Aaron McEneff (born 9 July 1995) is an Irish professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
who plays as a
midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
for
Perth Glory in the
A-League.
McEneff was born in Derry and played youth football with
Institute
An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations ( research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body.
In some countries, institutes ca ...
and
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...
before starting his professional career with
Derry City.
In November 2020, he was called up to the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...
senior squad for the
Nations League game against
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
.
[ ]
Early life
McEneff was born in
Derry and grew up in the Cornshell Fields estate in the city.
He attended
St. Columb's College while playing youth football for Don Boscos and
Maiden City Academy.
He has two brothers, Nathan and Jordan. Jordan currently plays for
Derry City.
Club career
Early career
McEneff began his career at Institute, playing in the
NIFL Championship
The Northern Ireland Football League Championship (known as the Lough 41 Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second level of the Northern Ireland Football League, the national football league in Northern Ireland. Clubs in the Championshi ...
. He had trials with
Kilmarnock and
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...
in early 2012 before impressing for the latter in a youth game against
Aston Villa and being snapped up on a two-year scholarship deal in May 2012. Tottenham Technical Director at the time,
Tim Sherwood
Timothy Alan Sherwood (born 6 February 1969) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder.
As a player, he was a midfielder from 1987 until 2005, notably as captain of Blackburn Rovers' Premier Leag ...
, remarked that McEneff reminded him of "a young
Roy Keane."
His international clearance did not arrive until January 2013 and he was only allowed to begin playing competitive games after this. He progressed well enough to earn a one-year professional deal in summer 2014, although a long-term knee injury that saw him miss four months at the start of the 2014–15 U21 Premier League season stunted his progress. He regained his place in the U21 side, however his contract wasn't renewed and he was released in June 2015.
Derry City
McEneff went on trial with
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
and
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...
before he returned to his hometown club
Derry City to sign an 18-month contract under manager
Peter Hutton on 30 July 2015. McEneff made his league debut for Derry in a 2-0 home defeat to Dundalk on 14 August 2015. Initially, McEneff found his form was inconsistent as he struggled to mentally deal with the setback of his departure from Tottenham, however his performances improved after a sustained run of games towards the end of
2015. He finished the season with 9 league appearances. He credits moving back to the League of Ireland with helping him to develop as a player and gain experience of playing real football.
After gradually adapting to life at the club, McEneff established himself as a key player for Derry City. 2016 was his first full season in the League of Ireland and he made 29 league appearances scoring six goals. McEneff signed a new two-year contract extension with the club in September 2016.
In
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...
he scored 9 goals in 29 league appearances and also appeared in both legs of the
Europa League first qualifying round tie against
Midtjylland
The Central Denmark Region ( da, Region Midtjylland), or more directly translated as the Central Jutland Region and sometimes simply Mid Jutland, is an administrative region of Denmark established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish muni ...
scoring once.
Shamrock Rovers
In November 2018 McEneff left his hometown and signed for Shamrock Rovers In his first season with Rovers he helped them to a 2nd place finish in the league and was part of the team who defeated Dundalk on penalties to win the
FAI Cup final The FAI Cup Final, known recently as the FAI Ford Cup Final for sponsorship reasons, is an annual soccer match which is the last game in the Football Association of Ireland Challenge Cup. It is the culmination of a knock-out competition among clubs ...
. This was Rovers 25th
FAI Cup and the first time the club had lifted the trophy since 1987 In 2020 McEneff was a member of the Shamrock Rovers side who won their 18th
League of Ireland
The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally use ...
title.
Heart of Midlothian
On transfer deadline day, 1 February 2021, McEneff signed a 2-and-a-half-year contract with
Scottish Championship
The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish Champio ...
side
Heart of Midlothian. He made his debut on the 5th February 2021, coming off the bench for
Armand Gnanduillet
Armand Erwan Dsihounou Gnanduillet (born 13 February 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Championnat National club Le Mans.
Both of Gnanduillet parents originate from the Ivory Coast. Armand Gnanduillet started playing ...
in a 1–0 win over
Ayr United
Ayr United Football Club are a football club in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Formed in 1910 by the merger of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., their nickname is ...
at
Somerset Park
Somerset Park is a football stadium located in Ayr, South Ayrshire, Scotland. It has been the home of Ayr United since they were founded in 1910. Prior to that, it was the home ground of Ayr, who merged with Ayr Parkhouse to form Ayr United.
H ...
. He scored his first goal for the
Tynecastle club on 9 April 2021 against
Alloa
Alloa (Received Pronunciation ; educated Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; gd, Alamhagh, possibly meaning "rock plain") is a town in Clackmannanshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is on the north bank of the Forth at the spot wher ...
in a 6-0 victory that took the club to within two points of the second tier title. McEneff scored in a 3–0 win over
Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional ...
, a game which his side were awarded the
2020–21 Scottish Championship trophy. He scored his first goal of the
2021–22 season in a 3–2 defeat to
Celtic in a
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...
tie at
Celtic Park
Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is al ...
, beating
Joe Hart
Charles Joseph John Hart (born 19 April 1987) known professionally simply as Joe Hart is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Scottish Premiership club Celtic.
He began his career at his hometown club Shrewsbury T ...
at his near post in the 92nd minute. His first
Scottish Premiership
The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...
goal came on 6 November 2021, in a 5–2 win over
Dundee United
Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...
At
Tynecastle Park.
Perth Glory
In July 2022, McEneff signed for
A-League side
Perth Glory, subject to international clearance.
International career
McEneff has represented Northern Ireland at U21, U19, and U17 levels.
He was a member of the Northern Ireland U19 team which won the 2014 Milk Cup Elite Section, scoring the winning goal against
Canada U20.
It was reported in August 2016 that McEneff was set to switch allegiance to the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...
, however although he has had discussions about his future, no decision has been made and he has put his international career on hold for the time being.
Northern Ireland manager
Michael O'Neill was critical of the
FAI for entering into discussions with McEneff describing them as "morally poor", however Republic of Ireland U21 boss
Noel King responded by clarifying that the initial communication had come from McEneff's
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
-born father and in the end the discussions did not lead to the paperwork going through.
On the 16 November 2020, McEneff was called up
Stephen Kenny's
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...
senior squad for the
Nations League game against
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
.
Career statistics
Honours
Derry City
*
League of Ireland Cup
The League of Ireland Cup ( ga, Corn Sraithe na hÉireann), also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', is an annual knockout competition in men's football in the Republic of Ireland. It is contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited c ...
:
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...
Shamrock Rovers
*
FAI Cup:
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
*
League of Ireland Premier Division:
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...
Heart of Midlothian
*
Scottish Championship
The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish Champio ...
:
2020–21
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mceneff, Aaron
1995 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Derry (city)
Republic of Ireland association footballers
Association football midfielders
Northern Ireland youth international footballers
League of Ireland players
Scottish Professional Football League players
Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players
Derry City F.C. players
Shamrock Rovers F.C. players
Heart of Midlothian F.C. players
Perth Glory FC players
Expatriate footballers in Scotland
Expatriate soccer players in Australia