	Anthony Breslin
Date of birth	(1997-02-13) 13 February 1997 (age 27)
Place of birth	Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Position(s)	Left back
Team information
Current team	St Patrick's Athletic
Number	3
Youth career
–2013	St Kevin's Boys
2013–2016	Wolverhampton Wanderers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2016–2018	Wolverhampton Wanderers	0	(0)
2016	→ Tamworth (loan)	12	(0)
2019	Longford Town	26	(1)
2020–2021	Bohemians	37	(1)
2022–	St Patrick's Athletic	98	(3)
International career‡
2012	Republic of Ireland U15	1	(0)
2012–2013	Republic of Ireland U16	4	(0)
2013–2014	Republic of Ireland U17	8	(0)
2015	Republic of Ireland U18	2	(0)
2015	Republic of Ireland U19	3	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13:25, 2 November 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 01:14, 23 November 2023 (UTC)

Anthony "Anto" Breslin (born 13 February 1997) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a defender for League of Ireland Premier Division club St Patrick's Athletic. His previous clubs are Wolverhampton Wanderers, Tamworth, Longford Town and Bohemians.

Career

Youth career

A native of Blanchardstown, Dublin, Breslin came through top Dublin academy St Kevin's Boys, before signing for the academy of Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2013. ^[1]

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 4 October 2016, Breslin made his first appearance in senior football when he featured in the EFL Trophy side that beat Crewe Alexandra 3–2 away from home. ^[2] He went on to make a total of 4 appearances in his sides 2016–17 EFL Trophy campaign. ^[3] On 20 May 2018, it was announced that Breslin had been released by the club following the end of his contract. ^{[4] [5]}

Tamworth loan

In August 2016, Breslin signed for National League North side Tamworth on a short-term loan deal until the end of September. He featured 12 times for the club during his loan spell. ^[3]

Longford Town

After spending time on trial at Shamrock Rovers, ^[6] Breslin signed for League of Ireland First Division side Longford Town in December 2018, ahead of the 2019 campaign. ^[7] He made his debut for the club in the first game of the season, in a 0–0 draw away to Limerick on 22 February 2019. ^[8] He scored his first goal of his senior career on 2 August 2019 in a 5–1 win away to Midlands rivals Athlone Town. ^[9] He made 27 appearances in all competitions for the club, scoring once. ^[3] After an impressive season with the club, he was linked with a move to League of Ireland Premier Division side Bohemians. ^[10] He was voted into the PFAI First Division Team of the Year by his fellow players at the end of the season. ^[11]

Bohemians

In November 2019, it was confirmed that Breslin had made the step up to the League of Ireland Premier Division by signing for Bohemians. ^{[12] [13]} His first goal for Bohs came on 22 August 2020 when he opened the scoring in a 2–0 win over St Patrick's Athletic at Dalymount Park. ^[14] On 27 August 2020, he made his first appearance in European football, playing the full 120 minutes as his side were beaten on penalties in their UEFA Europa League tie after a 1–1 draw away to Fehérvár of Hungary. ^[15] During July and August 2021, he featured in 5 of the 6 games in the club's UEFA Europa Conference League campaign, playing at home to Stjarnan of Iceland, and home & away against both F91 Dudelange of Luxembourg and PAOK of Greece. ^[3] He remained an unused substitute in the 2021 FAI Cup Final at the Aviva Stadium as his side were defeated by rivals St Patrick's Athletic, amidst reports that Breslin would be leaving the club. ^[16] Breslin confirmed his departure from the club in December 2021. ^[6]

St Patrick's Athletic

On 18 December 2021, Breslin signed for St Patrick's Athletic on a 3-year contract, becoming new manager Tim Clancy's first signing for the club. ^[17] He made his debut for the club on 11 February 2022, in the 2022 President of Ireland's Cup against Shamrock Rovers at Tallaght Stadium, playing the full 90 minutes as his side lost 5–4 on penalties after a 1–1 draw. ^[18] He scored his first goal for the club on 2 September 2022, in a 2–1 win over Finn Harps at Richmond Park. ^{[19] [20]} On 6 November 2022, he scored in a 4–0 win at home to rivals Shelbourne in the final game of the season. ^[21] On 12 November 2023, Breslin played there full 90 minutes in the 2023 FAI Cup Final, in a 3–1 win for his side over his former club Bohemians in front of a record breaking FAI Cup Final crowd of 43,881 at the Aviva Stadium. ^[22] On 4 March 2024, he scored his first goal since November 2022 with a first half equaliser away to Waterford at the RSC. ^[23] On 17 May 2024, Breslin made his 100th appearance in all competitions for the club in a 1–0 defeat to Derry City, in what was new manager Stephen Kenny's first game in charge of the club. ^[24] Breslin featured in all 6 of the club's UEFA Conference League games during the summer of 2024, as they beat Vaduz of Liechtenstein and Sabah of Azerbaijan before a narrow 2–0 defeat on aggregate against Turkish side İstanbul Başakşehir in the Play-Off Round of the competition. ^[25] On 29 October 2024, Breslin signed a new long term contract with the club. ^[26]

International career

Breslin has represented the Republic of Ireland at under 15, under 16, under 17, under 18 and under 19 level. ^{[27] [1]}

