Daniel Cleary (born 9 March 1996) 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 le ...

who plays as a defender for

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

. His previous clubs are

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

Solihull Moors Solihull Moors Football Club is a professional football club based in Solihull, England. The club currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system, after achieving promotion from the National Leag ...

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

and

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

Club career

Early career

Cleary grew up in

Drimnagh Drimnagh () is a suburb in Dublin, Ireland to the south of the city between Walkinstown, Crumlin and Inchicore, bordered by the Grand Canal to the north and east. Drimnagh is in postal district Dublin 12. History Early to mediaeval Drimna ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

and played for local side Crumlin United at schoolboy level, the club that produced several international players including

Robbie Keane Robert David Keane (born 8 July 1980) is an Irish professional Association football, football coach and former Football player, player who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. Keane served as Captain (association football ...

. Aged 14 he had a trial with

, but wasn't signed. He signed for

's Academy in 2011, aged 15.

Liverpool

Cleary made his

first team debut on 2 August 2015 in a pre-season friendly against

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...

, coming off the bench in the 57th minute replacing

Trent Alexander-Arnold Trent John Alexander-Arnold (born 7 October 1998) is an English professional footballer who plays as a right-back for club Liverpool and the England national team. Known for his range of passing, crossing and assists, he is regarded as one o ...

at right back in a 2–1 win at the County Ground. On 17 September 2015 Cleary's first involvement in a first team squad for a competitive match came when was included in the squad by

Brendan Rodgers Brendan Rodgers (born 26 January 1973) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Premier League club Leicester City. Rodgers began his career as a defender at Ballymena United, where he stayed un ...

for a

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

game away to

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

but remained an unused substitute. During his time at Liverpool, he was deliberately injured by teammate Tom Brewitt in training, with Brewitt later owning up to doing so with the hopes of getting into the first team for an

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 ...

tie and Cleary being ahead of him in the pecking order for centre backs. Cleary opted to leave the club in 2016 after 5 years at the club.

Birmingham City

Cleary signed for

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

club

on 27 July 2016. Cleary played for the club's reserve side up until the summer of 2017 when we was loaned out. On 19 January 2018, after returning from his loan at

, Birmingham announced that Cleary had left the club by mutual consent, later admitting that he had fallen out of love with the game at that time.

Solihull Moors

On 26 July 2017, Cleary sealed a loan move to

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

side

until 2 January 2018, alongside Birmingham teammate

Connal Trueman Connal Joe Trueman (born 26 March 1996) is an English footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Millwall. He joined Birmingham City as an 11-year-old in 2007, made his Football League debut for them in 2018, and was released in 2022 after 1 ...

. He made a total of 3 appearances during his time at the club.

Dundalk

Cleary signed for

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Premier Division ( ga, Príomhroinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is the top level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland f ...

club

on 15 February 2018. He scored his first goal in professional football on 2 June 2018 in a 5–2 win away to

and received a booking for celebrating the goal in front of Rovers manager Stephen Bradley in reference to not signing him after he had spent time on trial at the club in the month prior to joining Dundalk. Cleary won the first trophy of his career on 5 October 2018, as his side clinched the

2018 League of Ireland Premier Division The 2018 League of Ireland Premier Division was the 34th season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The league began on 16 February 2018 and concluded on 26 October 2018. On 5 October, Dundalk won the title after a 1–1 draw with St P ...

with a 1–1 draw against

St Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Lúthchleas Phádraig Naofa) is a professional Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the Irish Premier Division. Founded in May 1929, they played origin ...

. On 4 November 2018, Cleary came on as a late substitute in the 2018 FAI Cup Final as his side beat

Cork City Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the island of Ireland. It is located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster. Following an extension to the city' ...

2–1 to win the

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

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 r ...

