Eamonn Dolan (20 September 1967 – 20 June 2016) was an Irish professional footballer and coach.

Career

Dolan played as a striker, beginning his professional career with

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

. He made his debut on 9 May 1987 in a 2–0 home win against

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coming on as a substitute for Mark Ward. It was his only appearance of the 1986–87 season. In the 1987–88 season, Dolan made only four appearances, three as a substitute. His first West Ham goal came on 30 September 1989 in a 2–3 home defeat to

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

. On 18 October 1989, Dolan made possibly his most notable appearance for West Ham. In 5–0 home defeat of

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, he scored twice with his goal celebrations inspiring cartoons drawn by

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cartoonist,

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. He continued to play regularly until the end of November 1989 when he signed for

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

He made 21 appearances in all competitions for West Ham scoring four goals. Dolan joined Exeter in 1991, and this marked the beginning of a 13-year association with the club, although he only managed 26 league appearances for the club as his career was cut short in 1993 when he developed

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

. His testimonial was in September 1994 in a game between Exeter and West Ham. He survived the condition, and continued to serve the "Grecians" as football in the community officer, youth coach, caretaker manager, and finally full-time manager, taking over after the club's relegation from

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

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. His first season in charge was fairly successful, steadying the ship after a difficult year, and almost qualifying for the playoffs, but he left the club in September 2004 to join

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...

as academy manager.

International career

Dolan and his twin brother

Pat Dolan Patrick Dolan (born 20 September 1967 in Galway, Ireland) is a former football player, manager, and executive. He is also a former soccer analyst on RTÉ Sport. He is currently a FIFA-registered players' agenand has represented a number of pla ...

were capped at Under-21 and youth level for

Republic of Ireland national football team , FIFA Trigramme = IRL , Name = Republic of Ireland , Association = Football Association of Ireland (FAI) , Confederation = UEFA (Europe) , website fai.ie, Coach = Stephen Kenny , ...

. He scored 10 goals in his first seven youth internationals. They both played at the

1985 FIFA World Youth Championship The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

. Both had made their Irish international début at

Republic of Ireland national under-17 football team The Republic of Ireland national under-17 football team, is the national under-17 football team of the Republic of Ireland and is controlled by the Football Association of Ireland and competes in the annual UEFA European Under-17 Championship and ...

level against Northern Ireland in the first ever fixture between the two nations at Seaview in a 6–1 friendly win in January 1985. Dolan scored a hat trick.

Death

Dolan died of cancer on 20 June 2016. On 5 July 2016, at the end of Dolan's funeral,

announced that the North Stand of

Madejski Stadium The Madejski Stadium (currently known as the Select Car Leasing Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a Association football, football stadium in Reading, Berkshire, Reading. It is the home of Reading F.C., Reading Football Club, who play in the E ...

would be renamed the "Eamonn Dolan Stand".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dolan, Eamonn 1967 births 2016 deaths Association footballers from County Galway Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland youth international footballers Association football forwards West Ham United F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players English Football League players Republic of Ireland football managers Exeter City F.C. managers Reading F.C. managers Reading F.C. non-playing staff Premier League managers English Football League managers National League (English football) managers Deaths from cancer in England Association football coaches