David Connolly

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For other people named David Connolly, see David Connolly (disambiguation).

David Connolly
Personal information
Full name David James Connolly[1]
Date of birth (1977-06-06) 6 June 1977 (age 46)[1]
Place of birth Willesden, England
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[1]
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
0000–1995 Watford
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–1997 Watford 26 (10)
1997–2001 Feyenoord 25 (7)
1998–1999 → Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan) 32 (6)
1999–2001 → Excelsior (loan) 48 (42)
2001–2003 Wimbledon 63 (42)
2003–2004 West Ham United 39 (10)
2004–2005 Leicester City 49 (17)
2005–2006 Wigan Athletic 19 (1)
2006–2009 Sunderland 39 (13)
2009–2012 Southampton 61 (14)
2012–2015 Portsmouth 35 (11)
2014 → Oxford United (loan) 16 (4)
2015 AFC Wimbledon 8 (1)
Total 460 (178)
International career
1996–2005 Republic of Ireland 41 (9)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

David James Connolly (born 6 June 1977) is a retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He played for various clubs including Feyenoord and Excelsior in the Netherlands as well as Wigan Athletic and Sunderland in the Premier League. Born in England, Connolly represented the Republic of Ireland national team at international level. He was a member of Ireland's 2002 FIFA World Cup squad that lost to Spain in the knockout stage where his penalty kick was saved by Iker Casillas during the shootout.

Club career[edit]

Connolly started his career with Watford where he scored 15 goals in 34 games. His goal scoring record, at club and international level, which included a hat-trick in World Cup qualifying, earned him a move to Dutch team Feyenoord Rotterdam. He had loan spells at Excelsior Rotterdam and Wolverhampton Wanderers (where he scored four goals in one game against Bristol City)[2] before joining Wimbledon in 2001 on a free transfer where he scored 42 goals in two seasons.

Manager Glenn Roeder signed Connolly for West Ham United for £285,000 in August 2003.[3] Connolly scored on his West Ham debut in a 2–1 away win at Preston North End on 9 August 2003.[4] He scored 14 goals in 48 games in all competitions for West Ham; his final game coming in the 2004 play-off final defeat to Crystal Palace in May 2004.[5][6]

Connolly signed for Leicester City in 2004 for £500,000, finishing as the club's top scorer in his first season. He managed a hat-trick against Stoke City in August 2005, prior to signing for Wigan.[7]

On 31 August 2005, he joined newly promoted Premiership club Wigan Athletic for £2 million (with the possibility of rising to £3 million if Wigan stayed in the Premiership, which they did).[8] He scored on his debut for Wigan in a 2–1 win at West Bromwich Albion,[9] but was hit by injuries for much of the rest of the 2005–06 season.[10] and Leeds in the FA Cup.[11]

In 2006, also on 31 August, Connolly linked up with his former Republic of Ireland teammate Roy Keane at Sunderland. His first goal came against Colchester United on 18 November, when he came on as a sub and smashed the ball in off the post from about 18 yards out. Connolly ended up Sunderland's top scorer and was an integral part of their promotion in the 2006–07 season, scoring 13 goals in the campaign and scoring the final goal of the season for Sunderland against Luton Town on 6 May 2007, in the match that made Sunderland champions of the Championship.

In the 2007–08 season, Connolly played just five games, three of them in the league. In the 2008–09 season, Connolly did not make a single appearance. He was released on 28 May 2009.[12]

After being released by Sunderland in the summer of 2009 he became a free agent. On 8 October 2009, Connolly signed a deal with League One side Southampton, lasting until the end of the 2009–10 season but capable of being extended by a further year if he hits an undisclosed number of appearances.[13] He scored on his debut on 17 October 2009 against Oldham Athletic, and grabbed another in the next game against Milton Keynes Dons, once again off the bench. He scored two in the FA Cup first round tie against Bristol Rovers, in a 3–2 victory, his first start. Connolly's contract was then extended for the 2010–11 season.

