John Bacon (born 23 March 1973 in

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 ...

) is an Irish former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

er. Bacon joined

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 ...

in July 1989 and spent four years as a member of the youth side, winning a

South East Counties League The South East Counties League (SECL) was a football league for the youth teams of clubs from Southern England. The competition grew out of the Middlesex Youth Invitation Cup set up in the 1950s by the Middlesex FA and was formerly known as the ...

title in 1990-91. He was also capped four times by the Irish Under 21 team. He never made a first-team appearance, and was loaned to

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 ...

in January 1992. He made his

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 ...

debut for Rovers against Dundalk on 26 January 1992 and in total scored three times in ten league appearances that season. After returning to Arsenal at the end of the

1991–92 League of Ireland Premier Division The 1991–92 League of Ireland Premier Division was the seventh season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The Premier Division was made up of 12 teams. Overview The Premier Division was contested by 12 teams and Shelbourne F.C. won the c ...

season Bacon went on loan to

Derry City F.C. Derry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Derry, Northern Ireland. It plays in the League of Ireland Premier Division, the top tier of league football in the Republic of Ireland, and is the League of Ireland ...

in January 1993 where he scored three goals in twelve league appearances. He was released by Arsenal on a free transfer in the 1993 close season. In July 1993 Bacon signed for The Hoops where he made eleven league appearances scoring once as the club won its fifteenth League title in the 1993/94 season. He made two appearances in the

1994–95 UEFA Cup The 1994–95 UEFA Cup was won by Parma on aggregate over Juventus. Internazionale were the defending champions with a wild card, but were knocked out in the first round by Aston Villa. New format Twenty-two national champions were demoted to t ...

but in October 1994 Bacon was put on the transfer list along with six other players For the 1995–96 season Bacon signed for St James's Gate F.C. for what turned out to be their final season in the League of Ireland. Bacon then moved to the Irish League and signed for

Ards F.C. Ards Football Club is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club playing in NIFL Championship. The club is based in Newtownards, but plays its home matches at Clandeboye Park in Bangor, which it rents from rivals Bangor to play home ...

where he scored 4 goals in 40 appearances in the

1996–97 Irish League The 1996–97 Irish League was the 96th edition of the Irish League, the highest level of league competition in Northern Irish football. The league consisted of 8 teams, and Crusaders won the championship. Premier Division League standings ...

which included 3 appearances in the

1997 UEFA Intertoto Cup The 1997 UEFA Intertoto Cup finals were won by three French teams -- Lyon, Bastia, and Auxerre. All three teams advanced to the UEFA Cup. Qualified teams Group stage Group 1 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Group 2 ...

International career

Bacon represented his country at schoolboy, youths, U15, U16, U19 and at U21 level. As an U16 international he scored twice against Northern Ireland in October 1988 He was part of the team who lost to Switzerland in the final qualifier for the

1989 UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship The 1989 UEFA European Under-16 Championship was the seventh edition of UEFA's European Under-16 Football Championship. Denmark hosted the championship, during 4–14 May 1989. 16 teams entered the competition, and Portugal won their first title. ...

. Bacon was part of the team that played at the

1991 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1991 FIFA World Youth Championship was the eighth staging of the FIFA World Youth Championship, an international football competition organized by FIFA for men's youth national teams, and the eighth since it was established in 1977 as the FIFA ...

Honours

: **

1993–94

References

Sources

*The Hoops by Paul Doolan and Robert Goggins ()

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bacon, John 1973 births Living people Association football forwards Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland youth international footballers Arsenal F.C. players League of Ireland players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Derry City F.C. players Ards F.C. players NIFL Premiership players St James's Gate F.C. players