Alan Blayney

Alan Blayney (born 9 October 1981) is a retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper and is now the first team goalkeeper coach at NIFL Premiership side Larne.

Alan Blayney
Personal information
Date of birth (1981-10-09) 9 October 1981
Place of birth Belfast, Northern Ireland
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Larne (goalkeeping coach)
Youth career
1997–2001 Glentoran
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2006 Southampton 3 (0)
2002 → Stockport County (loan) 2 (0)
2002–2003 → AFC Bournemouth (loan) 2 (0)
2005 → Rushden & Diamonds (loan) 4 (0)
2005 → Brighton & Hove Albion (loan) 7 (0)
2005 → Brighton & Hove Albion (loan) 8 (0)
2006–2007 Doncaster Rovers 24 (0)
2007 Oldham Athletic 1 (0)
2007 Bohemians 3 (0)
2008–2009 Ballymena United 32 (0)
2009–2014 Linfield 118 (0)
2014 → Ards (loan) 11 (0)
2014–2015 Glenavon 17 (0)
2015–2017 Ballymena United 34 (0)
2017 Dundela 4 (0)
2017 Warrenpoint Town 6 (0)
2018 Ballyclare Comrades 5 (0)
Total 281 (0)
International career
2002–2003 Northern Ireland U21 5 (0)
2006–2011 Northern Ireland 5 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Beginning his professional career with Southampton in the Premier League where he made three appearances, Blayney had additional loan spells with Stockport County, AFC Bournemouth, Rushden & Diamonds and Brighton & Hove Albion (twice). He then spent just over a year with Doncaster Rovers before having successive quick spells with Oldham Athletic and Bohemians, before returning to his native Northern Ireland with Ballymena United. After one season he moved to Linfield where he won three league titles and three Irish Cups. He subsequently played for Glenavon, Ballymena United again, Dundela, Warrenpoint Town and Ballyclare Comrades before retiring.

He also represented Northern Ireland at international level and under-21 level, winning five caps for both sides.

Club career

England

Born from Belfast, Northern Ireland, Blayney started his career with Premiership side Southampton and was loaned out to Stockport County,[1] but was cut short by a broken finger.[2] He also he had a spell at AFC Bournemouth on loan.[3] He made his début for Southampton in May 2004, receiving a high amount of praise.[4] Blayney also won Sky Sports save of the season after saving an Alan Shearer header in May 2004 on his Premier League debut.[5] The match at St Mary's ended in a 3–3 draw.[6] Blayney also played in the following 2–1 defeat at Charlton. Blayney would play two more games for Southampton the following season, the 2–2 Premier League draw against West Bromwich Albion and the 5–2 League Cup loss against Watford. Blayney, who was then behind Antti Niemi and Paul Smith in the team's pecking order went on loan to Rushden & Diamonds[7] and Brighton & Hove Albion.[8] Brighton tried to sign Blayney on a permanent basis in 2005, but could not afford the transfer fee Southampton were asking.[9] Blayney did return to Brighton & Hove Albion for a second loan spell,[10] before returning to Southampton in mid-December.

Blayney then joined Doncaster Rovers for £50,000 from Southampton in January 2006, signing a two and half-year contract, with hopes of getting the team promoted to the Championship.[11] Blayney started off as first choice goalkeeper at Belle Vue stadium, but fell behind Ben Smith and Dane Jan Budtz in the pecking order after an ankle injury.[12] He decided to leave the club for personal reasons.[13]

In February 2007, Blayney joined League One side Oldham Athletic, until the end of the 2006–07 season, after impressing in a reserve team match.[14] Blayney made his début for Oldham Athletic in a 1–2 home defeat against Bournemouth, after first choice goalkeeper Les Pogliacomi was suspended.[15]

League of Ireland & Irish League

On 7 August, Alan Blayney joined Irish side Bohemians on a short term deal to provide cover for first choice goalkeeper Brian Murphy. He marked his debut with a clean sheet as Bohs beat Bray Wanderers 3–0 on 31 August. He failed to gain the number 1 shirt from Brian Murphy though and was released at the end of the season.

