Conor Geraroid Hourihane () (born 2 February 1991) 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

central 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 Derby County and the Republic of Ireland national team. His previous clubs include Aston Villa, Barnsley, Plymouth Argyle, Sunderland and

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

. He also played on loan for Swansea City and

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

. He has represented 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 side at international level as well as under-19 and under-21 levels.

Club career

Early career

Hourihane came through the youth team of Sunderland and stayed with the Black Cats until 2010 when his contract expired. He was offered a new deal by Sunderland but chose to sign for his idol Roy Keane's Football League Championship side

, who had to offer compensation for the deal. Hourihane failed to make an appearance for Ipswich in the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

season.

Plymouth Argyle

He signed for

Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

side Plymouth Argyle on 30 July 2011 on a free transfer after being released by Ipswich and impressing on trial. He made his professional debut on 6 August 2011, in the opening day draw with

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

at the

New Meadow New Meadow, also known as Montgomery Waters Meadow for sponsorship purposes, is a stadium situated on the southern outskirts of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, between the districts of Meole Brace and Sutton Farm, and close to the A5. It serves the ho ...

. On 15 October, Hourihane scored his first goal for Plymouth in a 3–2 win over Dagenham & Redbridge. He became the club's captain during the 2012–13 season following the departure of

Darren Purse Darren John Purse (born 14 February 1977) is an English former professional footballer who now coaches the Cardiff City U23s. A centre-back, he began his career at Leyton Orient, before winning a £100,000 move to Oxford United in July 1996. ...

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

and signed a new two-year contract in May 2013. Hourihane impressed for Plymouth in the 2013–14 season, starting 53 games and missing only one match all season because of suspension, scoring nine goals in the process.

Barnsley

Hourihane joined Barnsley on 23 June 2014 for a fee of £250,000, signing a three-year contract with the ''Tykes''. He earned the League One Player of the Month award for August 2014, after making an impressive start to his Barnsley career. Hourihane became captain of the club in December 2015. Hourihane and his teammates won two trophies at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

in London, during the 2015–2016 season: The first visit to

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

was on 3 April 2016 for the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

, in which Barnsley won 3–2 in the League Trophy final, after beating

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

. The second visit to

was on 29 May 2016, for the Football League One play-offs final. Barnsley won promotion to the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

, after beating

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

3–1 in the Play-off final. Hourihane and Barnsley had a highly successful start to life in the Championship, winning five out of their first seven games, including 4–0 wins against

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

and

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

, and with Hourihane scoring three goals in these first seven games and assisting a further five. He went on to win the

Championship Player of the Month The EFL Championship Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the player adjudged the best for each month of the season in the EFL Championship, the English football league system, second tier of English football. ...

for August 2016. Despite speculation linking Hourihane with Aston Villa on 21 January 2017, Hourihane captained Barnsley to a 3–2 victory against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

with Hourihane scoring the match winning goal with a free-kick. On 26 January 2017, it was confirmed that Hourihane had left Barnsley to sign for Championship rivals Aston Villa for an undisclosed fee. Both Hourihane and Barnsley released a statement, the player thanking the fans and commenting that Barnsley "will always have a special place in my heart".

Aston Villa

On 26 January 2017, Hourihane joined Aston Villa on three-and-a-half-year deal. Hourihane made 17 appearances as Villa finished the season in 13th place, scoring his first Villa goal against

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

in February. He scored his first hat trick for the club in a 4–2 victory at home against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

in August 2017. Hourihane signed a new three-year deal in the summer of 2019 as a reward for helping the side win promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

. On 5 October 2019, he scored his first Premier League goal in a 5–1 away victory over Norwich City – which meant that he had scored in all four levels of the English football league system. On 20 January 2021, Hourihane joined

side Swansea City on loan for the remainder of the 2020–21 season. On 23 January 2021, Hourihane made his Swansea debut, in a 5–1

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

victory over

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 ...

with a performance that was described as "excellent" by Swansea manager Steve Cooper. In his second appearance, and his league debut, he scored his first goal for the club in a 1–1 draw with Brentford on 27 January 2021. On 30 August 2021, Hourihane joined

side

on loan for the 2021–22 season. On 10 June 2022, Hourihane was released by Aston Villa at the end of his contract.

Derby County

On 6 July 2022, Hourihane joined recently relegated

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

club

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

on a two-year deal. Hourihane, made 51 apperances for the club during the 2022–23 season and with 7 goals and 10 assists in the league he was Derby's only representative in the League One team of the season.

International career

On 28 March 2017, Hourihane made his senior international debut, starting in a 1–0 friendly defeat against

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

at the

Aviva Stadium Aviva Stadium (also known as Lansdowne Road) is a sports stadium located in Dublin, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,700 spectators (all seated). It is built on the site of the former Lansdowne Road Stadium, which was demolished in 2007, and ...

. Hourihane won his second cap in a friendly against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

on 2 June 2017. On 26 March 2019, Hourihane scored his first senior international goal in a 1–0 win over

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

at the

. The

's first home match in

Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

qualifying received additional coverage due to a protest against the former CEO of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI), John Delaney. A portion of the Republic of Ireland supporters threw tennis balls on the pitch during the 33rd minute to express their discontent at Delaney remaining part of the FAI hierarchy.

Personal life

Hourihane is the second cousin of

goalkeeper

Marie Hourihan Marie Hourihan (born 10 March 1989) is a retired Irish footballer and coach who is currently manager of Stoke City Women. She previously played for clubs including Chelsea, Birmingham City and Manchester City W.F.C. She represented the Republic ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list the Republic of Ireland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Hourihane goal.''

Honours

Barnsley *

: 2015–16 *

Football League One play-offs The EFL League One play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL League One table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , the play-offs comprise ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

Aston Villa * EFL Championship play-offs:

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 ...

* EFL Cup runner-up: 2019–20 Individual * Football League One Player of the Month: August 2014 *

EFL Championship Player of the Month The EFL Championship Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the player adjudged the best for each month of the season in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Originally named the Football ...

: September 2016 * EFL League One Team of the Season:

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

* Barnsley Player of the Year: 2014–15

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hourihane, Conor 1991 births Living people Association footballers from County Cork Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football midfielders Sunderland A.F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Derby County F.C. players English Football League players Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Premier League players People from Bandon, County Cork