Tony Folan

Anthony Stephen Folan (born 18 September 1978 in Lewisham) is an Irish retired professional football midfielder who played for Brentford and Crystal Palace. He represented Republic of Ireland at age-group level.

Tony Folan
Personal information
Full name Anthony Stephen Folan[1]
Date of birth (1978-09-18) 18 September 1978
Place of birth Lewisham, England
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Galway Hibernians
1994–1997 Crystal Palace
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–1998 Crystal Palace 1 (0)
1998–2001 Brentford 68 (9)
2001–2002 Bohemian
2002–2004 Galway United
Galway Hibernians
National team
1996–1997 Republic of Ireland U18 3 (0)
1997–1999 Republic of Ireland U21 6 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Crystal Palace

Growing up in Galway, Folan was a classmate of Colin Hawkins at St. Joseph's Patrician College and played youth football at Galway Hibernians.[3] At the age of 14, he signed schoolboy terms at Crystal Palace.[4] He made steady progress through the ranks at the club, signing a professional contract in 1995 and appearing in the 1997 FA Youth Cup final against Leeds United.[4][5] With Palace's relegation from the Premiership already confirmed,[6] Folan made his first team debut in the final match of the 1997–98 season against Sheffield Wednesday, when he replaced Saša Ćurčić after 75 minutes.[7] Early in the 1998–99 season, he appeared in the first leg of Palace's Intertoto Cup third round match against Samsunspor, but was replaced by Simon Rodger after 63 minutes.[8] Folan subsequently injured his groin and was out for six weeks after undergoing surgery. He turned down the offer of a contract extension from new manager Terry Venables and departed Selhurst Park in September 1998.[2]

Brentford

Folan dropped down two divisions to sign for Third Division club Brentford for a £110,000 fee on 22 September 1998.[9] He enjoyed a solid first season, making 35 appearances, scoring six goals and being awarded a Third Division winner's medal as Brentford dramatically beat Cambridge United on the last day of the 1998–99 season.[10][11] A broken foot kept Folan out for six months of the 1999–00 season and he only made 12 appearances.[12] He managed 23 appearances and two goals during the 2000–01 season,[13] but missed four months of the season after being forced to undergo a cartilage operation in December 2000.[9] On 23 October 2001, Folan was made available for transfer and was released on 4 November,[14] after failing to make an appearance during the early months of the 2001–02 season.[15][16] He scored 9 goals in 70 appearances in just over three years at Griffin Park.

Bohemians

In November 2001, Folan returned to Ireland and signed for League of Ireland Premier Division club Bohemians.[17] He made his debut for Bohemian in a televised Dublin derby against Shamrock Rovers on 9 November, but he ended up on the losing side as Rovers won 1–0.[18] Within weeks, manager Pete Mahon was sacked and Folan found appearances limited.[19] He scored in a 4–1 rout of Longford Town in the second round of the League of Ireland Cup, as Bohemian progressed to the semi-finals before being knocked out by Derry City.[20]

Return to Galway

He joined hometown club Galway United during the 2002 off-season and helped the club into the League of Ireland First Division play-off final in the 2002–03 season, which ended in defeat to Premier Division side Drogheda United.[21] In August 2004, Folan departed the club to join Galway & District League club Galway Hibernians, where he began his career. He won the title with he club during the 2005–06 season.

International career

Folan appeared for the Republic Of Ireland at the 1997 UEFA European U18 Championship in Iceland, eventually losing the third place playoff to Spain.[22] He won six U21 caps as Republic Of Ireland failed to qualify for the 2000 UEFA European U21 Championship.[22]

Personal life

Folan is the older brother of footballer Stephen Folan.[23][24]

Honours

Brentford

Galway Hibernians

Career statistics
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals Apps GoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Crystal Palace 1997–98[7] Premier League 1 0 0 0 0 0 — — 1 0
1998–99[25] First Division 0 0 — 0 0 1[lower-alpha 1] 0 — 1 0
Total 100 00 0 1 0— 20
Brentford 1998–99[10] Third Division 30 4 3 2 1 0 — 1[lower-alpha 2] 0 35 6
1999–00[12] Second Division 9 1 1 0 2 0 — 0 0 12 1
2000–01[13] 21 2 0 0 2 0 — 0 0 23 2
Total 6074 25 0 — 10709
Career total 6174250 1 020729
  1. Appearance in Intertoto Cup
  2. Appearance in Football League Trophy

References
  1. "Tony Folan". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  2. Tony Folan at Soccerbase
  3. "Galway Independent – Galway Hibernians AFC 1942". galwayindependent.com. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  4. Croxford, Mark; Lane, David; Waterman, Greville (2013). The Big Brentford Book Of The Nineties. Sunbury, Middlesex: Legends Publishing. p. 433. ISBN 9781906796723.
  5. "Greatest Leeds United Games". Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  6. "Crystal Palace results for the 1997-1998 season - Statto.com". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2020.
  7. "Games played by Tony Folan in 1997/1998". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  8. "Intertoto Cup : Crystal Palace vs. Samsunspor". footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  9. Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Harefield: Yore Publications. p. 58. ISBN 978-0955294914.
  10. "Games played by Tony Folan in 1998/1999". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  11. Street, Tim. "Looking back: When Brentford won the title at Cambridge". getwestlondon. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  12. "Games played by Tony Folan in 1999/2000". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  13. "Games played by Tony Folan in 2000/2001". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  14. "Brentford | News | Latest News | Latest News | TONY FOLAN". brentfordfc.co.uk. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  15. "Games played by Tony Folan in 2001/2002". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  16. "Brentford | News | Latest News | Latest News | TONY FOLAN DEPARTS". brentfordfc.co.uk. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  17. "ESPN.com Soccernet On The Move – November 2001". www.espnfc.com. Archived from the original on 20 April 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  18. "v Bohs 09/11/01". shamrockrovers.ie. Archived from the original on 12 April 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  19. uefa.com. "Mahon leaves Bohemians – UEFA.com". www.uefa.com. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  20. "Football: PATHS TO THE SEMI-FINALS; BOHEMIANS". thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  21. "EIRCOM LEAGUE PLAY-OFF FINAL SPECIAL – Independent.ie". Independent.ie. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  22. "Tony Folan". 11v11.com. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  23. "Folan enjoying life with Newcastle". Galway First. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  24. Scully, Michael (12 May 2017). "Irish player reveals touching tribute to dad before every home game". irishmirror. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  25. "Tony Folan". footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
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