John Egan (footballer, born 1992)

John Egan
Egan with Gillingham in 2014
Personal information
Full name John Egan[1]
Date of birth (1992-10-20) 20 October 1992 (age 32)
Place of birth Cork, Ireland
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[2]
Position(s) Centre back
Team information
Current team
 Burnley
Number 16
Youth career
2000–2009 Greenwood
2009–2011 Sunderland
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2014 Sunderland 0 (0)
2012 → Crystal Palace (loan) 1 (0)
2012 → Sheffield United (loan) 1 (0)
2012 → Bradford City (loan) 4 (0)
2014 → Southend United (loan) 13 (1)
2014–2016 Gillingham 81 (10)
2016–2018 Brentford 67 (6)
2018–2024 Sheffield United 208 (7)
2024– Burnley 1 (0)
International career‡
Republic of Ireland U17 2 (0)
2010–2011 Republic of Ireland U19 10 (0)
2012–2014 Republic of Ireland U21 6 (0)
2017– Republic of Ireland 36 (3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19:50, 23 October 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:48, 10 September 2023

John Egan (born 20 October 1992) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for EFL Championship club Burnley and the Republic of Ireland national team.

Beginning his career at Sunderland, he had loan spells with Crystal Palace, Sheffield United, Bradford City and Southend United, but was released by the Wearside club without making an appearance for the first team. In July 2014, he joined Gillingham, and was named Player of the Year in his first season, and voted in the League One PFA Team of the Year in his second. In July 2016, he joined Brentford, where he was captain of the club in his second season. In July 2018, he rejoined Sheffield United and was part of the team that got promoted to the Premier League.

Internationally, Egan has represented the Republic of Ireland at under-17, under-19 and under-21 level. He made his debut for the senior side in March 2017.

Early and personal life

Born in Cork, Egan started his career with Greenwood FC in Togher. His father John Egan respresented Kerry in Gaelic football,[3] and his mother, Mary Egan, was a football player and has a League of Ireland medal under her belt.[4] He played hurling and Gaelic football for Bishopstown.[5]

Career

Early career

Egan was loaned by Sunderland to Crystal Palace in January 2012.[6] Egan made his professional debut for Palace in the FA Cup third round playing the full 90 minutes in their 1–0 loss to Derby County. In March 2012, Egan joined Football League One side Sheffield United on a month's loan to ease a defensive crisis,[7] making his début for the Blades that evening in a defeat at Walsall.[8]

In July 2012, Egan was called up by Martin O'Neill for Sunderland's pre-season tour to South Korea to take part in the Peace Cup. He came on as a substitute for the injured Wes Brown in the 3rd place play-off against FC Groningen of the Netherlands, playing 50 minutes of the 3–2 victory. After a solid pre-season, he was praised by Martin O'Neill and handed the number forty-two jersey for the season. At the start of November 2012 after being around the first team Egan signed a three-month loan deal with Bradford City to get games under his belt.[9] He made his début for Bradford on 6 November in a 0–0 draw at home to Chesterfield.[10] His loan was cut short two weeks later after suffering a broken leg,[11] returning having played four games for the Bantams. This injury ruled him out for a year but during his rehab, Egan agreed to a one-year contract extension with Sunderland in March 2013.[12]

On 27 February 2014, Egan joined League Two side Southend United on an emergency loan.[13] His first goal came on 11 March 2014, in a 2–2 draw against Scunthorpe United, where he scored a "spectacular long-distance effort".[14] He later went on to win Southend's 'Goal of the Season' award and the strike was a sensation on YouTube gaining over 35,000 views. On 28 March 2014, Egan extended his loan stay with the Blues until the end of the 2013–14 season.[15]

Gillingham

On 3 July 2014, amid interest from several clubs from League One and the Championship, Egan signed a two-year deal with Gillingham following his release from Sunderland.[16] Egan enjoyed a fantastic debut season with Gillingham, playing 52 times and scoring 5 goals. He also won the main Player of the Year and Away Player of the Year awards for the club to cap off a good year after finishing 12th in League One.[17] In April 2016, Egan was named in the League One PFA Team of the Year for his performances over the 2015–16 season.[18]

