Damien Delaney Facts for Kids

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Damien Delaney
Personal information
Delaney playing for Crystal Palace in 2016
Full name	Damien Finbarr Delaney
Date of birth	(1981-07-20) 20 July 1981 (age 43)
Place of birth	Cork, Ireland
Height	1.91 m
Playing position	Centre back
Youth career
	Avondale United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
2000	Cork City	9	(0)
2000–2002	Leicester City	8	(0)
2001–2002	→ Stockport County (loan)	12	(1)
2002	→ Huddersfield Town (loan)	2	(0)
2002	→ Mansfield Town (loan)	7	(0)
2002–2008	Hull City	224	(5)
2008–2009	Queens Park Rangers	54	(2)
2009–2012	Ipswich Town	98	(2)
2012–2018	Crystal Palace	170	(6)
2018	Cork City	10	(1)
2019	Waterford	20	(1)
Total		614	(18)
National team^‡
2008–2014	Republic of Ireland	9	(0)
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 01:20, 5 July 2019 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:37, 25 May 2014 (UTC)

Damien Finbarr Delaney (born 20 July 1981) is an Irish former professional footballer. He played as a defender for many teams.

Delaney started his career at Cork City in Ireland. He then moved to England to play for clubs like Leicester City and Hull City. He also played for Queens Park Rangers and Ipswich Town.

His most important time was with Crystal Palace. He helped them get promoted to the Premier League. He played for Crystal Palace for six seasons. After that, he returned to Cork City and later played for Waterford. Damien announced his retirement from football on 4 July 2019. Since then, he has worked as a football expert on TV.

Early Life and Other Sports
Club Career Highlights
Playing for Ireland
Career Statistics
- Club
- International
Honours
See also

Early Life and Other Sports

Damien Delaney was born in Cork, Ireland. He went to Coláiste Chríost Rí school. He started playing football at a young age for a local club called Avondale United. Later, he joined Cork City.

Besides football, Damien was also good at Gaelic football. He played for the Cork minor team. In 1999, he won a championship with them. He was a talented player in both sports before choosing to focus on professional football.

Club Career Highlights

Starting at Cork City

Damien showed his talent early on. He scored a goal in the final of the FAI Youth Cup in 2000, which Cork City won. Soon after, he joined the main team. He scored in his very first senior game in July 2000.

He also played in European matches for Cork City. He made his debut in the League of Ireland in August 2000. After playing nine league games, he moved to England.

Playing for Leicester City and Hull City

Damien joined Leicester City in England. He played eight games in the Premier League for them. During his time at Leicester, he also played on loan for other teams. These included Stockport County, Huddersfield Town, and Mansfield Town. He scored his first goal in England while playing for Stockport.

In 2002, he joined Hull City. At first, he played in different positions. But when he played as a centre-back, he became much better. He was voted Player of the Year in the 2003–04 season. That year, Hull City won promotion to a higher league. His goal against Rochdale was even voted Goal of the Season!

Damien was a very useful player for Hull City. He could play in different positions when needed. He was also the last Hull City player to score at their old stadium, Boothferry Park.

Time at Queens Park Rangers

In January 2008, Damien moved to Queens Park Rangers (QPR). He signed a contract for three and a half years. He scored his first goal for QPR in March 2008.

Joining Ipswich Town

Damien signed with Ipswich Town in July 2009. The club paid £750,000 for him. In 2010, he had a very serious injury during pre-season that needed urgent surgery. He scored his first goal for Ipswich in November 2010. This was in a big local game called the East Anglian derby. He later left the club in August 2012.

Success at Crystal Palace

After leaving Ipswich, Damien joined Crystal Palace in August 2012. He quickly became an important player for them. He scored his first goal for Palace in a thrilling 4–3 win against Burnley. Because he played so well, he signed a new contract.

He helped Crystal Palace get promoted to the Premier League in 2013. He scored his first Premier League goal in a 3–3 draw against Liverpool. Crystal Palace was losing 3–0, but they came back to draw. Damien was a regular player for Palace for four seasons in the Premier League. He played 193 games for the club and scored seven goals. He stayed with them until the end of the 2017–18 season.

