David Cornell

David Cornell

Personal information
Full name	David Joseph Cornell [1]
Date of birth	(1991-03-28) 28 March 1991 (age 33)
Place of birth	Waunarlwydd, Wales [2]
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team	Preston North End
Number	21
Youth career
2007–2009	Swansea City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2009–2015	Swansea City	0	(0)
2011	→ Port Talbot Town (loan) [3]	14	(0)
2011–2012	→ Hereford United (loan)	24	(0)
2013	→ St Mirren (loan)	5	(0)
2015	→ Portsmouth (loan)	0	(0)
2015–2016	Oldham Athletic	14	(0)
2016–2020	Northampton Town	92	(0)
2020–2021	Ipswich Town	10	(0)
2021–2022	Peterborough United	30	(0)
2022–	Preston North End	2	(0)
International career
2007	Wales U17	5	(0)
2009–2010	Wales U19	2	(0)
2010–2012	Wales U21	3	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14:03, 21 January 2024 (UTC)

David Joseph "Dai" Cornell (born 28 March 1991) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for EFL Championship club Preston North End. He is a former Wales under-21 international.

Club career

Swansea City

After progressing through Swansea City's Academy, Cornell was included in Swansea's senior squad for their 2008 pre-season tour of Spain. However the 17-year old's progress was halted when he suffered a serious wrist injury on tour. ^[4] Later that season, Cornell was called up to the first team bench for Swansea's fifth round FA Cup match against Fulham after loan signing Dimitrios Konstantopoulos was unable to extend his stay at the club. ^[5] Ten days later, Cornell was included again on Swansea's bench for the# FA Cup fifth round replay against Fulham. ^[6] After impressing manager Roberto Martínez, Cornell was installed as Dorus de Vries' understudy for the rest of the 2008–09 season but made no further appearances in Swansea's remaining matchday squads. ^[4]

Cornell made his professional debut for Swansea on 25 August 2009 when he was named in the starting line-up for the League Cup match against Scunthorpe United. ^[7] In February 2010, Cornell signed a new three-and-a-half year contract with Swansea to keep him at the club until July 2013. ^[8] In the 2009–10 season, Cornell was included on the bench for 45 of Swansea's 46 Football League Championship games.

Following loan spells at Port Talbot Town and Hereford United, Cornell returned to Swansea for the 2012–13 season as third choice goalkeeper. In September 2012, Cornell signed a new three-year deal, keeping him at the club until July 2015. ^[9] Due to injuries to Michel Vorm and Gerhard Tremmel, Cornell was included on the bench on 14 occasions for Swansea during the season.

On 28 May 2015, Swansea City confirmed that Cornell had been released from the club.^{[ citation needed ]}

Port Talbot Town (loan)

In the 2010–11 season, Cornell fell down the pecking order at Swansea following the signing of Yves Ma-Kalambay as cover for Dorus de Vries and was loaned out to Welsh Premier League side Port Talbot Town during the second half of the season to gain first team experience. ^[10] Cornell made 14 appearances for Port Talbot, keeping 5 clean sheets.

Hereford United (loan)

After Swansea's promotion to the Premier League, Cornell's opportunities were further limited. In August 2011 Football League Two side Hereford United signed Cornell on an initial one-month loan deal as cover for Adam Bartlett. ^[11] After some impressive performances, Cornell's loan was extended by Hereford until the end of the 2011–12 season. ^[12] Cornell made 27 appearances in all competitions for Hereford.

St Mirren (loan)

On 1 July 2013, Cornell joined St Mirren on a season-long loan. ^[13] Cornell made 6 appearances in all competitions for St Mirren before his loan was cancelled in December 2013. ^[14]

Portsmouth (loan)

On 17 March 2015, Cornell joined Portsmouth on a one-month loan deal. ^[15] He did not make an appearance for the club before returning to Swansea in April. ^[16]

Oldham Athletic

Following his release from Swansea City, Cornell joined League One team Oldham Athletic in July 2015 on a one-year contract with the option of an additional year extension. ^[17] He made his debut against Middlesbrough in the League Cup on 12 August 2015. Cornell made 17 appearances for Oldham during the 2015–16 season. ^[18]

Northampton Town

In June 2016, Cornell joined Northampton Town on a two-year contract. ^[19] He made his debut for Northampton on 30 August 2016 against Wycombe Wanderers in the EFL Trophy. He featured as the second choice keeper during his first season at the club, behind first choice goalkeeper Adam Smith, making 10 appearances in all competitions with 6 of those being in the league. ^[20]

He continued as second choice keeper for Northampton during the following season, making 12 appearances during the season as Northampton suffered relegation from League One. ^[21] He was offered a new contract by Northampton at the end of the 2017–18 season, following their relegation. ^[22]