On 15 March 2008, Blayney signed for Irish Premiership side Ballymena United,[16] although he was unable to play for the Braidmen until the 2008–09 season. In June 2009, Blayney signed a three-year contract for Linfield.[17] Following good performances for Linfield on their way to the 2010–11 IFA Premiership title, Blayney was chosen as the Ulster Footballer of the Year for the 2010–11 season.[18] He joined fellow NIFL Premiership club Ards on loan for the second half of the 2013–14 season.[19]

Following his loan spell at Ards, Blayney left Linfield at the end of the 2013–14 NIFL Premiership season to sign for 2013–14 Irish Cup winners Glenavon.[20] Despite a strong start to the season, Blayney later lost his starting spot at Glenavon to number two goalkeeper James McGrath, and left the club for a second spell at Ballymena United on 5 May 2015.

Blayney initially started his second spell at Ballymena as the number one choice, following the departure of Australian goalkeeper Tim Allen. However, the arrival of former Linfield manager David Jeffrey saw his game time limited, with Linfield loanee Ross Glendinning usurping Blayney as number one during the 2016–17 season. The return of Tim Allen to the club meant that Blayney was free to talk to other clubs. He left Ballymena by mutual consent on 27 January 2017.

Blayney signed for NIFL Premier Intermediate League side Dundela on 1 February 2017. He returned to the NIFL Premiership in the 2017-18 season, having signed a pre-contract with 2016–17 NIFL Championship winners Warrenpoint Town.

On 14 December 2017, it was announced that Blayney had signed for Ballyclare Comrades.

International football

Blayney, a former Northern Ireland under-21 international, played his first match for the Northern Ireland senior national team in their 2006 summer tour of the United States. Northern Ireland lost the match against Romania 2–0.[21] He followed this with three appearances in 2010.

Honours

Linfield

References
  1. "Transfers – October 2002". BBC Sport. 29 October 2002. Retrieved 23 February 2007.
  2. "Blayney's break frustrates Hatters". BBC Sport. 27 November 2002. Retrieved 23 February 2007.
  3. "Blayney joins Cherries". BBC Sport. 25 December 2002. Retrieved 23 February 2007.
  4. "Blayney stars in debut". BBC Sport. 13 May 2004. Retrieved 23 February 2007.
  5. "Keeper Leaves Saints". Vital Football. 5 January 2006. Retrieved 24 February 2007.
  6. "Southampton 3–3 Newcastle". BBC Sport. 12 May 2005. Retrieved 23 February 2007.
  7. "Littlejohn completes Rushden move". BBC Sport. 7 January 2005. Retrieved 23 February 2007.
  8. "Seagulls sign two on deadline day". BBC Sport. 24 March 2005. Retrieved 23 February 2007.
  9. "Brighton rule out Blayney signing". BBC Sport. 17 June 2005. Retrieved 23 February 2007.
  10. "Blayney pleased at Albion return". BBC Sport. 20 September 2005. Retrieved 23 February 2007.
  11. "Doncaster snap up keeper Blayney". BBC Sport. 5 January 2006. Retrieved 23 February 2007.
  12. "Blayney injury worries Doncaster". BBC Sport. 24 October 2006. Retrieved 26 July 2007.
  13. "Keeper Blayney leaves Doncaster". BBC Sport. 24 January 2007. Retrieved 26 July 2007.
  14. "Oldham complete Blayney signing". BBC Sport. 16 February 2007. Retrieved 23 February 2007.
  15. "Oldham 1–2 Bournemouth". BBC Sport. 24 February 2007. Retrieved 24 February 2007.
  16. "Alan Blayney signs for Ballymena United". Ballymena United F.C. 16 March 2008. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
  17. "Breaking News: Alan Blayney signs". Linfield F.C. 1 June 2009. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
  18. "Alan Blayney wins Ulster Footballer of the Year award". Bbc.co.uk. 13 May 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  19. "Ards Football Club - Blayney agrees to loan move". Archived from the original on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  20. "Alan Blayney agrees two-year pre-contract with Glenavon". Bbc.co.uk. 30 April 2014. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  21. "Romania 2–0 Northern Ireland". BBC Sport. 27 May 2006. Retrieved 23 February 2007.
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