Foley, a right back also able to operate in midfield, previously spent twelve years at Luton Town before joining Wolverhampton Wanderers, where he played for seven and a half years. He was part of the Wolves squad which won promotion to the Premier League in 2009.
Club career
Luton Town
Born in London,[1] to Irish parents, Foley joined hometown club Luton Town at the age of nine. He progressed through the youth ranks, winning the Luton Town Young Player of the Season award at the age of seventeen,[2] before signing professional terms with the club at the age of eighteen.[3] He finally broke into the first-team squad in 2002–03, making his league debut on 19 April 2003, in a 2–2 draw with Bristol City.[4] Foley was again named Young Player of the Season for the second consecutive season.[5] The following season, he established himself as first choice right-back at the club and was again named Young Player of the Season for the third consecutive year.[6] Foley won promotion with Luton to the Championship in 2005,[7] and spent two seasons at this level before the club dropped back into League One in 2007.[8] He made a total of 151 appearances for Luton, scoring three times.[9]
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Foley won Wolves' Player of the Season Award in 2009.
On 14 August 2007, Foley joined Championship club Wolverhampton Wanderers on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee,[10] before making his club debut the following day in a League Cup tie against Bradford.[11] He scored his first league goal for the club on 22 September 2007 against Norwich City at Molineux.[12] He ended his first season for Wolves as a regular member of their starting XI, featuring in a total of 49 games, scoring one goal.[13]
The 2008–09 season saw him part of the Wolves team that won the Championship, and so returned to the Premier League. He made a total of 47 appearances, scoring one goal.[14] His performances won him Wolves' Player of the Season Award, voted by the club's fans,[15] as well as a new four-year contract with the club that would keep him at Wolves until at least summer 2013.[16]
Foley made his Premier League debut in the team's opening fixture against West Ham on 15 August 2009. During the 0–2 defeat though he sustained a medial knee ligament injury that kept him out for four months, meaning it was not until December 2009 that he got a sustained run in the team. When he did play it was mostly at right-midfield and central-midfield in a 4–5–1 formation, with players such as Ronald Zubar and Richard Stearman by now favoured in Foley's preferred right-back position.[17]
During the 2010–11 season, Foley scored his only Premier League goals, when he netted in consecutive home games, against Bolton then Sunderland, respectively.[18][19] He made a career-best of 33 top flight appearances, scoring two goals during the campaign as the team narrowly avoided relegation.[20] At the conclusion of the season he signed another contract extension, due to run until summer 2015.[21]
He began the following season but soon had to undergo surgery to treat a long-running ankle problem.[22] Having returned to fitness in January 2012, he was part of the Wolves squad that suffered relegation under Terry Connor.
After a second successive relegation, Foley was rarely used as new manager Kenny Jackett sought to rebuild a new team. In February 2014, Foley agreed a one-month loan with Championship club Blackpool,[23] for whom he made five appearances but was not offered the chance to remain until the end of the season.[24] In November 2014, having not featured for Wolves in the meantime, Foley was again loaned out to Blackpool in a deal that ran until January 2015.[25]
On 12 January 2015, the remainder of Foley's contract with Wolves was cancelled by mutual agreement.[26] In total he made 213 appearances for the club, scoring six goals.[9]
Copenhagen
On 12 January 2015, within hours of confirmation that he had left Wolves, Foley signed a six-months contract with the Danish club F.C. Copenhagen, where he reunited with his former Wolves manager Ståle Solbakken.[27]
In November 2015, after a two-week trial with Shrewsbury Town, Foley began training with Reading with the view to a short-term contract.[28] Foley left Reading without earning a contract.
