Seán Dillon (born 30 July 1983) 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 lea ...

who plays as a defender for club Montrose, where he is a player-coach. He previously played for

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

and Irish teams Longford Town and Shelbourne in the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

prior to joining Dundee United in January 2007 then Montrose in June 2017. He has represented the Republic of Ireland at under-16, under-21 and B international level.

Club career

Dillon was a youth player with

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

but moved back to Ireland in 2002 with Longford Town, where he won two

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...

s and a

League of Ireland Cup The League of Ireland Cup, also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', was an annual knockout competition in men's football in Ireland. It was contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited clubs from the lower levels of the Irish footb ...

during his four years at

Flancare Park Strokestown Road, currently known as Bishopsgate for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Longford, Ireland which is the home of League of Ireland club Longford Town. History In the mid-1990s, Longford Town moved their home ground ...

. In 2006, he moved to Shelbourne and helped them to their thirteenth league championship win, also scoring the only goal of the game in Shels'

Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was discon ...

win in Lithuania over

FK Vėtra FK Vėtra was a Lithuanian football (soccer), football team from the capital city of Vilnius. History The club was founded in 1997 and was initially based in Rūdiškės, a settlement in Trakai district, and moved in 2003 to Vilnius city wit ...

. In January 2007, Dillon moved to Scottish side

for an undisclosed fee. In March 2008 he collected a

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

runners-up medal despite being an unused substitute in the final. However, on 15 May 2010, he was then a part of the Dundee United team who defeated Ross County 3–0 to lift the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...

. Not long after the beginning of the 2012–13 season Dillon signed a contract extension that would keep him at the club until May 2015. He was then appointed

club captain The captain of a football/soccer team, sometimes known as the skipper, is a team member chosen to be the on-pitch leader of the team; they are often one of the older or more experienced members of the squad, or a player that can heavily influ ...

by manager

Jackie McNamara Jackie McNamara (born 24 October 1973) is a Scottish professional Association football, football Sports agent, agent, and former football player, player, Manager (association football), manager and executive. He won 33 international caps playin ...

for the 2013–14 season. On 30 June 2017, it was announced that Dillon had signed a two-year contract as a player-coach with Montrose. In the 2017–18 season Dillon didn't miss a game, as the gable endies clinched the Scottish League 2 title by one point. In 2019, Dillon signed a contract extension keeping him at Montrose until summer 2021, with manager Stewart Petrie crediting him with having a "huge influence on the teams success" since his arrival. In December 2022, Dillon agreed a one-year extension with Montrose which would keep him with the ''Gable Endies'' until 2024.

International career

Dillon represented the Republic of Irelandat the 2000 UEFA Under-21 Championship and is a former under-21 international who represented his country at the

2003 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship was the 14th FIFA World Youth Championship. It took place in United Arab Emirates between 27 November and 19 December 2003. Brazil claimed their fourth title, becoming the first country to simultaneously ho ...

, appearing as a substitute in the second round exit. Dillon also represented the Ireland under-21 team on one occasion and played alongside United teammate Noel Hunt for the Ireland B team in October 2007 in a match against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

who included teammate Darren Dods.

Personal

His aunt Noeleen McMahon won four caps for the

Republic of Ireland women's national football team The Republic of Ireland women's national football team () represents the Republic of Ireland in competitions such as the FIFA Women's World Cup and the UEFA Women's Championship. The team played in their first World Cup at the 2023 FIFA Women' ...

Career statistics

Honours

Longford Town *

: 2003,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Shelbourne *

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

Dundee United *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2009–10 * Scottish League Challenge Cup: 2016–17 Montrose *

Scottish League Two The Scottish League Two, known as William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League Two for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foo ...

: 2017–18

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dillon, Sean 1983 births Living people Association footballers from Dublin (city) Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland men's B international footballers League of Ireland players Longford Town F.C. players Shelbourne F.C. players Dundee United F.C. players Montrose F.C. players Scottish Premier League players Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Men's association football fullbacks Scottish Professional Football League players Cherry Orchard F.C. players 21st-century Irish sportsmen