Keith Andrews (footballer)

Keith Joseph Andrews (born 13 September 1980) is an Irish former association footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He is currently the assistant manager of the Republic of Ireland national football team.

Andrews began his career at Wolverhampton Wanderers, where he was their youngest captain in over a century. His club career also involved stints at Hull City and Milton Keynes Dons, as well as loan spells at Oxford United, Stoke City and Walsall while he was at Wolves. While at Milton Keynes Dons he was club captain, and helped secure promotion for his team with a vital goal, helped win his team the Football League Trophy by scoring in the final at Wembley and they were named in the PFA Team of the Year.

He joined Blackburn Rovers in September 2008 and spent three seasons at Ewood Park which included a loan spell at Ipswich Town. After a short stay with West Bromwich Albion Andrews joined Bolton Wanderers and after loans at Brighton & Hove Albion, Watford and a return to Milton Keynes Dons he retired in the summer of 2015.

A full international from 2008 to 2012, Andrews gained 35 caps for the Republic of Ireland and was selected for UEFA Euro 2012.

Club career

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Andrews began his career as a trainee at Wolves, progressing from their academy to the first team. He made his senior debut on 18 March 2000 in a 2–1 win at Swindon. He continued his progress with the First Division club in the 2000–01 season, becoming a regular player as Dave Jones took over midway through. He went on a loan spell at Oxford United, scoring once against Swansea City. Back at Wolves, the final match of that season saw him become their youngest captain for more than a hundred years, at 21 years old, in a game against Queens Park Rangers.

He signed a new four-year deal the following season but found himself out of the starting line-up after several new midfielders were acquired in the summer, resigning him to the substitutes bench and sporadic appearances over the next few seasons. To gain playing time, he spent half of the 2003–04 season on loan at Stoke City and the latter half at Walsall, where he scored two league goals against Millwall and Ipswich Town. He did however return to Molineux in between to make his only Premier League appearance for Wolves (against Newcastle United).

The midfielder returned to Wolves' team post-relegation in 2004–05 and gained his most appearances for the club during that season. However, he moved on at the end of his contract to join Hull City. In total, he made 72 appearances for the Midlanders, scoring once in a League Cup tie at Rochdale.

Hull City

His new start with the Hull saw him sidelined again though, as he picked up an injury in only his second appearance for the team – in a match against his previous team, Wolves. He returned to the team in December after nearly four months out and featured in all but one of their remaining fixtures in what proved to be his only season for the club.

Milton Keynes Dons

After a single year at Hull, he moved to Milton Keynes Dons of League Two for the 2006–07 campaign where he became club captain. He lost out on promotion in the play-offs, despite scoring in the semi-final tie with Shrewsbury Town.

However, the next year, now under the managerialship of his former Wolves teammate Paul Ince, brought Andrews success. He scored the winning goal in a match at Stockport County on 19 April 2008 that saw the club promoted to League One, and also scored the opening goal of their 2–0 victory over Grimsby Town with a penalty in the Football League Trophy at Wembley. The season ended with him being voted into PFA Team of the Year and having already won the League Two Player of the Year Award at the Football League Awards. Andrews was then named at number 38 in a ''FourFourTwo'' poll of the top 50 football league players, as well as being named the best player in League 2. MK Dons then had a fight on their hands to keep hold of their inspirational skipper with interest from a number of Premiership and Championship clubs. He featured in MK Dons's first three games of the 2008–09 season but then was sold to Blackburn Rovers managed by former manager Paul Ince.

Blackburn Rovers

Andrews ended a summer of speculation over his future when he completed a transfer to Premier League club Blackburn Rovers on 3 September 2008 in a three-year deal worth and rising up to £1m depending on appearances made for the football club over the coming years. The move temporarily reunited him with his former MK Dons manager Paul Ince before he was sacked as Rovers manager. He made his debut as a substitute on 6 September 2008 against West Ham United, a game in which Blackburn lost 4–1. Andrews made his home debut against Arsenal, on his 28th birthday, Arsenal went on to win the match 4–0. He scored his first goal for Blackburn in the 90th minute during a 2–2 draw with West Bromwich Albion. Due to injuries sustained by first team regulars, Andrews featured frequently for the Rovers first team, occupying a defensive central midfield role. In July 2009, Andrews signed a new four-year deal, which saw him contracted to Blackburn until 2013. On 25 September 2010, Andrews came on for Steven Nzonzi on 66 minutes against Blackpool at Bloomfield Road in a 2–1 win for his first game of the 2010–11 campaign.
The 2010–11 season was a frustrating one for Andrews as he only made six appearances in all competitions for Rovers due to injury.

Ipswich Town (loan)

Andrews agreed to a six-month loan move to Ipswich Town on 12 August 2011. This loan includes an option to buy the player permanently. A day later he made his debut in a 1–0 loss to Hull City and then 3 days later his first goal came against Southampton. This was followed by goals against Peterborough United and Leeds United. Steve Kean, the head coach of Blackburn Rovers, hinted that Andrews' may return to his parent club in January 2012, after a successful loan spell with Ipswich. This was contrary to Andrews' ambitions, who when responding to reports that Paul Jewell, the Ipswich head coach, wanted to sign him on a permanent deal, stated in an interview with the BBC
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