Georgie Poynton is an Irish professional footballer who last played 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

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 ...

. He has previously played for Shelbourne for 2 years,

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

for a season,

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 ...

for 2 months as well as his first senior club

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 ...

for 5 years including a season on loan at

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 ...

Club career

Youth career

Poynton started off playing with East Meath United, before moving to

aged 15 in August 2013. He was fast tracked to the club's under 19's team and continued to impress at that level despite playing 3 years above his age group. He became the youngest ever player to sign a professional contract with Dundalk aged just 16 years 5 months old, on 14 February 2014, despite interest from

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

and Hibernians.

Dundalk

2014 season

Poynton made his first team debut for

on 5 May 2014 in a 3–0

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 ...

win over

Bray Wanderers Bray Wanderers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Fánaithe Bhré) are an Irish association football club playing in the League of Ireland First Division. The club in its present form was founded in 1942 in Bray, and was known until 2010 as ''B ...

at the

Carlisle Grounds The Carlisle Grounds is a football stadium in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland. Situated directly behind the Bray D.A.R.T. station, it is home to Bray Wanderers A.F.C. History The Carlisle Grounds can claim to be the Football Association of I ...

. He went on to make 2 more appearances in the competition that season as Dundalk won the 2014 League of Ireland Cup as well as the league title.

2015 season

On 22 May 2015, Poynton made his

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 us ...

debut, coming on as a substitute for Ronan Finn in a 2–0 win away to

. He made a total of 8 appearances in all competitions, including 3 in the Leinster Senior Cup, one of which being in the final as his side won the competition by beating

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 ...

3–1 at

Oriel Park Oriel Park is a UEFA Category 2 football stadium located on the Carrickmacross Road in Dundalk, Ireland. The stadium is the home ground of Dundalk Football Club and is owned and operated by the club on land that has been leased from the Casey F ...

. Poynton also picked up a league winners medal as Dundalk retained their

title as well as winning the 2015 FAI Cup. He signed a new 2-year contract on 5 November 2015.

2016 season

Poynton made 9 appearances in all competitions, 4 in the league, 3 in 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 ...

and 2 in the Leinster Senior Cup, picking up another league winner's medal. Poynton also appeared on the bench as an unused substitute in

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

games at home and away against

BATE Borisov FC BATE Borisov (russian: link=no, ФК БАТЭ Борисов, ''FK BATE Borisov'' ; be, ФК БАТЭ Барысаў, ''BATE Barysaw,'' ) is a professional Belarusian football team from the city of Barysaw. The club competes in the Belarusi ...

, as well as a 1–1 draw away to

Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning record 15 Ekstraklasa champions titles, a ...

in the Champions League play-off Round Second Leg.

2017 – Bohemians Loan

2017 was the first season Poynton was finished up playing Under 19's football with

alongside senior football and with Dundalk chasing their fourth league title in a row, they opted to send Poynton out on loan in order to get game time at first team level. He was loaned out to

until the summer ahead of the season. Poynton's impressive form saw Bohs extend the loan deal until the end of the season. He made 27 appearances for Bohs, scoring 5 goals in his first full season as a senior player.

2018 season

Poynton returned to

for the 2018 season, signing a new contract with the club on 8 January 2018. 2018 proved to be a difficult one for Poynton as he struggled to break into the starting eleven ahead of

Robbie Benson Robert Benson (born 7 May 1992) is an Irish people, Irish professional association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder, for Dundalk F.C., Dundalk in the League of Ireland Premier Division. He has also played for his hometown club, At ...

, Stephen O'Donnell and

Chris Shields Chris Shields (born 27 December 1990) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Linfield in the Irish Premiership. He previously played for Bray Wanderers where he played for four seasons before joining Dundalk, where ...

. He made 11 appearances in all competitions as

smashed many records to retain their league title and also completing the double by beating

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' ...

to win the

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 ...

