Eoin Toal

Eoin Toal

Personal information
Date of birth	(1999-02-15) 15 February 1999 (age 25)
Place of birth	Armagh, Northern Ireland
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) [1]
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	Bolton Wanderers
Number	18
Youth career
	Armagh City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2015–2017	Armagh City
2017–2022	Derry City	140	(5)
2022–	Bolton Wanderers	61	(7)
International career‡
	Northern Ireland U15
2015	Northern Ireland U17	3	(0)
2017	Northern Ireland U19	3	(1)
2019–2020	Northern Ireland U21	13	(0)
2023–	Northern Ireland	2	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12:00, 21 April 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20:13, 17 November 2023 (UTC)

Eoin Toal (born 15 February 1999) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays as a defender for Bolton Wanderers and the Northern Ireland national team.

Early and personal life

Toal was born in Armagh. ^[1] One of his uncles, Peter Rafferty, and one of his cousins, Ethan Rafferty, played for Armagh in Gaelic football. Peter later managed Armagh U21 to All-Ireland glory in 2004. Eoin himself played Gaelic football until the age of 14, deciding instead to switch to association football. Another uncle, Mickey Toal, and another cousin, Thomas Mackle, both played Irish road bowling, with Mickey considered a legend in the sport, whilst Thomas has won the All-Ireland Championship. ^{[2] [3]}

Club career

Toal began his career with Armagh City, captaining the youth team and making his first-team debut in 2015 aged 16, making over 50 appearances for the club in all competitions, before moving to Derry City in 2017. ^[4] He served as club captain for Derry City, making 155 appearances for the club in all competitions. ^[5] He started and played in the 2019 League of Ireland Cup final, and even converted one of the penalties in the penalty shootout, but it wasn't enough as they lost to Dundalk. ^{[6] [3]}

Toal signed for Bolton Wanderers in July 2022 on a three-year contract. ^{[7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]} It was reported in 2024 that Bolton paid £50,000 for the defender. ^[13]

Toal picked up an ankle injury towards the end of his time at Derry, choosing to play through the injury as he did not want to miss their matches in the UEFA Europa Conference League against Riga. In doing so, he worsened the injury which caused him to miss Bolton's pre-season, as well as the start of their season. ^[14] Upon his return from injury, he played for Bolton's B team to build up match fitness. ^{[15] [16]} He then stepped up his recovery by playing matches in the EFL Trophy. ^[17] After more matches for the B team, as well as the EFL Trophy, Toal made his Football League debut on 2 December 2022 in a 1–1 draw against Bristol Rovers, ^[18] with Toal being praised for his performance. ^[19] Three weeks later he scored his first Bolton goal, scoring the equaliser in a 1–1 draw with Lincoln City. ^{[20] [21]} He received praise from his team mates for how well he had played during the start of his Bolton career ^[22] and was named Bolton Player of the Month for December 2022. ^[23] On 2 April, he started in the 2023 EFL Trophy final which Bolton won 4–0 against Plymouth Argyle. ^[24] He was forced off towards the end of the match after a challenge by Sam Cosgrove, with Bolton manager Ian Evatt accusing Cosgrove of injuring him on purpose. A few days later, it was revealed the injury would possibly keep Toal out for the rest of the season. ^[25] Toal recovered much earlier than expected though, allowing him to return for Bolton's last few games of the season. ^[26] On 4 March 2024, he signed a new three-year contract with Bolton. ^[13]

International career

Toal first played international football with the Northern Ireland under-15 team. ^[3] He later played three times for the under-17 team in 2015, three times for the under-19 team in 2017, and 13 times for the under-21 team between 2019 and 2020. He scored one goal during this time, on 7 October 2017 in a 7–1 defeat against Germany under-19. ^[27] He captained the under-21 team on multiple occasions. ^[3]

On 7 March 2023, he received his first call-up to the Northern Irish senior national team by manager Michael O'Neill, for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches against San Marino and Finland. ^{[28] [29] [30]} His debut came seven months later on 17 October when he started in a 1–0 qualifier defeat against Slovenia. ^[31]