Ipswich Town
After starting a game for Ipswich Town's U21s in January 2016, Ipswich manager Mick McCarthy recalled Foley impressing him for the Hatters against his Wolves team: "He played against us for Luton at Wolves and at the time had some good wide players, Matt Jarvis and Michael Kightly, and he saw them all off. I signed him on the back of that and he was different class for me. He's a great bloke, he'd fit in fabulously with the lads, if he's all right, if he's fully fit, but he looks it. He's trained with us and he looks the part at the moment, so hopefully he'll get through the game today. He was out playing in Denmark [with FC Copenhagen], he hurt his shoulder and he had to have an operation in the summer. That doesn't bother me too much. If it was his legs it might be bothering me, but it was his shoulder. He's a gentleman, he's a lovely fella, he'd fit in perfectly with the rest of the lads. I hope he proves that he's worth it."[29]
On 22 January 2016, Foley signed for Championship club Ipswich Town on a contract until the end of the 2015–16 season, following the departure of full-backJonathan Parr.[30]
Charlton Athletic and Coventry City
On 5 August 2016, Foley signed for Charlton Athletic on a five-month contract.[31] He made his debut on the opening day of 2016–17 in a 2–0 defeat away to Bury.[32] Foley made 20 appearances for Charlton and was released following the expiration of his contract.[32][33] A day later, he signed for League One club Coventry City on a contract until the end of 2016–17, with a view to a one-year extension.[34] He made his debut in a 1–0 defeat away to Chesterfield on 14 January.[35] Foley was cup-tied for Coventry's win in the 2017 EFL Trophy Final.[36] Foley finished the season with 12 appearances for Coventry,[32] and was one of nine players released when his contract expired at the end of 2016–17.[37]
Billericay Town
On 2 August 2017, Foley signed for Isthmian League Premier Division club Billericay Town.[38] He made his debut 10 days later, starting in Billericay's 1–0 home defeat to Kingstonian on the opening day of 2017–18.[39] Foley started as Billericay beat Chelmsford City 2–1 in the Essex Senior Cup final on 20 March 2018.[40] He was restricted to 21 appearances due to injury, with 15 of those appearances coming in the league,[39][41] as Billericay won the Isthmian League Premier Division title and promotion to the National League South.[42] He was released by Billericay at the end of the season.[43]
International career
Born and raised in England, Foley qualified to play for Ireland as his parents are from County Kerry. He made his debut for Republic of Ireland's under-21 team in May 2004 against Scotland. In 2005, he was named as the FAI Under-21 Player of the Year.[44]
On 29 May 2009, Foley made his senior debut for Ireland against Nigeria in an international friendly.[45] On 26 March 2011, he made his first competitive start for Ireland against Macedonia at right-back playing the full 90 minutes.[46] He played two full games during Ireland's success at the 2011 Nations Cup.[47]
Having been part of the team that achieved Ireland's first qualification for a major tournament since 2002, Foley was initially named in Giovanni Trapattoni's 23-man squad for UEFA Euro 2012.[48] However, he suffered problems with a hamstring during pre-tournament preparations and then did not make the final list.[49] Foley said he "felt betrayed" by Trapattoni's decision to exclude him on the morning of the squad submission.[50][51] His replacement, Paul McShane, did not play a game at the tournament. Foley has not yet returned.[52]
Coaching career
Tampa Bay Rowdies
In 2020, Foley joined former Wolves teammate Neill Collins' staff with the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the USL Championship, the American second division.[53] Foley left his position with the Rowdies following the 2021 season.[54]
Forest Green Rovers
In January 2022, Foley joined former Wolves teammate Rob Edwards' staff with Forest Green Rovers in League Two, the English fourth tier. However, this position was unofficial as stated by the manager on 3 February 2022 in an interview with Gloucestershire Live.[55] Foley left his position with Forest Green at the same time Edwards left in May 2022.
Steven John Howard is a former professional footballer who played as a striker. Howard was usually cited as a typical target man and renowned for his aerial strength.
Kevin William Pilkington is an English football coach and former professional footballer who is now the goalkeeping coach at Premier League club Luton Town.
Richard James Michael Stearman is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender. He is a versatile defender, being able to play in any defensive slot although primarily a centre half or right back.
Jamie Darryl O'Hara is an English football manager, former footballer and radio host.
Stephen Patrick Hunt is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a winger for played for Crystal Palace, Brentford, Reading, Hull City, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Ipswich Town and Coventry City. At international level, he made 39 appearances scoring once for the Republic of Ireland national team. His younger brother, Noel, is also a footballer.
Robert Owen Edwards is a professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back and is currently the manager of Premier League club Luton Town.
Gary McSheffrey is an English football manager and former player who was most recently manager of EFL League Two club Doncaster Rovers.
David Alexander Edwards is a footballer who plays as a midfielder for Cymru Premier club Bala Town.
Matthew John Spring is an English semi-professional footballer and coach who last played as a midfielder for Southern League Premier Division Central club Hitchin Town. He previously played for Luton Town, Leeds United, Watford, Sheffield United, Charlton Athletic, Leyton Orient, Wycombe Wanderers, St Neots Town and Hemel Hempstead Town.
Leon Marvin Clarke is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker.
Alan Michael Anthony Sheehan is an Irish professional football coach and former player who is currently assistant head coach at Swansea City. He played for the Republic of Ireland national under-21 team.
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Michael McIndoe is a Scottish football manager and former professional footballer.
Keith Francis Keane is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for The 61 FC (Luton). He is a former academy player who graduated from the youth ranks at Luton Town. A versatile footballer, Keane played in every position for Luton other than in goal or as a striker, and played for the club across four different divisions.
Ronnie Stephen Henry is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Southern League Premier Central club Royston Town. Henry is also a youth academy coach for Stevenage. He is the first player to lift a competitive trophy at the new Wembley Stadium, as captain of Stevenage in May 2007. Henry is Stevenage's all-time record appearance holder.
Jake Thomas Howells is a former semi-professional footballer who played as a defender or a midfielder for Luton Town. He was capped by the England C team four times from 2009 to 2011 and has represented Wales at under-21 level.
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References
1 2 3 4 5 6 Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p.153. ISBN978-1-84596-601-0.
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