Andy Lyons (Irish footballer)

Andy Lyons
Personal information
Full name Andrew Patrick Lyons[1]
Date of birth (2000-08-02) 2 August 2000 (age 23)
Place of birth Naas, County Kildare, Ireland
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
 Blackpool
Number 24
Youth career
–2016 St Joseph's Boys
2016 Bray Wanderers
2016–2017 Bohemians
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2021 Bohemians 58 (1)
2022 Shamrock Rovers 31 (7)
2023– Blackpool 32 (5)
International career‡
Republic of Ireland U15
Republic of Ireland U17
Republic of Ireland U19
2021–2022 Republic of Ireland U21 6 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21:31, 27 February 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:51, 27 September 2022 (UTC)

Andrew Patrick Lyons (born 2 August 2000) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a defender for Blackpool.

Club career[edit]

Youth career[edit]

A native of Naas, County Kildare, Lyons originally played with Dublin club St Joseph's Boys until July 2016, when he signed for League of Ireland club Bray Wanderers under-17 side, although a month later he signed for the under-17 side of Bohemians.[2] In 2017[3] and 2018,[4] Lyons helped his club to back-to-back League of Ireland U19 Division wins, an Enda McGuill Cup win in 2018, while he also featured in the UEFA Youth League against Midtjylland in 2018 and PAOK in 2019.[5] He was named League of Ireland U19 Division Player of the Year during his time with the club's under-19 team.[6]

Bohemians[edit]

Lyons was an unused substitute in three league fixtures during the 2017 season.[7] He made his debut in senior football on 5 June 2018 in a 3–1 defeat away to Dundalk in the Leinster Senior Cup.[8] Lyons scored the first goal of his senior career on 16 September 2019 in a 2–0 win over Crumlin United in the quarter-final of the FAI Cup at Richmond Park.[9] At the end of the 2020 season, he was named in the PFAI Team of the Year by his fellow professionals.[10] He signed a new one-year contract with the club on 25 January 2021.[5]

Shamrock Rovers[edit]

Lyons signed a multi-year contract with rivals Shamrock Rovers on 24 January 2022.[11] In doing so, he moved from a part-time contract with Bohemians to a full-time contract with Rovers.[12] Lyons scored the first European goal of his career on 25 August 2022 in a 1–0 win over Hungarian side Ferencváros in a UEFA Europa League playoff round tie at Tallaght Stadium.[13] On 6 September 2022, he was named League of Ireland Player of the Month for the previous month.[14] Lyons was named the PFAI Players' Young Player of the Year for the 2022 season.[15]

Blackpool[edit]

On 29 August 2022, it was announced that Lyons would join EFL Championship club Blackpool in January 2023 on a three-and-a-half-year deal, for a fee believed to be in the region of £300,000 plus add-ons.[16][17][18][19] He made his debut for the club on 7 January 2023, playing the full 90 minutes in a 4–1 win over Premier League side Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup.[20] He scored his first goal for the club on 7 February 2023 in a 2–2 draw with Huddersfield Town at Bloomfield Road.[21] In February 2024, Lyons suffered a serious knee injury, ruling him out for an extended period.[22]

International career[edit]

Lyons has represented the Republic of Ireland at every level from under-15 up to under-21 level, including representing the under-19 side in the 2019 UEFA European Under-19 Championship in Armenia.[5] He made his debut for the under-21 team in a friendly against Australia U23 on 2 June 2021.[23]

Career statistics[edit]

As of match played on 27 February 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Bohemians 2018[7] LOI Premier Division 5 0 0 0 1 0 — 2[a] 0 8 0
2019[7] LOI Premier Division 14 0 3 1 2 0 — 2[a] 0 21 1
2020[7] LOI Premier Division 14 0 0 0 — 1[b] 0 — 15 0
2021[7] LOI Premier Division 25 1 4 1 — 6[c] 0 — 35 2
Total 58 1 7 2 3 0 7 0 4 0 79 3
Shamrock Rovers 2022[7] LOI Premier Division 31 7 1 1 — 13[d] 1 0 0 51 9
Blackpool 2022–23[7] EFL Championship 17 4 2 0 — — — 19 4
2023–24[7] EFL League One 15 1 3 0 2 0 — 5[e] 1 25 2
Total 32 5 5 0 2 0 0 0 5 1 44 6
Career total 121 13 13 3 5 0 20 1 9 1 174 18
  1. ^ a b One appearance in Scottish Challenge Cup, one appearance in Leinster Senior Cup
  2. ^ Appearance in UEFA Europa League
  3. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
  4. ^ Four appearances in UEFA Champions League, four appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League, five appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
  5. ^ Appearances in EFL Trophy

Honours[edit]

Shamrock Rovers

Individual

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Squad List 2023/24 & U21 Registered Contract Players - September 2023" (PDF). English Football League. p. 52. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Andy Lyons".
  3. ^ "SSE Airtricity League". www.sseairtricityleague.ie.
  4. ^ "SSE Airtricity League". www.sseairtricityleague.ie.
  5. ^ a b c "TheJournal.ie – Boost for Bohemians as highly-rated Irish underage international re-signs". www.the42.ie. 25 January 2021.
  6. ^ "Football - Andy Lyons is FAI SSE Airtricity U19 Player of the Year".
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h "Republic of Ireland – A. Lyons – Profile with news, career statistics and history – Soccerway". int.soccerway.com.
  8. ^ "Dundalk 3 - 1 Bohemians | 2017/2018 Leinster Senior Cup Fourth Round | extratime.com - The Home of Irish Football - Extratime.com". www.extratime.com.
  9. ^ "TheJournal.ie - Wright and Lyons ensure Bohs account for Crumlin and set up semi-final clash with Rovers". www.the42.ie. 16 September 2019.
  10. ^ a b "Shamrock Rovers and Bohemians dominate the 2020 PFAI Team of the Year – Extra.ie". 7 December 2020.
  11. ^ "TheJournal.ie – Ireland U21 full-back Lyons leaves Bohemians to join rivals Shamrock Rovers". www.the42.ie. 24 January 2022.
  12. ^ "Former Shamrock Rovers player Andy Lyons says he was shocked at how little some LOI clubs were paying". independent.
  13. ^ "TheJournal.ie - Lyons heads late winner to boost Shamrock Rovers ahead of Europa Conference League draw". www.the42.ie. 25 August 2022.
  14. ^ a b "TheJournal.ie – Shamrock Rovers' Andy Lyons scoops Player of the Month award for August". www.the42.ie. 6 September 2022.
  15. ^ a b "Andy Lyons discusses upcoming Blackpool move after claiming prestigious end-of-season award". Blackpool Gazette. 19 November 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  16. ^ "Shamrock Rovers ace Andy Lyons to join Blackpool next January in £300k deal". independent.
  17. ^ FC, Blackpool. "Seasiders To Sign Andy Lyons From Shamrock Rovers In January". Blackpool FC.
  18. ^ Gleeson, Bill (29 August 2022). "Andy Lyons Transfer Agreement – Shamrock Rovers – Wing-back will depart in January".
  19. ^ "Blackpool agree to sign Shamrock Rovers full-back". BBC Sport.
  20. ^ Kinsella, Rudi (7 January 2023). "Andy Lyons enjoys dream debut for Blackpool".
  21. ^ "Andy Lyons on target as Mick McCarthy's Blackpool rescue draw against Huddersfield". independent.
  22. ^ "Andy Lyons: Blackpool midfielder set for extended spell out after serious knee injury". BBC Sport. 7 March 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  23. ^ "REPORT | Australia U23 1–2 Ireland U21 | Football Association of Ireland". www.fai.ie.
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