Pierce Liam Sweeney (born 11 September 1994) is an Irish 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 plays as a defender for side Exeter City.

Career

Schoolboy Football

Sweeney began his career at Ardmore Rovers in his hometown of Bray, before moving on to the under-13 level with

Belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to: Places Australia *Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region Africa *Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco *Belvedere, Harare, Zim ...

Bray Wanderers

In 2012, Sweeney joined

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 ...

side

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 ...

. He made 12 appearances for the Seagulls during the

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 ...

season.

Reading

On 6 July 2012, Sweeney signed with then-

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 ...

side

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

. Although he was a member of Reading's Under 21 2013-14 Premier League Cup-winning side, on 9 May 2016, Sweeney was released by Reading without having made a first-team appearance for the club.

Exeter City

On 22 July 2016, Sweeney signed with Exeter City as the 1931 Fund fan-funded player after a successful trial. He scored two goals and an assist in Exeter's 5–1 defeat of Notts County on 8 September 2018, and had already scored two additional goals before the end of September 2018.

Swindon Town

On 11 June 2021, Sweeney signed a two-year deal with Swindon Town to begin on 1 July 2021, after rejecting an offer from Exeter City. His contract was terminated by mutual consent on 2 July 2021, with Sweeney stating that 'due to family circumstances at this current moment I am unable to fulfil relocating to be part of the team'.

Exeter City return

Following his abrupt departure from Swindon Town, Sweeney returned to Exeter City on 8 July 2021. He was vice-captain as Exeter City secured a return to League One for the first time since 2012. In June 2022, Sweeney signed a new two-year deal with the club. On 14 January 2023, in his first match as club captain following the departure of

Matt Jay Matthew William Jay (born 27 February 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Colchester United. Early life and education Jay was born in Torbay in Devon and he attended South Dartmoor Community Coll ...

, Sweeney made his 300th appearance for Exeter City in all competitions. At the end of the

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

season, Sweeney was chosen as Exeter's Player of the Year.

International career

Sweeney has represented the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

at under-U17, under-U19, and under-U21 levels.

Career statistics

Honours

;Reading * Premier League Cup: 2013–14 Exeter City *

EFL League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

runner-up: 2021–22 Individual * FAI Under-19 Irish International Player of the Year: 2013 * Exeter City Player of the Year:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sweeney, Pierce 1994 births Living people Association footballers from County Dublin Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers League of Ireland players Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers English Football League players Men's association football defenders Belvedere F.C. players Bray Wanderers F.C. players Reading F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers