Aidan Connolly
Connolly playing for York City in 2016
Personal information
Full name Aidan Charles Patrick Connolly[1]
Date of birth (1995-08-15) 15 August 1995[1]
Place of birth Dundee, Scotland
Height 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)[2]
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
 Raith Rovers
Number 7
Youth career
0000–2012 Queen's Park
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2013 Queen's Park 23 (6)
2013–2016 Dundee United 31 (1)
2013 → Brechin City (loan) 4 (0)
2016 Raith Rovers 16 (5)
2016–2018 York City 50 (9)
2018–2019 Dunfermline Athletic 17 (1)
2019–2021 Falkirk 30 (5)
2021– Raith Rovers 65 (18)
International career
2010 Scotland U16 1 (0)
2013 Scotland U19 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 02:04, 1 July 2023 (UTC)

Aidan Charles Patrick Connolly (born 15 August 1995) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a winger for Raith Rovers in the Scottish Championship.

Connolly began his career with Queen's Park before joining Dundee United in 2013, and also played for Brechin City on loan. He was released by Dundee United in January 2016, joining Raith Rovers shortly after. He spent two seasons with York City from 2016 to 2018, and one year with Dunfermline Athletic. He has represented Scotland at under-16 and under-19 level.

Early life

Connolly was born in Dundee on 15 August 1995,[1] when his father Paddy Connolly was playing for Dundee United.[3] He attended Williamwood High School in Clarkston, East Renfrewshire.[4]

Club career

Connolly started his career at Queen's Park, progressing through the club's youth system.[1] He made his first-team debut in November 2012 whilst still at school. He was voted Scottish Football League Young Player of the Month for December 2012 after scoring three times since his first appearance.[4][5]

Together with Queen's Park teammate Andrew Robertson, Connolly signed for Scottish Premiership club Dundee United in June 2013.[3] He was sent out on a one-month loan to Brechin City in September 2013.[6] After returning from Brechin, Connolly made his Dundee United debut as a late substitute in a 3–1 victory over Motherwell.[7] At the start of the following season he signed a one-year contract extension to keep him at the club until 2016.[8] Connolly made his first start and scored his first goal for Dundee United against Hibernian in the Scottish League Cup on 29 October 2014. Retaining his place in the next match against St Mirren, he contributed to all three of United's goals on his first Premiership start.[9]

After making only one starting appearance during the 2015–16 season, Connolly was released from his Dundee United contract by mutual consent on 21 January 2016.[10] The following day, he joined Scottish Championship club Raith Rovers on a contract until the end of 2015–16.[11]

On 28 June 2016, Connolly joined newly relegated National League club York City on a two-year contract, having previously played under manager Jackie McNamara at Dundee United.[12] On 21 May 2017, he came on as a 69th-minute substitute as York beat Macclesfield Town 3–2 at Wembley Stadium in the 2017 FA Trophy Final, scoring the winning goal in the 86th minute after forcing Jon Parkin's shot over the line from centimetres out.[13] Connolly was released by York at the end of 2017–18.[14]

Connolly signed for Scottish Championship club Dunfermline Athletic on 20 June 2018 on a one-year contract.[15] He left the club at the end of his contract[16] and signed for League One club Falkirk under his former Raith manager, Ray McKinnon.[17]

In 2021, Connolly returned to Raith Rovers on a two-year deal.[18] After two successful seasons during which he was a vital player for the team, Connolly signed a new two-year deal in 2023, keeping him with Rovers until 2025.[19]

International career

Connolly made one appearance for the Scotland under-16 team, against Jersey in 2010,[20] and one for the under-19 team, against Latvia in 2013.[21]