Brentford

Egan rejected the offer a new contract by Gillingham at the conclusion of the 2015–16 season and joined Championship club Brentford.[19][20] He scored his first goals for Brentford when he scored twice in a 2–0 win over Ipswich Town on 16 August 2016.[21] In December 2016 the Professional Football Compensation Committee ruled that Brentford should pay Gillingham an initial net compensation fee of £400,000, an additional £25,000 for every 20 games that he plays for Brentford, up to 80 games, as well as a 20% sell-on fee and a fee of £75,000 in the event that Brentford are promoted to the Premier League within the period of the player's three-year contract.[22][23]

After the sale of captain Harlee Dean in August 2017 to Birmingham City, Egan was appointed as the new captain of Brentford.[24] During the 2017-18 season, Egan impressed as Brentford kept 15 clean sheets as they finished 9th in the EFL Championship.[25]

Sheffield United

Egan re-joined former loan club Sheffield United on 19 July 2018 on a four-year contract for an undisclosed club-record fee.[26] In his first season with the team, he helped them gain promotion to the Premier League. On 21 August 2020 he signed a new four-year contract, keeping him at the club until 2024. Egan departed the club upon the expiry of his contract.[27]

Burnley

In September 2024, Egan signed for EFL Championship side Burnley on a free transfer on a one-year deal.[28]

International career

On 28 March 2017, Egan made his senior international debut, starting in a friendly against Iceland at the Aviva Stadium.[29] He captained his country for the first time in September 2019 in a 3–1 win against Bulgaria at the Aviva Stadium.[30] On 1 September 2021, he was named FAI Senior International Player of the Year for 2020,[31] the same day that he scored his first international goal in a 2022 World Cup qualifier: a 2-1 loss against Portugal.[32]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 19 October 2024[33]
Club Season Division League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Sunderland 2011–12 Premier League 0 0 — 0 0 — 0 0
2012–13 Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Crystal Palace (loan) 2011–12 Championship 1 0 1 0 — — 2 0
Sheffield United (loan) 2011–12 League One 1 0 — — — 1 0
Bradford City (loan) 2012–13 League Two 4 0 — — — 4 0
Southend United (loan) 2013–14 League Two 13 1 — — 2[a] 0 15 1
Gillingham 2014–15 League One 45 4 1 0 2 0 4[b] 1 52 5
2015–16 League One 36 6 1 0 2 0 1[b] 0 40 6
Total 81 10 2 0 4 0 5 1 92 11
Brentford 2016–17 Championship 34 4 2 0 1 0 — 37 4
2017–18 Championship 33 2 0 0 1 1 — 34 3
Total 67 6 2 0 2 1 — 71 7
Sheffield United 2018–19 Championship 44 1 0 0 1 0 — 45 1
2019–20 Premier League 36 2 2 0 0 0 — 38 2
2020–21 Premier League 31 0 3 0 0 0 — 34 0
2021–22 Championship 46 2 0 0 0 0 2[c] 0 48 2
2022–23 Championship 45 2 5 1 1 0 — 51 3
2023–24 Premier League 6 0 0 0 1 0 — 7 0
Total 208 7 10 1 3 0 2 0 223 8
Burnley 2024–25 Championship 1 0 0 0 — — 1 0
Career Total 376 24 15 1 9 1 9 1 409 27
  1. ^ Appearances in League Two play-offs
  2. ^ a b Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy
  3. ^ Appearances in Championship play-offs

International

As of match played on 10 September 2023[34]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Republic of Ireland 2017 2 0
2018 2 0
2019 4 0
2020 4 0
2021 9 1
2022 9 2
2023 6 0
Total 36 3

International goals

Scores and results list Ireland's goal tally first.
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 1 September 2021 Estádio Algarve, Algarve, Portugal  Portugal 1–0 1–2 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
2. 24 September 2022 Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland  Scotland 1–0 1–2 2022-23 UEFA Nations League B
3. 27 September 2022 Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland  Armenia 1–0 3–2 2022-23 UEFA Nations League B

