David Connolly

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David Connolly
Personal information
Full name	David Connolly
Date of birth	June 6, 1977 (age 29)
Place of birth	Willesden, England
Height	5ft 9ins
Nickname	Connors
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Sunderland
Number	31
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1994–97 1997–2001 1998–99 1999–2001 2001–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–present	Watford Feyenoord → Wolves (loan) → Excelsior Rotterdam (loan) Wimbledon West Ham United Leicester City Wigan Athletic Sunderland	34 (15) 25 0(7) 40 0(6) 48 (42) 68 (42) 48 (14) 54 (17) 22 0(3) 27 (11)
National team2
1996–present	Republic of Ireland	41 0(9)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:23, 24 February 2007 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 23:50, 16 December 2006 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

David Connolly (born June 6, 1977 in Willesden, England) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a striker. He currently plays for Sunderland.

After being educated at Burnham Grammar School in Buckinghamshire, he started his career with Watford where he scored 15 goals in 34 games. That impressive record earned him a move to Dutch team Feyenoord. He had loan spells at Excelsior Rotterdam and Wolverhampton Wanderers before joining Wimbledon in 2001 on a free transfer where he scored 42 goals in two seasons. West Ham United signed him in 2003 for £285,000 where he netted 14 goals. He signed for Leicester City in 2004 for £500,000 where he finished top scorer in his first season. On August 31, 2005 he joined newly promoted Premiership club Wigan Athletic for £2m (with the possibility of rising to £3m if Wigan stayed in the Premiership, which they did). He scored on his debut for Wigan in a 2-1 win at West Bromwich Albion, but was hit by injuries for much of the rest of the 2005/6 season.

He has also been a regular member of the Republic of Ireland national team. Connolly made his debut on May 29th, 1996 against Portugal. He was part of the 2002 World Cup squad that lost to Spain in the Round of 16, where Connolly's penalty kick was saved by Íker Casillas during the shootout. He has scored 9 goals for the Republic in 41 caps and also scored once for the Republic in Niall Quinn's benefit match on May 14, 2002, against his current club, Sunderland.

On the 31 August David linked up with his former Republic of Ireland team-mate Roy Keane at Sunderland. His first goal came against Colchester United on November 18, when he came on as a sub and smashed the ball in off the post from about 18 yards out.

Connolly is married and in 2006 became a father for the first time.

[edit] International Goals

David Connolly: International Goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1[1]	9th June, 1996	Boston, Massachusetts, USA	USA	1-2	Lose	U.S. Cup
2[2]	12th June, 1996	New Jersey, USA	Mexico	2-2	Draw	U.S. Cup
3[3]	21st May, 1997	Dublin	Liechtenstein	5-0	Win	World Cup Qualifier
4[4]	21st May, 1997	Dublin	Liechtenstein	5-0	Win	World Cup Qualifier
5[5]	21st May, 1997	Dublin	Liechtenstein	5-0	Win	World Cup Qualifier
6[6]	6th September, 1997	Reykjavík, Iceland	Iceland	4-2	Win	World Cup Qualifier
7[7]	10th February, 1999	Dublin	Paraguay	2-0	Win	Friendly
8[8]	6th October, 2001	Dublin	Cyprus	4-0	Win	World Cup Qualifier
9[9]	9th September, 2003	Dublin	Turkey	2-2	Draw	Friendly

[edit] References

1. ^ "Man City Info Via The Alps #201". Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
2. ^ "Man City Info Via The Alps #202". Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
3. ^ "BBC SPORT". Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
4. ^ "BBC SPORT". Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
5. ^ "BBC SPORT". Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
6. ^ "SPURS-LIST Digest - 7 Sep 1997 to 8 Sep 1997". Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
7. ^ "Irish Sport News, February 11, 1999". Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
8. ^ "BreakingNews.ie - 2003/09/09: Connolly and Dunne on target". Retrieved on 2007-02-27.
9. ^ "Ireland Step Up A Gear". Retrieved on 2007-02-27.

[edit] External links

• David Connolly career stats at Soccerbase
• Official Sunderland FC Profile

	Republic of Ireland squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup
1 Given | 2 Finnan | 3 Harte | 4 Cunningham | 5 Staunton | 6 Roy Keane | 7 McAteer | 8 Holland | 9 Duff | 10 Robbie Keane | 11 Kilbane | 12 Kinsella | 13 Connolly | 14 Breen | 15 Dunne | 16 Kiely | 17 Quinn | 18 G. Kelly | 19 Morrison | 20 O'Brien | 21 Reid | 22 Carsley | 23 A. Kelly | Coach: McCarthy

Sunderland A.F.C. - Current Squad
2 Wright | 3 Simpson | 4 Evans | 5 Cunningham | 7 Edwards | 8 Whitehead | 9 Stokes | 10 Elliott | 11 Murphy | 12 Nosworthy | 13 Ward | 14 T. Miller | 15 Collins | 16 Hysén | 17 Welsh | 18 Mocquet | 19 Arnau | 20 John | 22 Clarke | 23 Leadbitter | 24 Carson | 27 Varga | 28 Kavanagh | 29 Hartley | 30 Richardson | 31 Connolly | 32 Fülöp | 33 Wallace | 34 Yorke | 36 L. Miller | Manager: Keane