Tony Loughlan

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Personal information
Tony Loughlan
Full name	Antony John Loughlan
Date of birth	19 January 1970 (1970-01-19) (age 38)
Place of birth	Croydon, England
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Sunderland (Head Coach)
Youth clubs
1986-1988	Leicester City
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1988-1989 1989-1993 1993-1994 1993-1994 1994-1995 1995-1996 1996-1998	Leicester United Nottingham Forest Kettering Town Lincoln City Dundalk Hinckley Town Corby Town	02 (1) 05 (1) 12 (2) 11 (0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:11, 29 March 2008 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Tony Loughlan (born 19 January 1970, is a retired English professional footballer and coach. He is Currently the Head Coach of English Premier League side Sunderland.

Loughlan began his career in the youth team at Leicester City but failed to turn professional and, instead, dropped into non-league football with Leicester United.

In August 1989, Loughlan and team-mate Neil Lyne were signed by Nottingham Forest; the transfer would later be highlighted in the 1997 Premier League report of Rick Parry, Robert Reid QC and Steve Coppell on bung culture in football^[1]. Brian Clough and Ron Fenton would later be charged with misconduct by the FA over the affair^[2] though the charges against Clough were later dropped. Loughlan made his debut for Forest against Wimbledon on 30 March 1991; he scored after just 36 seconds. He would make one further league appearance before injury blighted his progress and he was released at the end of the 1992-1993 season.

In the summer of 1993 he joined Kettering Town, a club his father John had played for in the 1970s. In October 1993, he returned to the Football League with Lincoln City, marking his debut on 30 October 1993 with the only goal as Lincoln defeated Rochdale at Spotland for the first time in 26 years. Once again, he struggled with injury and left Lincoln at the end of the season.

He linked up with Dundalk for the 1994-1995 season, picking up a League of Ireland Premier Division winner's medal as Dermot Keely's side captured the title on the final day of the season with a 2-0 win over Galway United. He returned to England, joining Hinckley Town at the beginning of the 1995-1996 season. After another spell on the sidelines due to injury, he joined Corby Town in December 1996 where he remained for over a season before injuries forced him into retirement.

In 2001, he began coaching on a part-time basis at Leicester City's academy, moving into a full-time role in the summer of 2003 with responsibility for the eight to 13-year-old groups^[3]. In August 2006 he left his role as Academy Coach at Leicester^[4] to become Head Coach at Sunderland under the management of his former Forest team mate and long term friend Roy Keane, with Keane being quoted as saying "he is someone I trust and I have great faith in him. He's the one person I've kept in touch with over 20 years."^[5].