Richard Patrick Towell (born 17 July 1991) 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

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

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

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 ...

. Towell started his career with Scottish club

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

and made his debut in the first half of the 2010–11 season. He then had two loan spells with Hibernian before leaving Celtic in 2012. Towell has represented the Republic of Ireland under-21, under-19 and under-17 teams

Club career

Celtic

Towell started his career at Crumlin United and in 2007 moved to

. In November 2010, he made his professional debut coming on as a substitute for

Jos Hooiveld Jos Hooiveld (; born 22 April 1983) is a retired Dutch footballer. Hooiveld is known for his strong physical performances. Born in Zeijen, Drenthe, he started his career with Eredivisie club Heerenveen in 2003, before moving to Eerste Divisie ...

in the 57th minute of Celtic's 2–2 draw against

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

, he provided an assist for Paddy McCourt.

Hibernian (loans)

On 25 January 2011, he joined Hibernian on loan until the end of the 2010–11 season. Towell made his debut a day later, in a 2–0 loss to Rangers. He was at fault for the concession of the second Rangers goal, as a misplaced pass allowed

Nikica Jelavić Nikica Jelavić (; born 27 August 1985) is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Jelavić began his career with Croatian side Hajduk Split of the Prva HNL in 2002, before moving to Belgian Pro League club Zulte Ware ...

a clear chance to score. Despite this bad start, Towell helped to solidify the Hibs defence during the latter part of the 2010–11 season. Hibs manager

Colin Calderwood Colin Calderwood (born 20 January 1965) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He is the assistant manager at Northampton Town. As a player, he was a centre-back who notably played in the Premier League for Tottenham Hots ...

stated in April 2011 that he hoped to sign Towell for a longer period. Towell said in April 2011 that he received abuse from Hearts supporters in

Edinburgh derby The Edinburgh derby is an informal title given to any football match played between Scottish clubs Heart of Midlothian (Hearts) and Hibernian (Hibs), the two oldest professional clubs based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The two clubs have a fierce r ...

matches because he was Catholic. However, he also said that this made him more determined to play better. Towell returned to Celtic at the end of the season, having made 15 starting appearances for Hibs. Towell re-signed on loan for Hibs on 25 August 2011, on a deal due to run until June 2012. He played the first match of his second loan spell only 3 days later, starting as Hibs lost 2–0 to

rivals Hearts. Towell started to find first-team opportunities limited after new manager

Pat Fenlon Patrick Fenlon (born 15 March 1969) is an Irish football coach and former player. Fenlon played as a midfielder for St Patrick's Athletic, Bohemians, Linfield, Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne. As a manager he won five League of Ireland titles ...

made several signings in the January transfer window. Two right backs and two central midfielders came in with one other right back going out. However, Fenlon said that once Towell had got his fitness levels up he would be back in the first team picture.

Dundalk

Towell was signed by Stephen Kenny for

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 ...

in December 2012, ahead of the 2013 Airtricity Premier Division season. Towell made his League of Ireland debut against Shamrock Rovers on the opening night of the 2013 season and was hugely influential in Dundalk's second-placed finish that year, scoring seven times in 31 league appearances. He also picked up the

PFAI Young Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland Players' Young Player of the Year (often called the PFAI Players' Young Player of the Year, the PFAI Young Player of the Year, or simply the Young Player of the Year) award is given to the footb ...

award. He won back to back league titles with Dundalk in 2014 and 2015 scoring 11 and 25 goals in the respective seasons, and got his first taste of

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 ...

football with the

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 ...

champions. He scored in the

2014–15 UEFA Europa League The 2014–15 UEFA Europa League was the 44th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the sixth season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The 2015 UEFA Europa League Final was ...

Jeunesse Esch Jeunesse Esch (full name ''Association Sportive la Jeunesse d'Esch/Alzette'') is a football club, based in Esch-sur-Alzette, in south-western Luxembourg. The side play in the National Division, the highest league in the country, and have won th ...

br>Jeunesse Esch-Dundalk 2015 History , UEFA Europa League

2015 season

On 9 October, Towell scored an 85th minute equalising penalty against Shamrock Rovers to win Dundalk their second consecutive league title, and followed this by scoring the only goal of the game in extra time in the

FAI Cup Final The FAI Cup Final, known recently as the FAI Ford Cup Final for sponsorship reasons, is an annual soccer match which is the last game in the Football Association of Ireland Challenge Cup. It is the culmination of a knock-out competition among clubs ...

against

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' ...

