Brian Lenihan (footballer)

Brian Patrick Lenihan (born 8 June 1994) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a right back and midfielder.

Brian Lenihan
Personal information
Full name Brian Patrick Lenihan[1]
Date of birth (1994-06-08) 8 June 1994 (age 29)[2]
Place of birth Cork, Ireland
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 1+12 in)[2]
Position(s) Right back / Midfielder
Youth career
College Corinthians
Cork City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2014 Cork City 27 (0)
2014–2018 Hull City 1 (0)
2014Blackpool (loan) 2 (0)
Total 30 (0)
International career
Republic of Ireland U19
2014–2016 Republic of Ireland U21 7 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career edit

Born in Cork, Lenihan began his career with College Corinthians.[3] He moved to Cork City in July 2012, making a total of 27 League of Ireland appearances for them.[2]

After receiving interest from a number of English clubs,[4] he signed for Hull City on 31 August 2014.[5] The transfer fee was believed to be £200,000.[6]

He signed a one-month loan deal with Blackpool in November 2014.[7] He made his debut on 8 November 2014 in a 3–1 away defeat to Leeds United.[8] He returned to Hull on 25 November after sustaining a knee injury.[9]

He made his debut for Hull on 30 April 2016 in a 1–0 away defeat to Bolton Wanderers.[10]

On 18 April 2018, Lenihan announced his retirement from football at the age of 23, citing repeated injury problems as the main reason for his decision. He had been battling a recurring knee injury in the three years prior to his retirement, which saw him feature just twice for Hull City in the four years he was at the club. The last of those appearances came in a 2–0 EFL Cup loss to Doncaster Rovers where he was captain.[11] Lenihan later revealed that he retired due to mental health issues which forced him to retire from the game after undergoing treatment in Manchester.[12]

International career edit

Lenihan represented the Republic of Ireland under-19s.[3]

Lenihan made his debut for the Republic of Ireland under-21s in May 2014.[13] He was called up to the senior squad in November 2014.[13] However, later that month he was sent back to the under-21s.[14]

Career statistics edit

As of 22 August 2017
Club Season League Cup League Cup Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Cork City[2] 2012 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
2013 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 0
2014 21 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 22 0
Total 27 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 29 0
Hull City 2014–15[15] 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2015–16[16] 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2016–17[17] 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2017–18[18] 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
Total 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0
Blackpool (loan) 2014–15[15] 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Career total 30 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 33 0

References edit

  1. ^ "EFL: Club retained and released lists published". English Football League. 23 June 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d Brian Lenihan at Soccerway. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Profile". Cork City F.C. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
  4. ^ Daniel McDonnell (27 August 2014). "D-day is looming for Cork City star Brian Lenihan". Irish Independent. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  5. ^ "Brian Lenihan: Hull City sign Cork City defender on three-year deal". BBC Sport. 31 August 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  6. ^ Garry Doyle (1 September 2014). "'One for the future' Lenihan joins Hull in £200,000 deal". Irish Independent. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  7. ^ "Brian Lenihan: Blackpool sign Hull City defender on loan". BBC Sport. 7 November 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  8. ^ "Leeds 3–1 Blackpool". BBC Sport. 8 November 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  9. ^ "Lenihan Returns To Hull". Blackpool F.C. 25 November 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  10. ^ "Bolton Wanderers 1–0 Hull City". BBC Sport. 30 April 2016. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  11. ^ "Young Irish defender forced to retire just eight months after captaining Hull City". The42.ie. 18 April 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  12. ^ Kelly, Niall. "Brian Lenihan reveals that mental health battle forced his football retirement at 23". The42.
  13. ^ a b "Noel King's under-21s eager to follow Brian Lenihan's lead". Irish Times. 8 October 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  14. ^ "Lenihan for U21s but no Grealish". Irish Times. 6 October 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  15. ^ a b "Games played by Brian Lenihan in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  16. ^ "Games played by Brian Lenihan in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  17. ^ "Games played by Brian Lenihan in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  18. ^ "Games played by Brian Lenihan in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 August 2017.