Honours

Sheffield United


Individual

References

  1. ^ "Club list of registered players: As at 19th May 2018: Brentford" (PDF). English Football League. p. 8. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  2. ^ "John Egan Official Sheffield United Profile". Sheffield United F.C. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  3. ^ "Irwin shows a touch of class on U-19 debut". Independent.ie. 10 August 2010. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  4. ^ "Sons and their fathers". irishexaminer.com. 18 September 2010. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  5. ^ "John Egan: The Corkman who only ever wanted to play for Kerry..." irishexaminer.com. 31 August 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  6. ^ "Crystal Palace sign Egan & Dumbuya ; extend Martin stay". BBC Sport. 6 January 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  7. ^ "Blades secure loan double". Sheffield United Official Web Site. 6 March 2012. Archived from the original on 1 July 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  8. ^ "Blades cut down again to offer hope to rivals". Yorkshire Post. 7 March 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  9. ^ "Bradford City sign Egan". Telegraph & Argus. 3 November 2012. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  10. ^ "Bradford 0–0 Chesterfield". BBC Sport. 6 November 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  11. ^ "Egan returns to Sunderland". Sunderland Association Football Club. 21 November 2012. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
  12. ^ "John Egan has put pen to paper on a one-year contract extension". Sunderland Association Football Club. 26 March 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  13. ^ "News: John Egan joins from Sunderland". Southend United FC. 27 February 2014.
  14. ^ "News: Scunthorpe 2 – 2 Southend". BBC Sport. 11 March 2014.
  15. ^ "News: Egan extends Southend United loan". Southend United FC. 28 March 2014.
  16. ^ "News: Gillingham FC clinch the signature of former Sunderland defender John Egan on a two year contract". Gillingham FC. 3 July 2014.
  17. ^ a b "John Egan scoops Gillingham FC's Player of the Year Award". www.gillinghamfootballclub.com. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  18. ^ a b "PFA awards: Leicester and Spurs dominate Premier League team". BBC Sport. 21 April 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  19. ^ "John Egan to leave Gillingham after rejecting contract offer". Kent Online. 12 May 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  20. ^ FC, Brentford. "Brentford sign John Egan on three-year deal". Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  21. ^ "Brentford 2–0 Ipswich". BBC Sport. 16 August 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
  22. ^ "Tribunal sets transfer fee following John Egan's move from Gillingham to Brentford". Kent Online. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  23. ^ EFL. "Gillingham and Plymouth Argyle to receive compensation fees for transfers of John Egan and Curtis Nelson". Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  24. ^ "Brentford's latest captain speaks out on his new role". Get West London. 11 September 2017. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  25. ^ -"JOHN EGAN: CAPTAIN'S DUTIES". Brentford. 17 May 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  26. ^ "John Egan: Sheffield United sign Brentford defender for a club-record fee". BBC Sport. 19 July 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  27. ^ "Thanks". Sheffield United F.C. 1 July 2024. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  28. ^ "EGAN IS A CLARET! | BurnleyFC". www.burnleyfootballclub.com. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  29. ^ "Iceland's Hordur Magnusson proves too much for Ireland's second string". Guardian. 28 March 2017. Retrieved 29 March 2017.
  30. ^ "John Egan to captain Ireland in tonight's Aviva Stadium friendly".
  31. ^ a b "Giles and Gorham recognised in FAI Awards | Football Association of Ireland".
  32. ^ Doyle, Paul (1 September 2021). "Record-breaker Cristiano Ronaldo's late goals for Portugal break Ireland's hearts". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  33. ^ John Egan at Soccerbase
  34. ^ John Egan at National-Football-Teams.com
  35. ^ Anderson, John, ed. (2019). Football Yearbook 2019–2020. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 320–231. ISBN 978-1-4722-6111-3.
  36. ^ FC, Sheffield United. "Player of the Year Awards". Sheffield United FC. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  37. ^ FC, Sheffield United. "End of Season Awards". Sheffield United FC. Retrieved 13 March 2022.