Returning to Ireland

After leaving Crystal Palace, Damien returned to his first club, Cork City. He rejoined them on 1 July 2018. He played 14 games and scored one goal. His first goal back in the League of Ireland was against Derry. He left Cork City at the end of the 2018 season.

In early 2019, Damien signed for Waterford for the 2019 season. He played 20 games for them. He left the club when he announced his retirement from football in July 2019.

Playing for Ireland

Damien was called up to the Republic of Ireland squad for the first time in May 2008. This was by the new manager, Giovanni Trapattoni. In May 2011, he played his first full game for Ireland. This was against Northern Ireland, and Ireland won 5–0. In October 2013, he made his first competitive appearance for Ireland in a World Cup qualifier against Germany.

Career Statistics

Club

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Europe		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Cork City	2000–01	League of Ireland	9	0	0	0	3	0	2	0	2	1	16	1
Leicester City	2000–01	Premier League	5	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	–		7	0
	2001–02	Premier League	3	0	0	0	1	0	–		–		4	0
	Total		8	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	–		11	0
Stockport County (loan)	2001–02	First Division	12	1	0	0	0	0	–		–		12	1
Huddersfield Town (loan)	2001–02	Second Division	2	0	0	0	0	0	–		0	0	2	0
Mansfield Town (loan)	2002–03	Second Division	7	0	0	0	0	0	–		0	0	7	0
Hull City	2002–03	Third Division	30	1	1	0	0	0	–		0	0	31	1
	2003–04	Third Division	46	2	1	0	1	0	–		0	0	48	2
	2004–05	League One	43	1	3	0	1	0	–		–		47	1
	2005–06	Championship	46	0	1	0	1	0	–		–		48	0
	2006–07	Championship	37	1	1	0	1	0	–		–		39	1
	2007–08	Championship	22	0	1	0	3	0	–		0	0	26	0
	Total		224	5	8	0	7	0	–		–		239	5
Queens Park Rangers	2007–08	Championship	17	1	0	0	0	0	–		–		17	1
	2008–09	Championship	37	1	2	0	3	1	–		–		42	2
	Total		54	2	2	0	3	1	–		–		59	3
Ipswich Town	2009–10	Championship	36	0	2	0	1	0	–		–		39	0
	2010–11	Championship	32	2	0	0	4	1	–		–		36	3
	2011–12	Championship	29	0	1	0	0	0	–		–		30	0
	2012–13	Championship	1	0	0	0	0	0	–		–		1	0
	Total		98	2	3	0	5	1	–		–		106	3
Crystal Palace	2012–13	Championship	40	3	2	0	0	0	–		3	0	45	3
	2013–14	Premier League	37	1	2	0	0	0	–		–		39	1
	2014–15	Premier League	29	0	2	0	1	0	–		–		32	0
	2015–16	Premier League	31	2	6	0	2	1	–		–		39	3
	2016–17	Premier League	30	0	2	0	1	0	–		–		33	0
	2017–18	Premier League	2	0	1	0	1	0	–		–		4	0
	Total		170	6	15	0	5	1	–		3	0	193	7
Cork City	2018	League of Ireland Premier Division	10	1	0	0	0	0	4	0	–		14	1
Waterford	2019	League of Ireland Premier Division	20	1	0	0	0	0	–		–		20	1
Career total			614	18	30	0	24	3	6	0	5	1	679	22

International

Source:

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Republic of Ireland
	2008	2	0
	2011	3	0
	2013	3	0
	2014	1	0
Total		9	0

Honours

Cork City

FAI Youth Cup: 2000

Hull City

Football League Third Division runner-up: 2003–04
Football League One runner-up: 2004–05

Crystal Palace

Football League Championship play-offs: 2013
FA Cup runner-up: 2015–16

Republic of Ireland

Nations Cup: 2011

Individual

Hull City Player of the Year: 2003–04

Damien Delaney facts for kids

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