St Patrick's Athletic

On 29 November 2018, it was announced that Poynton had signed for

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 ...

club

, becoming new manager

Harry Kenny Harry Kenny (born 13 April 1962) is an Irish footballer who last managed at St Patrick's Athletic before resigning in August 2019. During his playing career he spent 13 seasons playing for Shamrock Rovers. Harry, or 'H' as his friends nickn ...

's fifth new signing. Poynton made his debut on 18 February in a 3–0 Leinster Senior Cup win over

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...

Richmond Park Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of Royal Parks of London, London's Royal Parks, and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I of England, C ...

. It was announced on 23 February 2019 that Poynton had left the club by mutual consent, having not made the bench in the Saints first two league games of the season, with Poynton facing an uphill battle for first team action as the club had signed

Chris Forrester Christopher Stephen Forrester (born 17 December 1992) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for St Patrick's Athletic in the League of Ireland Premier Division. He has also previously played for Bohemians, Peterborough Un ...

and

Rhys McCabe Rhys McCabe (born 24 July 1992) is a Scottish footballer and coach who plays as a central midfielder, and is the player-manager for Airdrieonians. McCabe started his senior career with Rangers. McCabe has also played for Dunfermline Athletic ...

in his position after he had signed.

Waterford

Waterford announced the signing of Poynton the same day it was announced he had left

, with Poynton seeking more first team action. Poynton was a mainstay in the Waterford team that season, playing 32 of their 36 league matches as they finished 6th. His first and only goal for the club came on the final day of the season when he converted a penalty in a 4-2 home win against UCD.

Shelbourne

2020 season

Shelbourne announced the signing of Poynton ahead of their return to the Premier Division for the 2020 season. He made his debut in a 2-1 loss at home to his former club Dundalk. His first goal for the club was a penalty at Oriel Park against the same opposition on 11 September. Poynton also picked up an assist in this match. He scored a header in a 3-1 Dublin Derby loss to Bohemians on 3 October. Shelbourne were relegated back to the First Division after a play off loss to Longford Town, but Georgie renewed his contract with the club for another season, after ending the campaign with 2 goals and 2 assists in 15 appearances

2021 season

Poynton started the 2021 season very well, and scored a brace to save a 3-3 draw with Bray Wanderers on matchday 2. He got the winning goal when Shelbourne travelled to Wexford on 18 June, and assisted the following week when they recorded a big win over Cork City. He was on the scoresheet again against Cabinteely, and his penalty against Treaty United on 1 October gave Shelbourne a win that officially confirmed them as First Division champions. Poynton left Shelbourne in December 2021 upon expiry of his contract. In total he made 40 appearances for the club, scoring 7 goals and 6 assists

Drogheda United

After leaving Shelbourne, Poynton signed for his hometown club

. He made his debut against his former club Shelbourne on the opening day of the season. He scored his first and only goal for the Drogs away to

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí Shligigh) is an Irish professional football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 ...

on 23 April. Poynton made 29 appearances as a right back in all competitions as Drogheda avoided relegation by finishing 8th place.

International career

Poynton has played at underage level for Ireland right up from under 16 to under 19 levels as well as competing at Universities International level, captaining his team at all levels. On 19 March 2017, Poynton was named Republic of Ireland U19

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...

for 2016 after his excellent performances.

Career statistics

''Professional appearances – correct as of 9 September 2022.''

Honours

Club

;Dundalk *

(4):

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

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 trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

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 ...

(2):

(1):

President's Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world minus Europe. Europe competes against the United States in a similar but considerably ...

(1):

* Leinster Senior Cup (1):

;Shelbourne *

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 ...

(1):

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 ...

Individual

* Republic of Ireland U19

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Poynton, George 1997 births Living people People from County Meath Association footballers from County Meath Dundalk F.C. players Bohemian F.C. players St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players Waterford F.C. players Shelbourne F.C. players Drogheda United F.C. players League of Ireland players Association football midfielders Republic of Ireland association footballers