Brighton & Hove Albion

Towell signed for

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

on 30 November 2015. Towell made his debut for the Sussex club in the third round of the 2015-16 FA Cup on 9 January 2016 away against

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

where The Seagulls lost 1–0 to a

Robert Snodgrass Robert Snodgrass (born 7 September 1987) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a winger for Heart of Midlothian. Snodgrass started his senior career with Livingston. He also had a loan spell at Stirling Albion before moving to ...

penalty. Despite not playing a single league game in the 2015-16 Football League Championship season Towell made an appearance in the 2016 Championship play-offs as a substitute away against

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

where Brighton were beaten 2-0 and 3–1 on aggregate. Towell scored his first goal for The Albion in a 3-1

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 ...

loss away to then

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

side

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

on 28 January 2017. Towell's only league game with The Seagulls came against his then future loan club

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

on 7 March 2017 where he came on as a substitute where Brighton won 2–0 at the

New York Stadium The New York Stadium (known as the AESSEAL New York Stadium for sponsorship purposes) is a football stadium in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. Opened in July 2012, it is the home ground of Rotherham United. Its name was inspired by the com ...

. At the end of the season Brighton & Hove Albion were promoted to the

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 ...

. In May 2017, following Brighton's promotion to the

, Towell signed a deal to keep him at the club until 2019.

Rotherham (loans)

On 31 August 2017, he signed for

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

's Rotherham on a season-long loan where he helped them regain their Championship status, winning the 2018 EFL League One play-offs. On 31 August 2018 he returned to Rotherham United for a second season-long loan spell. He made 34 Championship appearances scoring 4 times as Rotherham were relegated back to League One.

Salford City

On 31 May 2019 Towell joined Salford City on a two-year contract. He made his début on the opening day of the 2019–20 season, a 2–0 victory against

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

. On Boxing Day, Towell opened the scoring with a "thunderbolt" in a 2–1 win over

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

on Boxing Day, helping Salford to their first victory in five games. On 19 January 2020, he was sent off in a 2–1 away victory against

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

after committing two bookable offences. He scored Salford's second in a 2–0 win against

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially kno ...

on 29 February.

Shamrock Rovers

At the end of the 2020–21 season, it was announced that Towell would be leaving the club to return to Ireland and join

. He scored his first goal against

ŠK Slovan Bratislava ŠK Slovan Bratislava (, "Bratislava Slav") is a football club based in Bratislava, Slovakia, that plays in the Slovak Super Liga. Founded as 1. ČsŠK Bratislava in 1919, the club changed its name to Slovan Bratislava in 1953. Slovan is the mo ...

in UEFA Champions League first qualifying round, but Rovers where eliminated 3–2 on aggregate.

International career

In May 2008, Towell made his Republic of Ireland under-17's debut in a European championship match against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. He gained his second Ireland under-17 cap four days later, against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. Towell made two appearances for Republic of Ireland under-21s in the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification campaign.

Career statistics

Honours

Dundalk *

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

President of Ireland's Cup The President of Ireland's Cup, also known simply as the President's Cup, is an association football super cup featuring clubs from the Republic of Ireland football league system. It is a one-off match between the winners of the previous season' ...

* Leinster Senior Cup: 2014–15 Rotherham United *

EFL League One play-offs The EFL League One play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL League One table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , the play-offs comprise tw ...

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 ...

Salford City *

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

: 2019–20 ;Shamrock Rovers *

(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 ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

(1):

Individual *

PFAI Players' Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland Players' Player of the Year (often called the PFAI Players' Player of the Year, the Players' Player of the Year, or simply the Irish Player of the Year) award is given to the footballer the Lea ...

* FAI League Player of the Year:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

PFAI Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland Team of the Year (often called the PFAI Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to the group of eleven players voted by their fellow players as having perform ...

References

External links

*
UEFA Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Towell, Richie 1991 births Living people Association footballers from Dublin (city) Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland youth international footballers Republic of Ireland under-21 international footballers Association football midfielders Crumlin United F.C. players Celtic F.C. players Hibernian F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Salford City F.C. players Scottish Premier League players League of Ireland players English Football League players Republic of Ireland expatriate association footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Scotland Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland People from Inchicore Shamrock Rovers F.C. players