John Irving (footballer, born 1989)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Goodison Irving[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 17 September 1989 | ||
| Place of birth | Portsmouth, England | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Auckland City FC | ||
| Number | 6 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1995-2006 | Everton | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2006-2009 | Everton | 0 | (0) |
| 2009-2013 | Bala Town | 109 | (3) |
| 2013– | Auckland City FC | 19 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). | |||
John Goodison Irving (born 17 September 1988) is an English footballer who plays for Auckland City FC in New Zealand, usually as a defender.[2]
Career
Everton
Born in Portsmouth then moved to Liverpool aged 2, Irving began his career at hometown club Everton in 1995, at the age of 7, and was a part of the academy system for 14 years, captain for every age group he was selected for. At age 14 he was selected for his first Everton reserve game and shortly after was made captain of the reserves. Also at age 14 Irving was selected for England U16s against Northern Ireland U16 in the Victory Shield, which resulted in a 4-0 victory. Irving then went on to pick up the reserve player of the year in 2006-07 and 2007-08, the only ever player to do so. On 20 December 2007, he was named in the matchday squad for a 3–2 win at AZ Alkmaar in the UEFA Cup group stage after Everton had already advanced, but never played a competitive match.[3] However, he did make multiple appearances during pre-season friendlies. In his final year at Everton, Irving was struck by multiple injuries and as a result was released.
Bala Town
Irving then moved to Bala Town of the Welsh Premier League, where he made 109 top-flight appearances across four seasons becoming their longest serving player, scoring 3 league goals. In his final game for Bala Town, Irving scored a last-minute winner in the Europa League Play-off game vs Port Talbot, which resulted in Bala Town qualifying for their first ever European match.
Auckland City
In 2013, Irving moved to New Zealand and joined semi-professional side Auckland City, freshly crowned champions of Oceania. At the 2013 FIFA Club World Cup in Morocco, he played the first 86 minutes of their 1–2 defeat to Raja Casablanca in the opening game at the Stade Adrar in Agadir.[4] At the end of the 2013 season Irving received the Player Of The Year Award.
Irving played all of Auckland's 7 matches as they won the 2013–14 OFC Champions League, concluding with a 3–2 aggregate win over Amicale in the final. At the year's Club World Cup, again in Morocco, he scored a penalty as Auckland defeated Moghreb Tétouan in a shootout in the opening game in Rabat. At the same stadium in the quarter-final on 13 December, he scored the winning goal against ES Sétif to get Auckland to the semi-finals in a man of the match performance, getting Auckland City to the furthest point they have ever reached in the FIFA Club World Cup.[5] In the match for third place against Cruz Azul, Irving missed in the shootout when he struck the crossbar, but Auckland nonetheless won the bronze medal.
Honours
- Auckland City
References
- ↑ "List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
- ↑ "Auckland City FC Squad 2014 FIFA Club World Cup". FIFA.com. 13 December 2014. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
- ↑ Cheese, Caroline (20 December 2007). "AZ Alkmaar 2-3 Everton". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
- ↑ "Raja Casablanca 2-1 Auckland City FC". FIFA. 11 December 2013. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
- ↑ "ES Setif 0-1 Auckland City: John Irving sends New Zealand part-timers into World Club Cup semi-final for the first time". Daily Mail. 13 December 2014. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
External links
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