Cornell became the first choice keeper at Northampton during the 2018–19 season. He started every league game for Northampton, making 48 appearances in total in all competitions. ^[23]

He kept his place as the starting goalkeeper in the first-team the following season. He made 33 starts and 1 substitute appearance in the league, helping Northampton to a 7th-placed finish in League Two and qualification for the League Two play-offs as a result. Northampton won promotion to League One after defeating Exeter City 4–0 in the 2020 EFL League One play-off final at Wembley Stadium. He was an unused substitute during the final. He made 38 appearances in total during the 2019–20 season. ^[24] Cornell was released at the end of the 2019–2020 season after not receiving a new contract offer from the club. ^[25]

Ipswich Town

On 17 August 2020, Cornell joined Ipswich Town on a free transfer, signing a two-year contract with the option of an additional year extension. ^[26] He started his Ipswich career as second-choice keeper behind Tomáš Holý, appearing in cup competitions during the early months of the 2020–21 season, he played in all of Ipswich's EFL Trophy group stage matches, as well as in the EFL Cup and FA Cup. He made his first league appearance on 28 November, in a 0–2 loss to Charlton Athletic, before going on to make six consecutive league starts, his longest run in the team to date. He made a return to the first-team after over three months out in a 0–0 draw with AFC Wimbledon on 24 April, saving a penalty to keep a clean sheet. ^[27]

On 11 June 2021, the club announced that Cornell had left the club by mutual consent with a year remaining on his contract, after being informed that he was no longer in the club's plans for next season. He departed having made 15 appearances for the Blues in all competitions, keeping four clean sheets. ^[28]

Peterborough United

On 29 June 2021, Cornell joined Peterborough United on a free transfer, signing a two-year contract. ^[29] He started his career in Peterborough as a reserve keeper behind Christy Pym. He made his Peterborough debut in the EFL Cup on 10 August 2021, in a 4–0 loss. After Christy Pym bust-up with the Peterborough United boss Darren Ferguson in a 3–1 loss to Reading on 14 September 2021, Pym has been excluded from the first-team picture. This allowed Cornell to take his place for this season. He made his Championship debut in a 3–0 win against Birmingham City.

Preston North End

On 27 June 2022, Cornell signed on a two-year deal for Championship team Preston North End on a free transfer, after the expiration of his contract with Peterborough United.

International career

Cornell made his debut for the Wales under-17 side on 25 March 2007, in a 3–0 defeat to Belarus, ^[30] and went on to win five caps at under-17 level, his last coming on 6 October 2007 in a 2–2 draw with Spain in the qualifying round of the 2008 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship. ^[31] In August 2009, he received his first call-up to the Wales under-21 side to face Italy, ^[32] but remained on the bench.

In November 2009, he made his debut for the Wales under-19 side, playing in consecutive defeats to Portugal and Spain in the qualifying round of the 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship. ^[33] The day after, Cornell was handed a shock call-up to the Wales senior squad, for their friendly match against Scotland due to the playing commitments of Owain Fôn Williams, and Lewis Price, and an injury to Boaz Myhill. ^[34] Cornell however was not included in the matchday squad. ^[35]

Cornell made his debut for the Wales under-21 side on 18 May 2010 in a 1–0 defeat to Austria under-21s.^{[ citation needed ]}

Cornell was called up to the Wales senior squad again in October 2010 for the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying match against Switzerland. He was an unused substitute in a match that Wales lost 4–1. ^[36]

Personal life

Cornell often goes by the name 'Dai', a Welsh abbreviation of his first name. ^[37]

Career statistics

As of match played 21 January 2024

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Swansea City	2009–10 [38]	Championship	0	0	0	0	1	0	—		1	0
	2010–11 [39]		0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2011–12 [40]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2012–13 [41]		0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2013–14 [42]		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2014–15 [16]		0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
Port Talbot Town (loan)	2010–11	Welsh Premier League	14	0	0	0	—		—		14	0
Hereford United (loan)	2011–12 [40]	League Two	24	0	0	0	1	0	1 [lower-alpha 1]	0	26	0
St Mirren (loan)	2013–14 [42]	Scottish Premiership	5	0	0	0	1	0	—		6	0
Portsmouth (loan)	2014–15 [16]	League Two	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Oldham Athletic	2015–16 [18]	League One	14	0	1	0	1	0	1 [lower-alpha 1]	0	17	0
Northampton Town	2016–17 [20]	League One	6	0	1	0	0	0	3 [lower-alpha 2]	0	10	0
	2017–18 [21]		6	0	2	0	1	0	3 [lower-alpha 2]	0	12	0
	2018–19 [23]	League Two	46	0	1	0	0	0	1 [lower-alpha 2]	0	48	0
	2019–20 [24]		34	0	3	0	1	0	0	0	38	0
	Total		92	0	7	0	2	0	7	0	108	0
Ipswich Town	2020–21 [43]	League One	10	0	1	0	1	0	3 [lower-alpha 2]	0	15	0
Peterborough United	2021–22 [44]	Championship	30	0	1	0	1	0	—		32	0
Preston North End	2022–23 [45]	Championship	0	0	0	0	1	0	—		1	0
	2023–24 [46]		2	0	0	0	1	0	—		3	0
	Total		2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	4	0
Career total			191	0	9	0	10	0	12	0	222	0