, completing the league and cup double. He was named

League of Ireland Player of the Month The League of Ireland Player of the Month is awarded monthly to the best player in the League of Ireland. The winners are selected by Soccer Writers' Ireland, commonly known as the SWI (formerly known as Soccer Writers' Association of Ireland). Win ...

for August on 12 September 2019. 2 days later, he played the full 120 minutes of the

2019 League of Ireland Cup Final The 2019 League of Ireland Cup Final was the final match of the 2019 League of Ireland Cup, called the EA Sports Cup for sponsorship purposes, a knock-out association football competition contested annually by clubs affiliated with the League o ...

and scored in the penalty shootout as his side won 4–2 on penalties to win the League Cup. Cleary and

claimed back to back league titles on 23 September 2019, as they beat

3–2 to clinch the title. Cleary missed a penalty in the 2019 FAI Cup Final penalty shootout as Dundalk were beaten on penalties by

at the

. On 11 November 2019 he played in the final of the inaugural Champions Cup, as his side beat

NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and colloquially as the Irish League or Irish Premiership, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northe ...

champions Linfield 7–1 on aggregate to win the trophy. On 1 October 2020, Cleary scored in a 3–1 win against KÍ of the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

at the

to seal qualification to the

Group Stages. He featured in all 6 of the club's group games, playing at home and away against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Rapid Vienna Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade''. ...

and

Molde Molde () is a town and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Peninsula, surrounding the Fannefjord and Moldefjord. The administrative centre of the m ...

. On 6 December 2020, Cleary played the full 120 minutes as

beat

4–2

after extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a Draw (tie), tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is ...

to win the 2020 FAI Cup Final. On 12 March 2021, Cleary played the full game in the

2021 President of Ireland's Cup The 2021 President's Cup was the seventh President's Cup contested for. The match was played on 12 March between the champions of the 2020 League of Ireland Premier Division and 2020 FAI Cup, Shamrock Rovers and Dundalk. The match finished 1–1 ...

and scored his penalty in the shootout as

beat

4–3 on penalties after a 1–1 draw to win the trophy at

Tallaght Stadium Tallaght Stadium ( ga, Staid Thamhlachta) is an association football stadium in the Republic of Ireland based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club Shamrock Rovers originally announced details of the stadium in July, 1996. The stadium is now ow ...

. He missed all 6 of the club's

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Europa Conference League (abbreviated as UECL) is an annual football club competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their ...

qualifiers during the 2021 season due to spending a long spell out with a quadriceps tendon injury. On 4 November 2021, he scored an 86th-minute winner away to

Drogheda United Drogheda United Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Dhroichead Átha Aontaithe) is a semi-professional Irish association football club based in Drogheda, County Louth playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They play their home matches ...

in the Louth Derby. Cleary's contract was up at the end of November 2021, with Scottish club

reportedly interested in signing him.

St Johnstone

Cleary completed a move to

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 Scottish ...

side

on 1 January 2022 on a 2-and-a-half-year contract. He made his debut for the club on 18 January 2022 in a 2–0 loss to Heart of Midlothian at

Tynecastle Stadium Tynecastle Park is a football stadium in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh, which is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Heart of Midlothian (Hearts). It has also hosted Scotland international matches, and been used as a ...

. Cleary was released by St Johnstone in July 2022, with his manager

Callum Davidson Callum Iain Davidson (born 25 June 1976 in Stirling) is a Scottish professional football player and coach. He is the manager of St Johnstone. Davidson played as a left-back for St Johnstone, Blackburn Rovers, Leicester City and Preston North ...

citing family reasons for the departure.

Shamrock Rovers

After leaving St Johnstone, Cleary signed a "multi-year deal" with

. He made his debut for the club on 29 July 2022, scoring in a 4–0 win over Bangor Celtic in the

International career

Cleary 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 the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

at Under-15, Under-17, Under-18, Under-19 and Under-21 level.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

;Dundalk *

(2):

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 United ...

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 ...

(2):

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

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 ...

(1):

President of Ireland's Cup The President of Ireland's Cup, also known simply as the President's Cup, is an association football super cup featuring clubs from the Republic of Ireland football league system. It is a one-off match between the winners of the previous season' ...

(2):

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

* Champions Cup (1):

;Shamrock Rovers *

(2):

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

Individual

(1): August 2019

References

External links

Daniel Cleary
at Shamrock Rovers F.C. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cleary, Daniel Living people 1996 births Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association football defenders Association footballers from Dublin (city) Liverpool F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Solihull Moors F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Irish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in England National League (English football) players League of Ireland players Scottish Professional Football League players