Louie Annesley

Louie Annesley

Personal information
Full name	Louie John Annesley
Date of birth	(2000-05-03) 3 May 2000 (age 24)
Place of birth	St Helier, London, England
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position(s)	Centre-back, defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team	Braintree Town
Number	5
Youth career
0000–2015	Chelsea
2015–2016	AFC Wimbledon
2017–2018	Barnet
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2016–2017	Cobham	10	(0)
2017–2018	Barnet	0	(0)
2018–2019	Lincoln Red Imps	3	(0)
2019–2023	Blackburn Rovers	0	(0)
2021–2022	→ Woking (loan)	18	(0)
2022	→ Barnet (loan)	1	(0)
2023–2024	Dundalk	19	(2)
2024–	Braintree Town	19	(2)
International career‡
2015	Gibraltar U16	3	(1)
2015–2016	Gibraltar U17	5	(0)
2016	Gibraltar U19	3	(0)
2017–2018	Gibraltar U21	8	(0)
2018–	Gibraltar	48	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:15, 30 November 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15:58, 15 November 2024 (UTC)

Louie John Annesley (born 3 May 2000) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for National League club Braintree Town. Born in England, he represents the Gibraltar national team. For the national team, he has also been utilised as a holding midfielder.

Club career

Early career

As a youth Annesley spent time with both AFC Wimbledon ^[1] and Chelsea. ^[2] Annesley started his senior career at non-League side Cobham, breaking into the senior side and making ten appearances in his only season at the club in the Combined Counties Football League. ^[3] This attracted the attention of Barnet, who signed him to their academy in 2017. He left in early 2018, signing for Gibraltar Premier Division champions Lincoln Red Imps in July 2018. He made his debut on 26 July 2018 in the UEFA Europa League first leg against The New Saints.

Blackburn Rovers and loans

In January 2019, despite only playing three league games for the Red Imps and primarily featuring in their Intermediate League squad, he signed for EFL Championship side Blackburn Rovers on a deal until June 2021, initially to play in their development side. ^[4] Annesley made his Rovers under-23 debut on 4 February, coming off the bench for the final 18 minutes of his side's 7–1 victory over Leicester City in the Premier League 2. ^[5] He picked up his first piece of silverware at Rovers on 7 May 2019, when he started in the 2–0 Lancashire Senior Cup final victory over local rivals Burnley. ^[6] He captained the U23s for the first time on 8 March 2021, also scoring his first goal in a 5–1 win over Southampton B in the Premier League 2. ^[7] In June 2021, he signed a new two-year contract with the club. ^[8]

On 29 October 2021, Annesley joined National League side, Woking on loan until 4 December 2021 ^[9] and made his debut a day later, in a 3–2 home victory over Altrincham, playing the full 90 minutes. ^[10] On 6 December 2021, his loan was extended for a further month until the new year, following five first-team appearances. ^[11] On 5 January 2022, Annesley's loan was extended once more, this time until the end of the current campaign. ^[12] On 25 January 2022, during a 1–0 away defeat to Bromley, Annesley was sent off for the first time in his playing career, receiving two yellows in the space of two minutes. ^[13]

In the 2022–23 season, Annesley was elevated to the first team squad for the first time, being given the number 39 shirt. He made his debut in the Carabao Cup second round tie against Bradford City on 23 August 2022, playing the full game and making a crucial late block to ensure a 2–1 victory for Blackburn. ^[14]

On 22 November 2022, Annesley rejoined National League side, Barnet on loan until 20 December 2022. ^[15]

Dundalk

On 10 January 2023, Annesley signed a multi-year contract for League of Ireland Premier Division side Dundalk FC. ^[16] After registering an assist on his debut against UCD, ^[17] he scored his first goal for the club on 3 March in the 15th minute of a 5–0 in over St Patrick's Athletic. ^[18] However, shortly after the game he was taken ill, spending 3 weeks in hospital with before returning to light training in April. ^[19] The illness was later revealed to be sepsis, ^[20] and caused him to temporarily lose the ability to walk. ^[21] In a season heavily disrupted by injury, Annesley played 18 games in total, scoring twice.

On 15 March 2024, Annesley was appointed Dundalk captain for the first time in place of injured captain and vice-captain John Mountney and Andy Boyle, in a 0–0 draw with Waterford. ^[22] However, after the departure of manager Stephen O'Donnell saw him frozen out of the team, and he eventually left the club in June 2024.

Braintree Town

On 28 June 2024, Annesley joined newly promoted National League side Braintree Town on a free transfer. ^[23]

International career

Annesley is the first player to have represented Gibraltar at every level from U16 to senior level, first appearing for the under-16 side in March 2015 while on the books at Chelsea.^{[ citation needed ]} Later that year, he made his debut for the Gibraltar U17 national team, with whom he earned five caps. In 2016, he played three games for the Gibraltar U19 ^[24] before earning a call up for the first Gibraltar U21 in 2017, with whom he has eight caps to date. Annesley notably made a late goal-line clearance in Gibraltar U21s' 1–0 victory over North Macedonia.

