Eoin Toal

Eoin Toal (born 15 February 1999) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays for Bolton Wanderers, as a defender.

Eoin Toal
Personal information
Date of birth (1999-02-15) 15 February 1999
Place of birth Armagh, Northern Ireland
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Position(s) Defender
Club 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 14 (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 23:33, 15 February 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 00:08, 2 September 2022 (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 Rafferty, 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]

International career

Toal's first played international football came with the Northern Ireland U15 team.[3] He later played three times for the U17 in 2015, three times for the U19 in 2017, and 13 times for the U21 between 2019 and 2020. He scored one goal during this time, on 7 October 2017 in a 7–1 defeat against Germany U19.[23] He captained the U21 team multiple times.[3]

Career statistics
As of match played 14 February 2023
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Derry City 2017[1] League of Ireland Premier Division 300000—30
2018[1] 3010020—321
2019[1] 3522040—412
2020[1] 18020001[lower-alpha 1]1211
2021[1] 3412000—361
2022[1] 20100002[lower-alpha 2]0221
Total 14056060311556
Bolton Wanderers 2022–23[24] League One 14300005[lower-alpha 3]0193
Career total 15486060811749
  1. Appearance in the UEFA Europa League
  2. Appearances in the UEFA Europa Conference League
  3. Appearance(s) in the EFL Trophy

Honours
Derry City

References
  1. Eoin Toal at Soccerway
  2. 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.
  3. Watters, Andy (10 February 2021). "From Grange to the Brandywell: New Derry City skipper Eoin Toal does things his own way". The Irish News.
  4. Darragh, Oran. "'Our man from Armagh' – Bolton Wanderers sign former City player Eoin Toal". Armagh I.
  5. Fullerton, Gareth (20 July 2022). "Ex-Northern Ireland Under 21 defender seals move to Bolton Wanderers". BelfastLive.
  6. 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)
  7. "Bolton confirm signing of Eoin Toal from Derry City on three-year deal". independent.
  8. "Bolton sign defender Toal from Derry City" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  9. "Just what can we expect from Wanderers defensive 'project' Eoin Toal?". The Bolton News.
  10. "'Eoin ticks all the boxes' - Evatt's delight at new defensive signing Toal".
  11. McDougall, John (20 July 2022). "Toal's first words as Bolton player after Derry City transfer". Manchester Evening News.
  12. ""I want to wish him every success at his new club and in his career going forward."". www.derryjournal.com.
  13. "How Eoin Toal's European dream hindered his early Wanderers career". The Bolton News.
  14. "Toal Ready For B Team Bow". www.bwfc.co.uk.
  15. "Eoin Toal plays 45 minutes as Wanderers' B Team lose against Blackpool". uk.sports.yahoo.com.
  16. "Toal Revels In Trophy Taster". www.bwfc.co.uk.
  17. "Bolton Wanderers 1-1 Bristol Rovers" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  18. McDougall, John (3 December 2022). "Four ups & two downs for Bolton from Bristol Rovers draw". Manchester Evening News.
  19. "MATCH REACTION: Ian Evatt gives his verdict on Wanderers' 1-1 draw at Lincoln". The Bolton News.
  20. "Lincoln City 1-1 Bolton Wanderers" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  21. "'Unbelievable!' - Jones gives credit to Toal after League One debut". The Bolton News.
  22. Your @bolton_kia Player of the Month for December is Eoin Toal. Well deserved, @Eointoal7!
  23. "Eoin Toal » Internationals". worldfootball.net.
  24. "Games played by Eoin Toal in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
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