Sam Curtis (born 1 December 2005) 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

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

EFL 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 ...

club Peterborough United on loan from

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

club Sheffield United. He began his senior career with

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

St Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Lúthchleas Phádraig Naofa) is a professional Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the Irish Premier Division. Founded in May 1929, they played origin ...

. He is the League of Ireland's youngest ever player.

Club career

Youth career

A native of Navan,

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the sou ...

, Curtis began playing with his local side Parkvilla, before moving to top

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 ...

youth side, St Kevin's Boys before moving to the academy of

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 ...

. In June 2019, he captained the Dublin District Schoolboys League representative team to winning the prestigious Kennedy Cup. While at Rovers, he made his debut in senior football for the club's reserve team Shamrock Rovers II in Ireland's second tier, the

League of Ireland First Division The League of Ireland First Division ( ga, Céad Roinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League First Division, is the second level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland football league system. Th ...

. His debut came on 17 October 2020 in a 3–1 win over

Athlone Town Athlone Town Association Football Club () is an Irish football club from Athlone who are playing in the League of Ireland. The club is the oldest in the League as it was founded in 1887. First elected to the League of Ireland in 1922, they pl ...

at age 14, making him the youngest player in League of Ireland history. He spent time on trial at AS Roma and Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2021.

St Patrick's Athletic

2021 season

On 25 July 2021, it was announced that Curtis, as well as his brother Ben, had signed for

, where they would initially play with the club's under 19 side. Curtis made his senior debut for the club came on 13 August 2021, replacing the injured

Lee Desmond Lee Desmond (born 22 January 1995) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a centre back or centre midfielder for USL Championship club Sacramento Republic. Career Early career Desmond played youth football with Malahide United, Cru ...

in injury time of a 2–1 win over

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

at Richmond Park, making him the club's youngest ever player at 15 years and 255 days old (this record has since been taken by Mason Melia in 2023). He made his UEFA Youth League debut on 29 September 2021 in a 2–1 loss to

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also

* * * Old Serbian (disambiguat ...

side Crvena Zvezda.

2022 season

Both Sam and brother Ben Curtis signed their first professional contracts on 20 January 2022. Curtis' first start for the club came on 6 May 2022 in a 4–0 win away to

Drogheda United Drogheda United Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Dhroichead Átha Aontaithe) is a semi-professional Irish association football club based in Drogheda, County Louth playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They play their home matches ...

United Park Head In The Game Park, also known as United Park, and formerly O2 Park and Hunky Dorys Park for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Drogheda, Ireland. The ground has been home to League of Ireland side Drogheda United since 1979. I ...

. His form in May 2022 saw him voted as the club's Player of the Month by supporters. His first appearances in European competition came in the summer of 2022 when he came off the bench in a 1–1 draw with

NŠ Mura Nogometna šola Mura ( en, Mura Football School), commonly referred to as NŠ Mura or simply Mura, is a Slovenian football team, playing in the town of Murska Sobota. Founded in 2012, the team currently plays in the Slovenian PrvaLiga, the top ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

and in a 1–0 away win against

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

side CSKA Sofia in the UEFA Europa Conference League. He won the clubs' Player of the Month award for the second time in the season, for September 2022. He made a total of 20 appearances in all competitions during his first full season at the club. His form in his breakthrough season at the club led to reported interest from

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

and Chelsea.

2023 season

Curtis started the

2023 season 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

off well, making the

Right wingback In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

position his own following the departure of Barry Cotter in the offseason. He started the first 6 games of the season in the position, leading up to the March international break which earned him his first callup to the Republic of Ireland U21 side with Pats assistant manager

Jon Daly Jon Daly, sometimes credited as Jonathan C. Daly, Jon C. Daly or Jonathan Barney Daly, is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer best known for his sketch comedy work on the Comedy Central series ''Kroll Show''. In 2013 he starred as H ...

tipping him for a bright future in the game. He earned the club's Player of the Month award for his performances in March 2023. On 19 May 2023, Curtis scored the first goal of his senior career, heading home a

Jake Mulraney Jake David Mulraney (born 5 April 1996) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for League of Ireland Premier Division club St Patrick's Athletic. Born in Dublin, Mulraney has previously played for Ilkeston, Queens Park ...

corner in a 1–0 Dublin derby win away to Shelbourne at Tolka Park. He was voted as the club's Player of the Month for the second time in the season for May 2023. On 30 June 2023, Curtis scored a header from a

corner to give his side a 3-goal lead in an eventual 7–0 win over UCD at Richmond Park. On 4 August 2023, he scored his 3rd goal of the season, volleying home his sides second goal in a 2–0 win away to

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí Shligigh) is an Irish professional football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 ...

at The Showgrounds, in what was his 50th appearance for the club in all competitions. On 28 October 2023, he was named as the club's Young Player of the Year for 2023. On 12 November 2023, Curtis was part of the starting XI in the

2023 FAI Cup Final The 2023 FAI Cup Final, known as the 2023 Sports Direct FAI Cup Final for sponsorship reasons, was the final match of the 2023 FAI Cup, the national association football cup of the Republic of Ireland. The match took place on Sunday 12 November ...

, in a 3–1 win over

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

in front of a record breaking

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 ...

Final crowd of 43,881 at the Aviva Stadium. On 15 November 2023, it was announced that Curtis had been included in the PFAI Team of the Year and was one of the 3 nominees for the PFAI Young Player of the Year award, alongside James Clarke and Jack Moylan. On 2 December 2023, he was named PFAI Young Player of the Year for 2023, becoming the youngest ever player to win the award.

Sheffield United

On 25 January 2024, Curtis signed for

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 ...

club Sheffield United for an undisclosed international training compensation fee, on a contract until 2027. He was named in the squad for the first time on 25 February 2024, but remained an unused substitute in a 1–0 defeat to

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

at Molineux. On 11 May 2024, he made his debut for the club, coming off the bench in the 63rd minute of a 1–0 loss away to Everton in the

Peterborough United loan

On 2 August 2024, Curtis joined

side Peterborough United on a season long loan deal. He made his debut for the club on 10 August 2024, in a 2–0 loss at home to Huddersfield Town on the opening day of the season.

International career

Curtis featured for the Republic of Ireland U15 side in 2019, captaining the side at age 13. He was a prominent player for the Republic of Ireland U17s during their qualification campaign over 2021–2022, scoring 2 goals in 6 appearances. Curtis captained the Republic of Ireland U18 side over 2021–2022. His first call up to the Republic of Ireland U19 team came in September 2022. Curtis received his first call up to the Republic of Ireland U21 side came in March 2023, for a friendly against Iceland U21, despite still being just 17 years old. He played the full 90 minutes in the game as his side came from behind to win 2–1 after playing an hour with 10 men. On 20 June 2023, he was named as Republic of Ireland U18 Player of the Year for 2022 at the

FAI International Football Awards The FAI International Football Awards is an awards evening held to honour the best Republic of Ireland international footballers of the year. Senior International awards Senior International Player of the Year Senior Women's International P ...

Career statistics

Honours

St Patrick's Athletic *

(2):

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 ...

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

Individual * PFAI Young Player of the Year:

* PFAI Team of the Year (1):

Young Player of the Year (1):

* FAI Under-18 International Player of the Year (1): 2022

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis, Sam 2005 births Living people Association footballers from County Meath Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football central defenders St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players League of Ireland players Premier League players English Football League players Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Irish expatriate men's association footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in England People from Navan