John Coady (born 25 August 1960) is an Irish former footballer who played at both the left back position and in left midfield.

John Coady
Personal information
Date of birth (1960-08-25) 25 August 1960 (age 64)
Place of birth Dublin, Ireland
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[1]
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
Leicester Celtic
Rangers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1982–1986 Shamrock Rovers 86 (14)
1986–1988 Chelsea 16 (2)
1988–1992 Derry City
1992–1993 Shamrock Rovers 19 (1)
1993–1994 Monaghan United F.C. 29 (1)
1994–1996 Dundalk 58 (3)
1996–1997 Home Farm 31 (3)
1997–1998 Drogheda 25 (2)
1998–1999 Monaghan United F.C.
International career
1984–1994 League of Ireland XI 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Early years

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He attended Synge Street CBS,[2] where he played on the school's first successful soccer team, winning the Leinster Junior School's Cup in 1977.[2] He played club football at Leicester Celtic AFC[3] He also played gaelic football both at school and for Synge Street PPGFC.[citation needed]

Professional career

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John is a lifelong Shamrock Rovers supporter and so his dream came true when he made his League of Ireland debut on 31 October 1982 away to University College Dublin A.F.C. scoring twice in a 2-2 draw. After winning 3 Leagues and the FAI Cup twice he signed for Chelsea F.C. in London for £25,000 in December 1986.

He made his debut at the age of 26 on 18 April 1987 and scoring the only Chelsea goal in a 1-1 draw away to Queens Park Rangers. He made 9 league appearances (plus 7 more as a substitute) with Chelsea, scoring in two of them.

Coady transferred to Derry City F.C. in October 1988 for £15,000 [4] where he won the domestic treble.

Following another stint at Shamrock Rovers in the 1992/93 season where he scored once in 23 total appearances he moved on to play for Monaghan United (two spells), Dundalk and Home Farm Everton before finishing his career at Drogheda United where he scored on his debut [1].

He played in the 1995-96 UEFA Cup for Dundalk.

He represented the League of Ireland XI twice and scored once in the European Cup in 7 European appearances for Rovers.[5] He also won one cap for Ireland in the 1988 Summer Olympics qualifiers.[6] Other honours included captaining the League of Ireland in victories over IFK Göteborg and the League of Wales.

But perhaps the pinnacle of his career was when in 1989, he was named on Frank Burke's Synge Street best all time X1. He stated after making the team that his goalscoring debut for Chelsea paled into insignificance in comparison to this accolade.

Honours

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References

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  1. ^ Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 122. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.
  2. ^ a b Hoops Heroes: John Coady Archived 2015-01-10 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "Ex players". Leicester Celtic AFC. Archived from the original on 10 July 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  4. ^ The Irish Times
  5. ^ The Shamrock Rovers website Archived 2012-06-25 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "Where are they now?". Irish Independent. 15 April 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2012.