Eoin Toal
Eoin Toal (born 15 February 1999) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays as a defender for Bolton Wanderers.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 15 February 1999 | ||
| Place of birth | Armagh, Northern Ireland | ||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Bolton Wanderers | ||
| Number | 18 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Armagh City | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2015–2017 | Armagh City | ||
| 2017–2022 | Derry City | 140 | (5) |
| 2022– | Bolton Wanderers | 21 | (3) |
| International career | |||
| Northern Ireland U15 | |||
| 2015 | Northern Ireland U17 | 3 | (0) |
| 2017 | Northern Ireland U19 | 3 | (1) |
| 2019–2020 | Northern Ireland U21 | 13 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 02:01, 30 April 2023 (UTC) | |||
Early and personal life
Toal was born in Armagh.[1] One of his uncles, Peter Rafferty, and one of his cousins, Ethan Rafferty, played for Armagh in Gaelic football. Peter later managed Armagh U21 to All-Ireland glory in 2004. Eoin himself played Gaelic football until the age of 14, deciding instead to switch to association football. Another uncle, Mickey Toal, and another cousin, Thomas Mackle, played Irish road bowling with Mickey considered a legend in the sport whilst Thomas has won the All-Ireland Championship.[2][3]
Club career
Toal began his career with Armagh City, captaining the youth team and making his first-team debut in 2015 aged 16, making over 50 appearances for the club in all competitions, before moving to Derry City in 2017.[4] He served as club captain for Derry City, making 155 appearances for the club in all competitions.[5] He started and played in the 2019 League of Ireland Cup Final, and even converted one of the penalties in the penalty shootout, but it wasn't enough as they lost to Dundalk.[6][3]
Toal signed for Bolton Wanderers in July 2022 on a three-year contract.[7][8][9][10][11][12]
Toal picked up an ankle injury towards the end of his time at Derry, choosing to play through the injury as he did not want to miss their matches in the UEFA Europa Conference League against Riga. In doing so, he worsened the injury which caused him to miss Bolton's pre-season, as well as the start of their season.[13] Upon his return from injury, he played for Bolton's B team to build up match fitness.[14][15] He then stepped up his recovery by playing matches in the EFL Trophy.[16] After more matches for the B team, as well as the EFL Trophy, Toal made his Football League debut on 2 December 2022 in a 1–1 draw against Bristol Rovers,[17] with Toal being praised for his performance.[18] Three weeks later he scored his first Bolton goal, scoring the equaliser in a 1–1 draw with Lincoln City.[19][20] He received praise from his team mates for how well he had played during the start of his Bolton career[21] and was named Bolton Player of the Month for December 2022.[22] On 2 April, he started in the 2023 EFL Trophy Final which Bolton won 4–0 against Plymouth Argyle.[23] He was forced off towards the end of the match after a challenge by Sam Cosgrove, with Bolton manager Ian Evatt accusing Cosgrove of injuring him on purpose. A few days later, it was revealed the injury would psosibly keep Toal out for the rest of the season.[24] Toal recovered much earlier than expected though, allowing him to return for Bolton's last few games of the season.[25]
International career
Toal first played international football with the Northern Ireland under-15 team.[3] He later played three times for the under-17 team in 2015, three times for the under-19 team in 2017, and 13 times for the under-21 team between 2019 and 2020. He scored one goal during this time, on 7 October 2017 in a 7–1 defeat against Germany under-19.[26] He captained the under-21 team on multiple occasions.[3]
On 7 March 2023, he received his first call-up to the Northern Irish senior national team by manager Michael O'Neill, for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches against San Marino and Finland.[27][28][29]
Career statistics
- As of match played 29 April 2023
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Derry City | 2017[1] | League of Ireland Premier Division | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | |
| 2018[1] | 30 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 32 | 1 | |||
| 2019[1] | 35 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 41 | 2 | |||
| 2020[1] | 18 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 1[a] | 1 | 21 | 1 | |||
| 2021[1] | 34 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 36 | 1 | ||||
| 2022[1] | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 2[b] | 0 | 22 | 1 | |||
| Total | 140 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 155 | 6 | ||
| Bolton Wanderers | 2022–23[30] | League One | 21 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7[c] | 0 | 28 | 3 |
| Career total | 161 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 183 | 9 | ||
- ^ Appearance in UEFA Europa League
- ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
- ^ Appearances in EFL Trophy
Honours
Derry City
- League of Ireland Cup runner-up: 2019[6]
Bolton Wanderers
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Eoin Toal at Soccerway
- ^ Watters, Andy (22 July 2022). ""Huge congratulations to our very own Eoin Toal..." Armagh club Grange in tribute as former player seals switch to Bolton Wanderers". The Irish News.