He struggled with injury in the 2010–11 season, but scored in an FA Cup match against Shrewsbury Town, and then scored a crucial goal in a 2–1 victory away at champions Brighton. He followed that up with a goal in a 3–0 win at Brentford and then on the final day of the season in a 3–1 win over Walsall to end the season with four goals from 18 appearances in an injury-hit season.[14] It was Connolly's late season form that helped Southampton clinch promotion. He also signed a new one-year deal with Saints.[15]

Following Southampton's promotion to the Championship, Connolly continued his goal scoring form into the 2011–12 season by scoring the final goal in Southampton's 3–1 victory over Leeds United in the first game of the season.[16] He then netted the only goal in a 1–0 victory at Barnsley a week later.[17] On 16 August, he scored against Ipswich Town at Portman Road as Saints won 5–2, with the third of the night making the score 3–0 to Southampton at half time.[18] This result firmly planted Southampton on top of the Championship table with three wins from their first three matches. Connolly scored again for Southampton against Leicester City on 27 August, but this was not enough to prevent the Saints from slipping to their first defeat of the season, losing 3–2.[19] However, in January 2012, after the arrivals of Billy Sharp and Tadanari Lee, Connolly lost his place in the starting eleven, and was released at the end of the season.[20][21]

On 31 December 2012, Connolly signed a one-month contract with Portsmouth.[22][23] He made his debut a day later, against Swindon Town.[24] He scored his first goal for Pompey on 26 February, against Milton Keynes Dons.[25] He scored his second goal on 2 March, in a 2–1 win against Crewe Alexandra.[26] On 9 March, Connolly scored twice in a 2–0 win against Bury.[27] He left the club by mutual consent on 15 January 2014.[citation needed]

Connolly joined Oxford United on 31 January 2014 – deadline day – until the summer. He scored on his debut against AFC Wimbledon, after coming on as a 46th-minute substitute.[28] His goal against Hartlepool on 21 March 2014 at the age of 36 years, 9 months and 15 days made him the club's oldest scorer to date.[29]

On 15 January 2015 Connolly joined AFC Wimbledon, becoming the sixth player (the others being Jermaine Darlington, Marcus Gayle, Jason Euell, Roger Joseph and Neil Sullivan) to play for both the original Wimbledon and AFC Wimbledon.[30] On 21 February 2015, during one of his final games with AFC Wimbledon, Connolly scored a late winner against local rivals Luton Town to win the game 3–2.[31] On 7 March 2015, Connolly retired from playing.[32]

International career[edit]

Connolly was a regular member of the Republic of Ireland national team, scoring nine goals in 41 caps.

He made his debut on 29 May 1996 against Portugal. He was sent off in 1997 after coming on as a substitute against Belgium in the play-off for a place at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, with Ireland losing by an aggregate score of 3–2.[33]

Connolly was part of the 2002 FIFA World Cup squad that lost to Spain in the knockout stage, where his penalty kick was saved by Iker Casillas during the shootout. He scored for Ireland in Niall Quinn's benefit match on 14 May 2002, against his former club, Sunderland as well as once in Mick McCarthy's testimonial on 26 May 1996 against Celtic.

In the 2007–08 season Connolly failed to feature in any of Steve Staunton's squads, despite being Sunderland's top goalscorer, although he was called in to Giovanni Trapattoni's first 40-man squad in 2008 despite being injured at the time.