In March 2018, Annesley made his debut for the senior national team, ^[25] starting at the last minute after an injury to Joseph Chipolina in the warm-up. He was substituted in the second half as they held on for a 1–0 win over Latvia. He earned his second senior cap on 13 October, coming off the bench in another 1–0 victory, this time away at Armenia to win Gibraltar's first competitive points at senior level. ^[26]

Personal life

Annesley was born in St. Helier, London,^{[ citation needed ]} and was educated at Wimbledon College. ^[27] Alongside his playing career, he is a coach and analyst with Monster Mentality Sports, a personal football coaching service. ^[28]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 10 December 2024

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup [a]		Continental [b]		Other [c]		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Cobham	2016–17 [29]	Combined Counties League Division One	10	0	0	0	—		—		0	0	10	0
Barnet	2017–18 [30]	League Two	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0	0	0
Lincoln Red Imps	2018–19 [31] [30]	Gibraltar Premier Division	3	0	0	0	—		1	0	0	0	4	0
Blackburn Rovers	2018–19 [30]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
	2019–20 [30]		0	0	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
	2020–21 [30]		0	0	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
	2021–22 [30]		0	0	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
	2022–23 [30]		0	0	0	0	1	0	—		—		1	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	1	0	—		—		1	0
Woking (loan)	2021–22 [30]	National League	18	0	—		—		—		4 [d]	1	22	1
Barnet (loan)	2022–23 [30]	National League	1	0	1	0	—		—		2 [e]	0	4	0
Dundalk	2023	LOI Premier Division	14	2	1	0	—		3	0	0	0	18	2
	2024		5	0	—		—		—		1 [f]	0	6	0
	Total		19	2	1	0	—		3	0	1	0	24	2
Braintree Town	2024–25 [30]	National League	19	2	1	0	2	0	—		1	0	23	2
Career total			70	4	3	0	3	0	4	0	8	1	88	5

1. Includes EFL Cup and National League Cup
2. Includes UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League
3. Includes FA Trophy and local cups where mentioned
4. Three appearances and one goal in the Surrey Senior Cup, one appearance in the FA Trophy
5. One appearance in the Middlesex Senior Cup, one appearance in the FA Trophy
6. Appearance in Leinster Senior Cup

International

As of match played 15 November 2024

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Gibraltar U17	2015	3	0
	2016	2	0
Total		5	0
Gibraltar U19	2016	3	0
Total		3	0
Gibraltar U21	2017	6	0
	2018	2	0
Total		8	0
Gibraltar	2018	3	0
	2019	6	0
	2020	6	0
	2021	10	0
	2022	10	1
	2023	4	0
	2024	9	0
Total		48	1

International goals

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	26 September 2022	Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar	Georgia	1–2	1–2	2022–23 UEFA Nations League

Honours

Blackburn Rovers

• Lancashire Senior Cup: 2018–19, 2019–20

References

1. "Dare to Dream" (PDF). Cobham F.C. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
2. "Chelsea Foundation Plays Part in Children Forum". Chelsea FC. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
3. Cobham FC Newsletter - Issue 7 2016/17
4. Rovers land highly-rated Louie Blackburn Rovers Official Website. 30 January 2019. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
5. Report: Rovers U23s 7 Leicester City U23s 1 Blackburn Rovers Official Website. 4 February 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
6. LSCF Report: Rovers 2 Burnley 0 Blackburn Rovers official website. 7 May 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
7. Rovers remain Man City's closest rivals after Southampton win Lancashire Telegraph. 8 March 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
8. Louie lands new deal. Blackburn Rovers. 15 June 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
9. O'Sullivan, Daniel (29 October 2021). "Annesley Signs on Loan". Woking F.C. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
10. "Woking vs. Altrincham". Soccerway. 30 October 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
11. O'Sullivan, Daniel (6 December 2021). "Annesley Loan Extension". Woking F.C. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
12. "Annesley extends Cards stay". Blackburn Rovers F.C. 5 January 2022. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
13. "Bromley vs. Woking". Soccerway. 25 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
14. Annesley debuts for Blackburn Rovers with last minute goal-saving block Gibraltar Chronicle. 23 August 2022. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
15. "Loan switch for Louie". Blackburn Rovers Official Site. 22 November 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
16. Gibraltar international Louie Annesley leaves Blackburn Rovers Lancashire Telegraph. 10 January 2023. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
17. Ciaran Behan's stunner earns UCD a draw away to Dundalk Irish Examiner. 17 February 2023. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
18. Five-star Dundalk tear St Pat's apart for first win of the season The42.ie. 3 March 2023. Retrieved 4 March 2023.
19. Annesley on the Road to Recovery Dundalk FC. 5 April 2023. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
20. INSIDE ORIEL: Louie Annesley Dundalk FC. 11 May 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
21. Dundalk star on facing Kylian Mbappé and Ireland just three months after a sepsis scare that left him unable to walk Irish Mirror. 23 June 2023. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
22. Dundalk 0-0 Waterford Dundalk FC. 16 March 2024. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
23. Annesley Leaves to join Braintree Town Dundalk FC. 28 June 2024. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
24. GIBRALTAR UNDER-19S SQUAD NAMED FOR EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP Football Gibraltar. 4 October 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
25. GIBRALTAR VS SERBIA: LOUIE ANNESLEY Football Gibraltar. 22 March 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
26. Wrong anthem, right result for Gibraltar in 1st win The Washington Post . 13 October 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
27. "WC Sports Department on Twitter". Twitter. 8 June 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
28. Team Monster Mentality Sports. Retrieved 1 December 2024.
29. "Louis Annesley Player Stats". The Football Association . Retrieved 29 October 2021.
30. "L. Annesley". Soccerway. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
31. "Louie Annesley". National Football Teams. Retrieved 29 October 2021.

External links

• Louie Annesley at Soccerway
• World Football