Alan Sheehan

Football player infobox


playername = Alan Sheehan
fullname = Alan Sheehan
nickname =
height = height|ft=5|in=11
dateofbirth = birth date and age|df=yes|1986|9|14
cityofbirth = Athlone
GrewUp = Coosan, Athlone
countryofbirth = Ireland
currentclub = Leeds United
clubnumber = 11
position = Left Full back
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 2003-2008
2006
2008
2008-present
clubs = Leicester City
→ Mansfield Town (loan)
→ Leeds United (loan)
Leeds United
caps(goals) = 023 0(1)
010 0(0)
010 0(1)
00 0(0)
nationalyears = 2005-2008
nationalteam = Republic of Ireland U21
nationalcaps(goals) = 5 (1)
pcupdate = 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Alan Sheehan (born 14 September 1986) is an Irish football player. He is a defender currently playing for Leeds United.

Career

Leicester City

Sheehan played for St. Francis FC when he was spotted by Bradford City scouts, on a day when he scored eight goals from the left-back position, two from behind the half way line. However, Sheehan joined Leicester City in July 2003 after being spotted by a scout whilst playing for Belvedere FC. He became a regular in both the Academy under 19s and the reserves, playing at left-back. He also spent two months on loan at Mansfield Town in the 2006/07 season in order to gain regular first-team experience. A free-kick specialist, Sheehan made his breakthrough into the first team when Craig Levein named him in the starting line-up for City's final game of the 2004/05 season against Plymouth Argyle. The 18-year-old picked up the Academy Player of the Season at the club's 2005 awards ceremony.

Sheehan signed a new two-year contract with the club that would keep him at the Walkers Stadium until the end of the 2007/08 season. He scored his first ever competitive goal for Leicester in a 4-1 win against fc|Watford with a deflected 25-yard shot on 25 August 2007, [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/6952795.stm Leicester 4-1 Watford] BBC Sport 2007-08-25. Retrieved on 2007-08-26] and his second in a 3-2 win over fc|Nottingham Forest with a classy free-kick on 18 September. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/league_cup/6996432.stm Nottingham Forest 2-3 Leicester City] , BBC Sport 2007-09-18. Retrieved on 2007-09-20.] Following Leicester's 2-0 victory over fc|Bristol City on 24 November, [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_div_1/7099741.stm Bristol City 0-2 Leicester] , BBC Sport 2007-11-24. Retrieved on 2007-12-29.] Sheehan was named in the Championship Team of the Week two days later, together with fellow teammates Stephen Clemence and Richard Stearman. [ [http://www.football-league.premiumtv.co.uk/staticFiles/2/bc/0,,10794~113666,00.pdf Team of the Week] , Football League 2007-11-26. Retrieved on 2007-12-29.]

Leeds loan

On 31 January 2008 he joined fc|Leeds United on loan for the rest of the season, [cite web
url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/leeds_united/7220461.stm |title=Leeds land Michalik and Foxes duo |accessdate=2008-01-31 |date=31 January 2008 |publisher=BBC Sport] making his debut in a 2-0 defeat to fc|Tranmere Rovers on 2 February 2008 replacing Ben Parker at left back. However, after just four games in the role, Leeds boss Gary McAllister saw the need to provide extra competition in the position by signing Aston Villa's Stephen O'Halloran, also on loan. Despite O'Halloran suffering a serious injury in the warm up for his debut at Swindon, Sheehan still lost his Leeds place, this time to Frazer Richardson.

Sheehan looked set to leave Leicester after revealing that he had rejected an offer of a new contract prior to signing for Leeds.cite news
title = Sheehan explains Leeds loan move
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/l/leeds_united/7227884.stm
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2008-02-05
accessdate = 2008-02-08] He scored his first goal for the Yorkshire club in their 1-0 win at Doncaster on 1 April 2008, a trademark free-kick from 25 yards out. Sheehan was sent off in Leeds' 1-0 win at Yeovil for a two-footed tackle on Zoltan Stieber, however Leeds still confirmed their play-off spot in that match. The straight red card meant he was suspended for the play-off semi-final matches against Carlisle United.

Leeds United

Sheehan made his move to Leeds permanent on 1 July 2008, after his contract with Leicester expired. He has signed a three-year deal with the club and is expected to play as first-choice left-back ahead of young Ben Parker. [ [http://www.leedsunited.com/page/NewsroomDetail/0,,10273~1336513,00.html SHEEHAN SIGNS | Leeds United | Newsroom | The Newsroom | Newsroom ] ]

International

Sheehan has made appearances for his country at under 19 level and was also called up by the Irish FA to attend a training camp before making his international debut for the under 21s against Israel U21 in June 2005.

References

External links

*soccerbase|id=41226|name=Alan Sheehan