Karl Andrew Connolly (born 9 February 1970) is an English former

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 for

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

, Queens Park Rangers, and

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

Football career

Connolly started his football career at Napoli, in the Liverpool Sunday League, where he was spotted by a

scout, and was signed by the then Wrexham manager

Brian Flynn Brian Flynn may refer to: * Brian Flynn (footballer) (born 1955), Welsh football manager * Brian Flynn (baseball) (born 1990), American baseball player * Brian Flynn (cricketer) (1929-1986), Australian cricketer * Brian Flynn (ice hockey) Brian ...

, initially to play in a left-wing position. However, following the departure of Gary Bennett to Tranmere Rovers in 1995, Connolly was played as the main striker. Connolly went on to score 88 goals in 358 league games. Connolly played in many of Wrexham's finest

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 ...

games, including the 2–1 win 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 ...

, the 2–1 win against

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 ...

, the magnificent cup run of 1996–97, and the 2–1 victory over

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 ...

in 1999.

After leaving Wrexham

Karl joined Queens Park Rangers on a Bosman free transfer in the summer of 2000, where he played 72 League games scoring 12 goals, mostly from a left-wing position. He left QPR to join

in the summer of 2003. He went on to score twice for the club, with strikes coming 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 the League Cup and

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

in the league. A spell at

Prescot Cables Prescot Cables Football Club is a supporter-owned football club based in Prescot, Merseyside. It was established in 1884 and has also been known as Prescot and Prescot Town. They compete in the and play their home games at Valerie Park. They ...

followed, and then he returned to the

area, to play for NEWI Cefn Druids in January 2008. He re-signed for Prescot in the summer of 2008. Joined Warrington Town in August 2009 and retired from the game in 2011 at the age of 41.

Honours

;Wrexham *

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most ...

winner: 1995

References

* *https://archive.today/20130423194815/http://www.low.org.uk/PlayerDisplay.ink?season=07/08&squadno=12454&type=p {{DEFAULTSORT:Connolly, Karl 1970 births Living people Sportspeople from Prescot English footballers Association football forwards Wrexham A.F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Prescot Cables F.C. players Cefn Druids A.F.C. players Warrington Town F.C. players English Football League players Cymru Premier players