1. Appearance in Football League Trophy
2. Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy

Honours

Northampton Town

• EFL League Two play-offs: 2020 ^[47]

References

1. "Premier League Clubs submit Squad Lists" (PDF). Premier League. 1 February 2013. p. 34. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
2. Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2012). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2012–2013 (43rd ed.). London: Headline. p. 538. ISBN   978-0-7553-6356-8.
3. "Welsh Premier career details for David Cornell". Welsh Premier League. Archived from the original on 20 September 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
4. "Young keeper earns Martinez vote". BBC Sport. 12 February 2009. Retrieved 13 February 2009.
5. "Swansea 1–1 Fulham". BBC News. 14 February 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2009.
6. "Fulham 2–1 Swansea". BBC News. 24 February 2009. Retrieved 24 February 2009.
7. "Swansea 1–2 Scunthorpe". BBC News. Retrieved 26 August 2009.
8. "Goalkeeper David Cornell pens new Swansea contract". BBC News. 3 February 2010. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
9. "Cornell signs new Swans deal". Sky Sports. 18 September 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
10. "Cornell to follow an established Welsh Premier path". Wales Online. 6 January 2011. Archived from the original on 17 January 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
11. "Hereford sign Swansea keeper David Cornell on loan". BBC News. 19 August 2011. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
12. "Hereford United extend loan of Swansea's David Cornell". BBC News. 31 August 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
13. "St Mirren: Keepers David Cornell & Christopher Dilo sign deals". BBC News. 1 July 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
14. "St Mirren: Marian Kello stays on as three leave Paisley". BBC News. 31 December 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
15. "Portsmouth: Blues loan Swansea Stopper". Portsmouth FC. 17 March 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
16. "Games played by David Cornell in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
17. "Oldham sign ex-Swansea goalkeeper". BBC News. 10 July 2015. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
18. "Games played by David Cornell in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
19. "Cornell joins Northamptiom". BBC News.
20. "Games played by David Cornell in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
21. "Games played by David Cornell in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
22. "Northampton Town: Goalkeeper David Cornell signs new deal as three leave". BBC News. 8 May 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
23. "Games played by David Cornell in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
24. "Games played by David Cornell in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
25. Slack, Joshua (4 July 2020). "David Cornell: Former Wales under-21 goalkeeper to leave Northampton Town". Y Clwb Pêl-Droed – The Football Club.
26. "Town Land Trio". Ipswich Town F.C. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
27. "Ipswich Town 0–0 AFC Wimbledon". BBC Sport. 24 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
28. Jacob Henderson (11 June 2021). "CORNELL CONTRACT MUTUALLY TERMINATED". Ipswich Town F.C.
29. "Town Land Trio". Peterborough United F.C. 29 June 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
30. "Belarus 3–0 Wales". For All Wins. 25 March 2007. Retrieved 7 November 2009.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
31. "Spain 2–2 Wales". For All Wins. 6 October 2007. Archived from the original on 21 November 2008. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
32. "Wales under-21 squad v Italy". For All Wins. 20 August 2009. Archived from the original on 8 September 2009. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
33. "Portugal 3–0 Wales". For All Wins. 3 November 2009. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
    - "Spain 1–0 Wales". For All Wins. 5 November 2009. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
34. "Cornell wins surprise Wales call". BBC Sport . 6 November 2009. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
35. "Wales 3–0 Scotland". BBC Sport. 14 November 2009. Retrieved 14 November 2009.
36. "Switzerland 4–1 Wales". BBC Sport. 12 October 2010. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
37. "The time was right for Cornell to take on a new challenge.... now he's got it at Ipswich". East Anglian Daily Times. 15 August 2010. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
38. "Games played by David Cornell in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
39. "Games played by David Cornell in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
40. "Games played by David Cornell in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
41. "Games played by David Cornell in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
42. "Games played by David Cornell in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
43. "Games played by David Cornell in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
44. "Games played by David Cornell in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
45. "Games played by David Cornell in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
46. "Games played by David Cornell in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
47. Pilnick, Brent (29 June 2020). "Exeter City 0–4 Northampton Town". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 June 2020.

External links

• David Cornell at Soccerbase