Career statistics[edit]

Club[edit]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[34][35]
Club Season League National cup League Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Watford 1994–95 First Division 2 0 2 0 0 0 — — 4 0
1995–96 First Division 11 8 1 0 0 0 — — 12 8
1996–97 Second Division 13 2 3 4 1 0 — 1[a] 1 18 7
Total 26 10 6 4 1 0 — 1 1 34 15
Feyenoord 1997–98 Eredivisie 10 2 — 5[b] 0 — 15 2
2000–01 Eredivisie 15 5 — 0 0 — 15 5
Total 25 7 — 5 0 — 30 7
Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan) 1998–99 First Division 32 6 1 0 2 0 — — 35 6
Excelsior (loan) 1999–00 Eerste Divisie 32 29 — — — 32 29
2000–01 Eerste Divisie 16 13 — — — 16 13
Total 48 42 — — — 48 42
Wimbledon 2001–02 First Division 35 18 2 0 1 0 — — 38 18
2002–03 First Division 28 24 2 0 0 0 — — 30 24
Total 63 42 4 0 1 0 — — 68 42
West Ham United 2003–04 First Division 39 10 4 2 2 2 — 3[c] 0 48 14
Leicester City 2004–05 Championship 44 13 5 0 0 0 — — 49 13
2005–06 Championship 5 4 — 0 0 — — 5 4
Total 49 17 5 0 0 0 — — 54 17
Wigan Athletic 2005–06 Premier League 17 1 1 1 3 1 — — 21 3
2006–07 Premier League 2 0 — — — — 2 0
Total 19 1 1 1 3 1 — — 23 3
Sunderland 2006–07 Championship 36 13 1 0 — — — 37 13
2007–08 Premier League 3 0 1 0 1 0 — — 5 0
2008–09 Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 — — 0 0
Total 39 13 2 0 1 0 — — 42 13
Southampton 2009–10 League One 20 5 1 2 — — 2[a] 0 23 7
2010–11 League One 15 3 1 1 1 0 — 1[a] 0 18 4
2011–12 Championship 26 6 0 0 0 0 — — 26 6
Total 61 14 2 3 1 0 — 3 0 67 17
Portsmouth 2012–13 League One 17 7 — — — — 17 7
2013–14 League Two 18 4 1 1 0 0 — 1[a] 0 20 5
2014–15 League Two 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0 0 0
Total 35 11 1 1 0 0 — 1 0 37 12
Oxford United (loan) 2013–14 League Two 16 4 — — — — 16 4
AFC Wimbledon 2014–15 League Two 8 1 — — — — 8 1
Total 460 178 26 11 11 3 5 0 8 1 510 193
  1. ^ a b c d Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
  2. ^ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  3. ^ Appearances in First Division play-offs

International[edit]

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Republic of Ireland 1996 4 2
1997 7 4
1998 3 0
1999 6 1
2000 4 0
2001 6 1
2002 4 0
2003 6 1
2005 1 0
Total 41 9
Scores and results list the Republic of Ireland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Connolly goal.
List of international goals scored by David Connolly
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1[36] 9 June 1996 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.  United States 1–0 1–2 1996 U.S. Cup
2[37] 12 June 1996 New Jersey, U.S.  Mexico 2–2 1996 U.S. Cup
3[38] 21 May 1997 Dublin, Republic of Ireland  Liechtenstein 5–0 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
4[38]
5[38]
6[39] 6 September 1997 Reykjavík, Iceland  Iceland 4–2 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification
7[40] 10 February 1999 Dublin, Republic of Ireland  Paraguay 2–0 Friendly
8[41] 6 October 2001 Dublin, Republic of Ireland  Cyprus 4–0 2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
9[42] 9 September 2003 Dublin, Republic of Ireland  Turkey 2–2 Friendly

Honours[edit]

