Anthony Joseph Mahoney (born 29 September 1959) is an English retired 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 played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

and

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building * ...

as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He later forged a career in

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

and played a decade with

Canvey Island Canvey Island is a town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and reclaimed island in the Thames estuary, near Southend-on-Sea, in the Castle Point district, in the county of Essex, England. It has an area of and a population of 38,170.Office ...

Club career

Fulham

Mahoney began his career as a trainee with

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club

. Aged just 17 years and 38 days, he made his professional debut in a league match versus

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

on 6 November 1976 and became the-then second-youngest Fulham debutant. Out of favour at Fulham, Mahoney joined

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

club

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

in October 1981 and made six league appearances without scoring. Mahoney failed to break through to the first team at

Craven Cottage Craven Cottage is a football ground in Fulham, West London, England, which has been the home of Fulham F.C. since 1896.According to the club'official website The ground's capacity is 22,384; the record attendance is 49,335, for a game against M ...

was released in 1982. He made 69 appearances and scored 13 goals during six seasons as a first team player with the club.

Brentford

Mahoney joined

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

club

on a three-month trial in July 1982. Partnering Francis Joseph up front, Mahoney had a good start to life at

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground is in a predominantly residential area and was ...

, scoring 15 goals in his first 28 appearances and signing a permanent contract, before suffering a fractured leg in an

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 ...

second round replay versus

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...

in December. After recovering, he failed to show the same kind of form and was released at the end of the 1983–84 season. Mahoney made 58 appearances and scored 19 goals during his two years with Brentford.

Crystal Palace

Mahoney joined Second Division club

in June 1984. In a one-season stay at

Selhurst Park Selhurst Park is a football stadium in Selhurst in the London Borough of Croydon which is the home ground of Premier League side Crystal Palace. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and opened in 1924. It has hosted international footba ...

, he made 24 appearances and scored five goals.

Non-League football

Mahoney dropped into

to sign for

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

First Division club

Grays Athletic Grays Athletic Football Club is a football club based in Grays, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Parkside in nearby Aveley. History The club was established as Grays Juniors in 1890, before merging with former S ...

in July 1985. He was part of the team which secured promotion to the Premier Division and won two cups during the 1987–88 season, with Mahoney's striker partnership with Micky Welch being regarded as the most-feared in non-League football. Mahoney transferred to Southern League Premier Division club

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames estuary, is Thurrock in ...

in 1988 and then to

Essex Senior League The Essex Senior Football League is an English men's football league. It contains clubs from the Essex FA, Hertfordshire FA, London FA, Middlesex FA and the Amateur Football Alliance. It is a feeder league to Division One North of the Isthm ...

club

in 1989. He was a part of a golden era for Canvey Island, which saw the club rise from the Essex Senior League to the Isthmian League First Division with three promotions in three seasons. Mahoney was also part of the Canvey Island team which went on a run to the first round proper of the

1995–96 FA Cup The 1995–96 FA Cup (known as The FA Cup sponsored by Littlewoods for sponsorship reasons) was the 115th staging of the FA Cup. The competition was won outright by Manchester United, who won the final through a goal from Eric Cantona five minut ...

, when they took Second Division club

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 ...

to a replay before going out.

International career

Mahoney represented

England Youth England national under-18 football team, also known as England under-18s or England U18(s), represents England in association football at under-18 age level and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England ...

at international level.

Personal life

Mahoney married his wife Michele on Saturday 21 February 1981 in Grays and together with

best man A groomsman or usher is one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony and performs the first speech at the wedding. Usually, the groom selects close friends and relatives to serve as groomsmen, and it is considered an honor to be ...

Kevin Lock Kevin Lock (born 27 December 1953) is an English former professional footballer who played as a central defender in the Football League, most notably for Fulham and West Ham United. Club career Lock was born in Plaistow, Essex. He began his ...

, he played for Fulham later that day. Mahoney's son, Tony Jr, was fatally stabbed in September 1999.

Career statistics

Honours

Grays Athletic *

First Division: 1987–88 *

Essex Senior Cup The Essex Senior Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knock-out system football competition that has been running since 1884, and is the most prestigious cup competition in the county of Essex. The competition is run mainly for Non-League foot ...

: 1987–88 * Essex Thameside Trophy: 1987–88 Canvey Island *

: 1992–93 * Isthmian League First Division: 1998–99 * Isthmian League Second Division: 1995–96, 1997–98 * Essex Senior Cup: 1998–99

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahoney, Tony 1959 births Footballers from the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham People from Barking, London English men's footballers Brentford F.C. players English Football League players Fulham F.C. players Isthmian League players Northampton Town F.C. players Men's association football forwards Crystal Palace F.C. players Grays Athletic F.C. players Dartford F.C. players Southern Football League players Living people Canvey Island F.C. players People with multiple sclerosis England men's youth international footballers