Career statistics

As of match played on 1 November 2024 ^[28]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup [lower-alpha 1]		League Cup [lower-alpha 2]		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Wolverhampton Wanderers	2016–17	EFL Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		4 [lower-alpha 3]	0	4	0
	2017–18		0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0 [lower-alpha 3]	0	0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	—		—		4	0	4	0
Tamworth (loan)	2016–17	National League North	12	0	—		—		—		—		12	0
Longford Town	2019	LOI First Division	26	1	1	0	0	0	—		0 [lower-alpha 4]	0	27	1
Bohemians	2020	LOI Premier Division	15	1	0	0	—		1 [lower-alpha 5]	0	—		16	1
	2021		22	0	2	0	—		5 [lower-alpha 6]	0	—		29	0
	Total		37	1	2	0	—		6	0	—		45	1
St Patrick's Athletic	2022	LOI Premier Division	32	2	1	0	—		4 [lower-alpha 6]	0	1 [lower-alpha 7]	0	38	2
	2023		36	0	5	0	—		2 [lower-alpha 6]	0	0 [lower-alpha 4]	0	43	0
	2024		30	1	1	0	—		6 [lower-alpha 8]	0	2 [lower-alpha 9]	0	39	1
	2025		0	0	0	0	—		0 [lower-alpha 8]	0	0 [lower-alpha 4]	0	0	0
	Total		98	3	7	0	—		12	0	3	0	120	3
Career total			173	5	10	0	0	0	18	0	7	0	208	5

1. Includes FA Cup & FAI Cup
2. Includes EFL Cup & League of Ireland Cup
3. Appearance(s) for Wolverhampton Wanderers U23 in the EFL Trophy
4. Appearance(s) in the Leinster Senior Cup
5. Appearance(s) in the UEFA Europa League
6. Appearance(s) in the UEFA Europa Conference League
7. Appearance in the President of Ireland's Cup
8. Appearance(s) in the UEFA Conference League
9. 1 appearance in the President of Ireland's Cup & 1 appearance in the Leinster Senior Cup

Honours

Club

St Patrick's Athletic

• FAI Cup (1): 2023
• Leinster Senior Cup (1): 2023–24

Individual

• PFAI First Division Team of the Year (1): 2019

References

1. "Anto Breslin". www.stpatsfc.com.
2. "Crewe 2-3 Wolves". www.crewealex.net.
3. "Republic of Ireland - A. Breslin - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". int.soccerway.com.
4. "2017/18 Retained List Published | Club | News". Wolverhampton Wanderers FC.
5. Maher, Matt (May 20, 2018). "Wolves confirm plans to release 13 fringe players". www.expressandstar.com.
6. "Anto Breslin confirms Bohs departure as he's set to move cross-city to Pats". Dublin Live. December 18, 2021.
7. "New signings: Town Sign Lee Steacy and Anto Breslin". Longford Town F.C. 1 December 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
8. "League Report: Limerick 0-0 Longford Town". extratime.com.
9. Team, The42 (August 2, 2019). "Drogheda and Longford close the gap on Shels with big away wins". The 42.
10. "Bohs to sign Longford left full but Under-21 international Leahy is on Dundalk's radar". Independent.ie. November 10, 2019.
11. Dempsey, Andrew. "PFAI First Division Team of the Year released with five Longford and two Shelbourne representatives". extratime.com.
12. "Anto Breslin ready to make impact with Bohs - whether Leahy leaves or not". Irish Mirror. November 27, 2019.
13. Dempsey, Andrew. "Bohemians unveil signings of Breslin, Lunney, Twardek and McGuinness as preparations ramp up for 2020". extratime.com.
14. "League Preview: Bohemians -v- St. Patrick's Athletic". extratime.com.
15. "Bohemians suffer pain of penalty shootout defeat in Hungary". The Irish Times.
16. "'Devastated' Croly insists Bohs can use pain of final defeat as fuel for rebuilding". Independent.ie. November 29, 2021.
17. "Breslin Joins The Super Saints". www.stpatsfc.com.
18. Fennessy, Paul. "Memorable return for Jack Byrne as Shamrock Rovers beat Pat's on penalties". The42.
19. "Anto Breslin keeps St Pat's on European trail with win over Finn Harps". Independent.ie. September 2, 2022.
20. Buttner, Paul (September 2, 2022). "Breslin keeps St Pat's on Euro trail". Irish Examiner.
21. "Saint Ian Bermingham says farewell as Damien Duff's Shelbourne are put to the sword". Independent.ie. November 7, 2022.
22. Fenton, James (12 November 2023). "FAI Cup final recap: Bohemians 1-3 St Pat's" – via www.rte.ie.
23. Flanagan, Adrian (March 4, 2024). "High-flying Waterford stun St Pat's". The 42.
24. "New St Pat's era under Kenny begins with Derry defeat". May 17, 2024 – via www.rte.ie.
25. https://www.uefa.com/uefaconferenceleague/clubs/players/250067017--anthony-breslin/matches/
26. https://www.stpatsfc.com/news.php?id=9699
27. "Next Generation: Anthony Breslin | Academy | News". Wolverhampton Wanderers FC.
28. "Republic of Ireland - A. Breslin - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". ie.soccerway.com.

External links

• Anthony Breslin Extratime.com Profile
• 'I think it will be a really good game' - Anto Breslin relishing his return to Longford with Bohemians
• Breslin hoping to replicate Bohs euro experience with St. Pats
• Anto Breslin looking to get one over on old club in Sports Direct Men's FAI Cup final
• Anto Breslin backs Saints' teen stars to dazzle in FAI Cup final
• ‘Anto looked at me like I had ten heads’ – How young guns led St Pat’s to Cup glory