Dominic Joseph Foley (born 7 July 1976) is an Irish former 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 played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He played for nine clubs in England, finding stability in his late 20s and 30s in Belgium, where he represented two teams.

Football career

England

Foley was born in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

. In 1995, at the age of 19, he was signed by

English First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

club

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 ...

from

St. James's Gate St. James's Gate, located off the south quays of Dublin, on James's Street, was the western entrance to the city during the Middle Ages. During this time the gate was the traditional starting point for the Camino pilgrimage from Dublin to Santiag ...

. He made his debut on 18 November as a substitute in a 3–1 home loss against

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

, but never managed to earn a regular place, and appeared in just 29 competitive matches in four seasons combined at

Molineux Stadium Molineux Stadium ( ) in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England, has been the home ground of Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers since 1889. The first stadium built for use by a Football League club, it was one of the first British grounds ...

. To gain playing time, Foley was loaned several times in the following years, to

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

and Greek club Ethnikos Piraeus FC. He eventually moved to

, signed by

Graham Taylor Graham Taylor (15 September 1944 – 12 January 2017) was an English football player, manager, pundit and chairman of Watford Football Club. He was the manager of the England national football team from 1990 to 1993, and also managed Lincoln C ...

– who had originally brought him to Wolverhampton – on a free transfer. Foley played 12 times in his first year with the ''Hornets'' (one goal), also making his

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 Foo ...

debut. Even though the campaign ended in relegation, he received his first call-up to the Republic of Ireland national team; his debut came on 30 May 2000 in a 2-1 friendly defeat to

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

; five days later, his second

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

, 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 ...

, saw him score the first of his two international goals, with all six appearances coming during the year. Early into 2000–01, Foley netted a last-minute winner against

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

, but overall found playing opportunities scarce, being successively loaned by the

Vicarage Road Vicarage Road is a stadium in Watford, England, and is the home stadium of championship club Watford. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 22,200. History It has been the home of Watford since 1922, when the club moved from Cassi ...

side to

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

(two spells),

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 ...

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

and

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 th ...

Braga

Foley left England in 2003 for Portuguese club

S.C. Braga Sporting Clube de Braga () (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese f ...

, being scarcely used during one sole season, after which he returned to his country after one decade by signing for

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

. He impressed in the team's

2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup The 2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup finals were won by Lens, Marseille, and Hamburg. All three teams advanced to the UEFA Cup. First round First leg ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- -- ...

game against Belgium's

K.A.A. Gent Koninklijke Atletiek Associatie Gent (, English: ''Royal Athletic Association Ghent''), often simply known as Ghent or by their nickname ' ( en, The Buffalos), is a Belgian sports club, based in the city of Ghent, East Flanders. Their football ...

, who bought him soon afterwards.

Belgium and later years

Foley established at the

Jules Ottenstadion Jules Ottenstadion was a multi-purpose stadium in Gentbrugge, Ghent, Belgium. It was used mostly for football matches and used to be the home ground of K.A.A. Gent. The stadium held 12,919 seats and was built in 1920. It was replaced as the clu ...

, scoring six goals in 25

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

appearances his first season and bettering his totals in the following two campaigns, netting in double digits (respectively ten and 11) as the

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

club finished fourth and sixth in the table, respectively; additionally, he helped it reach the semi-finals of the

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...

in 2007, scored three goals in that year's

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...

to help his team reach the third round, notably netting against

Cliftonville F.C. Cliftonville Football & Athletic Club is a Northern Irish, semi-professional association football club playing in the NIFL Premiership – the top division of the Northern Ireland Football League. The club was founded in September 1879 by John ...

in a 2–0 home win (6–0 on aggregate), and was named

club captain The team captain of an association football team, sometimes known as the skipper, is a team member chosen to be the on-pitch leader of the team; they are often one of the older or more experienced members of the squad, or a player that can heavi ...

at the start of 2007–08. Foley helped Gent reach the final of the domestic cup in 2007–08, opening the score against

R.S.C. Anderlecht ; french: Les Mauves et Blancs) , short name = R.S.C.A. , founded = , ground = Constant Vanden Stock Stadium , capacity = 22,500 , owntitle = Chairman , owner = Wouter Vandenhaute , manager = Brian Riemer , ...

after just six minutes but eventually losing the match 3–2. The next season, however, new coach

Michel Preud'homme Michel Georges Jean Ghislain Preud'homme (born 24 January 1959) is a Belgian retired footballer and manager who played as a goalkeeper. Currently, he is vice-president and sports director at Standard Liège. He was considered one of the world's ...

rarely used him in his starting eleven and, with the player's contract due to expire, he was sold during the winter break to fellow league side

Cercle Brugge KSV Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging () is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges. Cercle have played in the Belgian Pro League since the 2003–04 season, having previously spent several years in the Belgian Second Divisi ...

. On 22 February 2012, aged nearly 36, Foley returned to his homeland and joined

Limerick FC Limerick Football Club ( ga, Club Peile Luimnigh) was an association football club based in Limerick, Ireland who played in the League of Ireland and currently have teams competing in the underage National League of Ireland. The first Limerick ...

, having been released by Cercle the previous day.

Transfer controversies

Foley caused controversy in 2005 when he successfully had his contract with Bohemians terminated over the failure of payment by the club of "bonuses". He then signed for Gent which had played against the Irish side only a few weeks before, sparking rumours of secret meetings between player and management after the match. In 2009, Gent accused Cercle Brugge of secret reunions with Foley before he was allowed to engage in conversations in order to discuss his future. With his contract due to expire at the end of the season, the former's

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

, Michel Louwagie, claimed the player had discussed a contract before the allowed date of 1 January, saying: ''"I don't at all appreciate the way Cercle have behaved in relation to Foley. It is against the rules."'' On 21 January, Cercle announced that Foley had signed a three-year contract with the club, starting in June 2009. On the 27th, however, both clubs agreed on an immediate transfer during the winter transfer window.

Honours

Limerick *

League of Ireland First Division The League of Ireland First Division ( ga, Céad Roinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League First Division, is the second level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland football league system. Th ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

* Munster Senior Cup: 2011–12

Sources

* ''Irish Football Handbook'' by Dave Galvin & Gerry Desmond ()

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Foley, Dominic 1976 births Living people Association footballers from Cork (city) Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association football forwards St James's Gate F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Watford F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players League of Ireland players Bohemian F.C. players Limerick F.C. players Super League Greece players Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. players Primeira Liga players S.C. Braga players Belgian Pro League players K.A.A. Gent players Cercle Brugge K.S.V. players Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland men's B international footballers Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Irish expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Irish expatriate sportspeople in Greece