- ^ a b c d Watters, Andy (10 February 2021). "From Grange to the Brandywell: New Derry City skipper Eoin Toal does things his own way". The Irish News.
- ^ Darragh, Oran. "'Our man from Armagh' – Bolton Wanderers sign former City player Eoin Toal". Armagh I.
- ^ Fullerton, Gareth (20 July 2022). "Ex-Northern Ireland Under 21 defender seals move to Bolton Wanderers". BelfastLive.
- ^ a b McLaughlin, Kevin (14 September 2019). "Dundalk bag EA Sports Cup after shootout win over Derry" – via www.rte.ie.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "Bolton confirm signing of Eoin Toal from Derry City on three-year deal". independent.
- ^ "Bolton sign defender Toal from Derry City". BBC Sport.
- ^ "Just what can we expect from Wanderers defensive 'project' Eoin Toal?". The Bolton News.
- ^ "'Eoin ticks all the boxes' - Evatt's delight at new defensive signing Toal".
- ^ McDougall, John (20 July 2022). "Toal's first words as Bolton player after Derry City transfer". Manchester Evening News.
- ^ ""I want to wish him every success at his new club and in his career going forward."". www.derryjournal.com.
- ^ "How Eoin Toal's European dream hindered his early Wanderers career". The Bolton News.
- ^ "Toal Ready For B Team Bow". www.bwfc.co.uk.
- ^ "Eoin Toal plays 45 minutes as Wanderers' B Team lose against Blackpool". uk.sports.yahoo.com.
- ^ "Toal Revels In Trophy Taster". www.bwfc.co.uk.
- ^ "Bolton Wanderers 1-1 Bristol Rovers". BBC Sport.
- ^ McDougall, John (3 December 2022). "Four ups & two downs for Bolton from Bristol Rovers draw". Manchester Evening News.
- ^ "MATCH REACTION: Ian Evatt gives his verdict on Wanderers' 1-1 draw at Lincoln". The Bolton News.
- ^ "Lincoln City 1-1 Bolton Wanderers". BBC Sport.
- ^ "'Unbelievable!' - Jones gives credit to Toal after League One debut". The Bolton News.
- ^ Your @bolton_kia Player of the Month for December is Eoin Toal. Well deserved, @Eointoal7!
- ^ a b Pilnick, Brent (2 April 2023). "Bolton Wanderers 4–0 Plymouth Argyle". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
- ^ "TEAM NEWS: Eoin Toal likely to miss rest of League One season". The Bolton News.
- ^ "TEAM NEWS: Defender set to return for Wanderers in must-win Fleetwood clash". The Bolton News.
- ^ "Eoin Toal » Internationals". worldfootball.net.
- ^ "Michael O'Neill names Northern Ireland squad for opening Euro qualifiers". IFA. 7 March 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
- ^ Barnes, Dan (7 March 2023). "Wanderers defender Eoin Toal earns first Northern Ireland call-up". The Bolton News. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
- ^ "Who are O'Neill's four uncapped NI call-ups?". BBC Sport.
- ^ "Games played by Eoin Toal in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 August 2022.