Sunderland

Southampton

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2003). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2003/2004. Queen Anne Press. p. 93. ISBN 1-85291-651-6.
  2. ^ "Bristol City 1 Wolves 6". Sporting Life. 7 November 1998. Retrieved 22 December 2010.
  3. ^ "Connolly joins West Ham". BBC Sport. 1 August 2003. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  4. ^ "Preston 1–2 West Ham". BBC Sport. 9 August 2003. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  5. ^ "Welcome to the Wonderful World of West Ham United Statistics". www.westhamstats.info. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  6. ^ "Crystal Palace 1 West Ham 0". Sporting Life. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
  7. ^ Leicester 4–2 Stoke, BBC Sport 9 August 2005. Retrieved on 5 September 2007
  8. ^ Wigan secure signing of Connolly, BBC Sport 31 August 2005. Retrieved on 5 September 2007
  9. ^ "West Brom 1–2 Wigan". BBC Sport. 10 September 2005. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
  10. ^ "Wigan 1–0 Newcastle". BBC Sport. 30 November 2005. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
  11. ^ "Wigan 1–1 Leeds". BBC Sport. 7 January 2006. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
  12. ^ "Sunderland announce major clear-out". Setanta Sports. 28 May 2009. Archived from the original on 31 May 2009. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  13. ^ "Striker Arrives". Southampton F.C. 8 October 2009. Archived from the original on 9 October 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2009.
  14. ^ "Southampton 3–1 Walsall". BBC Sport. 7 May 2011.
  15. ^ "Southampton striker David Connolly signs new contract". BBC Sport. 25 May 2011.
  16. ^ Southampton 3–1 Leeds; BBC Sport, 6 August 2011
  17. ^ Barnsley 0–1 Southampton; BBC Sport, 13 August 2011
  18. ^ Ipswich 2–5 Southampton; BBC Sport, 16 August 2011
  19. ^ Leicester 3–2 Southampton; BBC Sport, 27 August 2011
  20. ^ "Four Join First Team, But Eleven Released". Southampton F.C. 19 May 2012. Archived from the original on 20 May 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
  21. ^ "Southampton release Lee Holmes, David Connolly and Radhi Jaidi". BBC Sport. 19 May 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
  22. ^ "Ex-Saint Connolly signs for Portsmouth". Southern Daily Echo. 31 December 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
  23. ^ Weld, Neil (31 December 2012). "Connolly Arrives, McLeod Departs". Portsmouth F.C. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
  24. ^ "Swindon 5–0 Portsmouth". BBC Sport. 1 January 2013.
  25. ^ Portsmouth 1–1 MK Dons; BBC Sport, 26 February 2013
  26. ^ Crewe 1–2 Portsmouth; BBC Sport, 2 March 2013
  27. ^ "Portsmouth 2–0 Bury". BBC Sport. 9 March 2013.
  28. ^ "Oxford Utd 2–1 AFC Wimbledon". BBC Sport. 1 February 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  29. ^ "Mous Misses Out On Club Record". Oxford United. 31 August 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  30. ^ Slavin, Chris (15 January 2015). "Dons return for David". AFC Wimbledon. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  31. ^ "Match Report". AFC Wimbledon. 21 February 2015. Archived from the original on 13 April 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2015.
  32. ^ "David Connolly: AFC Wimbledon's former Ireland striker retires". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  33. ^ Leahy, Ed (10 November 2011). "Ireland's chequered play-off history". RTÉ Sport. Archived from the original on 11 November 2011. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
  34. ^ "David Connolly Career Stats". Soccerbase. 23 December 2010. Archived from the original on 30 March 2008. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
  35. ^ "David Connolly". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
  36. ^ "Man City Info Via The Alps #201". Archived from the original on 14 September 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2007.
  37. ^ "Man City Info Via The Alps #202". Archived from the original on 19 September 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2007.
  38. ^ a b c Jackson, Lyle (15 November 2006). "BBC SPORT – Football – Internationals – Rep of Ireland 5–0 San Marino". BBC News. Retrieved 27 February 2007.
  39. ^ "SPURS-LIST Digest – 7 Sep 1997 to 8 Sep 1997". Archived from the original on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 27 February 2007.
  40. ^ "Irish Sport News, 11 February 1999". Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 27 February 2007.
  41. ^ "BreakingNews.ie – 2003/09/09: Connolly and Dunne on target". Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 27 February 2007.
  42. ^ "Ireland Step Up A Gear". sportnetwork.net. Retrieved 27 February 2007.
  43. ^ Shemilt, Stephan (28 March 2010). "Carlisle United 1–4 Southampton". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 March 2024.

External links[edit]

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