Career statistics

As of match played 20 April 2024

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Derry City	2017 [1]	League of Ireland Premier Division	3	0	0	0	0	0	—		3	0
	2018 [1]	League of Ireland Premier Division	30	1	0	0	2	0	—		32	1
	2019 [1]	League of Ireland Premier Division	35	2	2	0	4	0	—		41	2
	2020 [1]	League of Ireland Premier Division	18	0	2	0	—		1 [lower-alpha 1]	1	21	1
	2021 [1]	League of Ireland Premier Division	34	1	2	0	—		—		36	1
	2022 [1]	League of Ireland Premier Division	20	1	0	0	—		2 [lower-alpha 2]	0	22	1
	Total		140	5	6	0	6	0	3	1	155	6
Bolton Wanderers	2022–23 [32]	League One	22	3	0	0	0	0	9 [lower-alpha 3]	0	31	3
	2023–24 [33]	League One	39	4	3	0	1	0	4 [lower-alpha 4]	0	47	4
	Total		61	7	3	0	1	0	13	0	78	7
Career total			201	12	9	0	7	0	16	1	233	13

1. Appearance in UEFA Europa League
2. Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
3. Seven appearances in EFL Trophy, two appearances in the League One play-offs
4. Appearances in EFL Trophy

International

As of match played 26 March 2024 ^[34]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Northern Ireland	2023	3	0
	2024	2	0
Total		5	0

Honours

Derry City

• League of Ireland Cup runner-up: 2019 ^[6]

Bolton Wanderers

• EFL Trophy: 2022–23 ^[24]

References

1. Eoin Toal at Soccerway
2. Watters, Andy (22 July 2022). ""Huge congratulations to our very own Eoin Toal..." Armagh club Grange in tribute as former player seals switch to Bolton Wanderers". The Irish News.
3. Watters, Andy (10 February 2021). "From Grange to the Brandywell: New Derry City skipper Eoin Toal does things his own way". The Irish News.
4. Darragh, Oran. "'Our man from Armagh' – Bolton Wanderers sign former City player Eoin Toal". Armagh I.
5. Fullerton, Gareth (20 July 2022). "Ex-Northern Ireland Under 21 defender seals move to Bolton Wanderers". BelfastLive.
6. McLaughlin, Kevin (14 September 2019). "Dundalk bag EA Sports Cup after shootout win over Derry" – via www.rte.ie.
7. "Bolton confirm signing of Eoin Toal from Derry City on three-year deal". independent.
8. "Bolton sign defender Toal from Derry City". BBC Sport.
9. "Just what can we expect from Wanderers defensive 'project' Eoin Toal?". The Bolton News.
10. "'Eoin ticks all the boxes' - Evatt's delight at new defensive signing Toal".
11. McDougall, John (20 July 2022). "Toal's first words as Bolton player after Derry City transfer". Manchester Evening News.
12. ""I want to wish him every success at his new club and in his career going forward."". www.derryjournal.com.
13. "Eoin Toal 'proud' to sign three-year contract extension at Bolton Wanderers". The Bolton News. 4 March 2024.
14. "How Eoin Toal's European dream hindered his early Wanderers career". The Bolton News.
15. "Toal Ready For B Team Bow". www.bwfc.co.uk.
16. "Eoin Toal plays 45 minutes as Wanderers' B Team lose against Blackpool". uk.sports.yahoo.com.
17. "Toal Revels In Trophy Taster". www.bwfc.co.uk.
18. "Bolton Wanderers 1-1 Bristol Rovers". BBC Sport.
19. McDougall, John (3 December 2022). "Four ups & two downs for Bolton from Bristol Rovers draw". Manchester Evening News.
20. "MATCH REACTION: Ian Evatt gives his verdict on Wanderers' 1-1 draw at Lincoln". The Bolton News.
21. "Lincoln City 1-1 Bolton Wanderers". BBC Sport.
22. "'Unbelievable!' - Jones gives credit to Toal after League One debut". The Bolton News.
23. "Your @bolton_kia Player of the Month for December is Eoin Toal. Well deserved, @Eointoal7!".
24. Pilnick, Brent (2 April 2023). "Bolton Wanderers 4–0 Plymouth Argyle". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
25. "TEAM NEWS: Eoin Toal likely to miss rest of League One season". The Bolton News.
26. "TEAM NEWS: Defender set to return for Wanderers in must-win Fleetwood clash". The Bolton News.
27. "Eoin Toal » Internationals". worldfootball.net.
28. "Michael O'Neill names Northern Ireland squad for opening Euro qualifiers". IFA. 7 March 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
29. Barnes, Dan (7 March 2023). "Wanderers defender Eoin Toal earns first Northern Ireland call-up". The Bolton News. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
30. "Who are O'Neill's four uncapped NI call-ups?". BBC Sport.
31. "Northern Ireland 0-1 Slovenia: Shea Charles sent off for home side as Group H leaders win at Windsor Park". Sky Sports.
32. "Games played by Eoin Toal in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
33. "Games played by Eoin Toal in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
34. "Eoin Toal". worldfootball.net.