Career statistics

As of 6 May 2019
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup[lower-alpha 2] Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Queen's Park 2012–13[22] Scottish Third Division 23600002[lower-alpha 3]0256
Dundee United 2013–14[7] Scottish Premiership 200000—20
2014–15[23] Scottish Premiership 1813011—222
2015–16[24] Scottish Premiership 1100000—110
Total 3113011—352
Brechin City (loan) 2013–14[7] Scottish League One 40———40
Raith Rovers 2015–16[24] Scottish Championship 165——1[lower-alpha 4]0175
York City 2016–17[25] National League 20300—4[lower-alpha 5]2245
2017–18[25][26] National League North 30600—2[lower-alpha 5]0326
Total 50900—625611
Dunfermline Athletic 2018–19[27] Scottish Championship 17100503[lower-alpha 6]0251
Career total 14122306112216225
  1. ↑ Includes Scottish Cup
  2. ↑ Includes Scottish League Cup
  3. ↑ Appearances in Scottish Second Division play-offs
  4. ↑ Appearance in Scottish Premiership play-offs
  5. 1 2 Appearances in FA Trophy
  6. ↑ Appearances in Scottish Challenge Cup

Honours

York City

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Aidan Connolly – Player profile". The DUFC Archive. Niall Harkiss & Bryan Orr. Archived from the original on 13 August 2017.
  2. ↑ "Aidan Connolly". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Dundee Utd sign Queen's Park's Robertson and Connolly". BBC Sport. 3 June 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  4. 1 2 "Queen's Park youngster Aidan Connolly's big test is to be like his dad". Daily Record. Glasgow. 19 January 2013. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  5. 1 2 "Irn-bru SFL Young Player of the Month – December 2012". Scottish Professional Football League. 25 January 2013. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  6. ↑ Hoey, John (13 September 2013). "Brechin City – Dunfermline preview". Brechin City F.C. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 "Games played by Aidan Connolly in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  8. ↑ "Dundee United: Deals for Paton, Connolly and Lochhead". BBC Sport. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  9. ↑ Robertson, Neil (3 November 2014). "Fatherly advice pays off for Dundee United's Aidan Connolly". The Courier. Dundee. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  10. ↑ Roache, Ian (21 January 2016). "Dundee United agree to let Aidan Connolly leave by mutual consent". The Courier. Dundee. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  11. ↑ "Connolly signs". Raith Rovers F.C. 22 January 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  12. ↑ Flett, Dave (28 June 2016). "Raith winger Aidan Connolly becomes York City's third signing of the day". The Press. York. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  13. ↑ Flett, Dave (21 May 2017). "York City lift FA Trophy to win at Wembley for a fourth time in their history". The Press. York. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
  14. ↑ Flett, Dave (30 April 2018). "Louis Almond and Alex Kempster offered new deals at York City, but Aidan Connolly one of nine released". The Press. York. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  15. ↑ Hart, Ross (20 June 2018). "Former Dundee United and York City player Aidan Connolly joins Dunfermline". Dunfermline Press. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  16. ↑ "Player update". Dunfermline Athletic FC. 6 May 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  17. ↑ Turnbull, Craig (12 June 2019). "Connolly becomes a Bairn as McKinnon gets his man". www.falkirkherald.co.uk. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  18. ↑ "Aidan Connolly Signs For Raith Rovers | Raith Rovers FC". www.raithrovers.net. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  19. ↑ "Aidan Connolly signs on again at Stark's Park | Raith Rovers FC". www.raithrovers.net. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  20. ↑ "Aidan Connolly: Squad: U16 squad". Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  21. ↑ "Aidan Connolly: Squad: U19 squad". Scottish Football Association. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  22. ↑ "Games played by Aidan Connolly in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  23. ↑ "Games played by Aidan Connolly in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  24. 1 2 "Games played by Aidan Connolly in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  25. 1 2 "A. Connolly: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  26. ↑ For FA Cup second qualifying round: Flett, Dave (17 September 2017). "York City dig deep to progress in FA Cup amid the Salford rubble". The Press. York. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
    For FA Cup third qualifying round: Flett, Dave (1 October 2017). "Poor Shaftesbury Avenue show sees curtain come down on Gary Mills' second spell as York City manager". The Press. York. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
    For FA Trophy third qualifying round: Flett, Dave (26 November 2017). "York City have last laugh following Coalville taunts in 3–1 Trophy triumph". The Press. York. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  27. ↑ "Games played by Aidan Connolly in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  28. ↑ "Macclesfield Town 2–3 York City". BBC Sport. 21 May 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
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