Jon_Connolly

Jon Connolly

Jon Connolly

Scottish footballer

Jon Connolly (born 3 April 1981) is a Scottish football goalkeeper and is currently the goalkeeping coach at Annan Athletic.[1] Connolly has previously played in the Scottish Premier League for Motherwell.

Quick Facts Personal information, Date of birth ...

Career

Connolly began his senior career in the academy system at Ipswich Town but returned to Scotland to sign for Albion Rovers in February 1998, making eight league appearances in the Scottish Football League Third Division before the end of the season.[2] After leaving Rovers, he dropped to Junior level with Thorniewood United before being signed by manager Billy Davies for Motherwell in the summer of 2000.[3]

With Motherwell releasing a number of high-earning first team players including Andy Goram, Connolly found himself as second choice keeper at Fir Park behind Stevie Woods.[4] He made his Scottish Premier League debut in April 2001 against Dundee United at Tannadice and retained his place in the team for the following weeks match against Aberdeen.[5][6]

These proved to be his only first team appearances for Motherwell and Connolly left the club on the eve of the January 2002 transfer window, signing for Dumbarton until the end of the season.[7] A year at Cumnock Juniors was followed by another Scottish Football League spell with East Stirlingshire in 2003–04 where he made nineteen league appearances.

After leaving Shire, Connolly has enjoyed a peripatetic career in Junior football.[3][8][9][10] In recent years, he joined Kilwinning Rangers in May 2013 before moving on to Kirkintilloch Rob Roy in January 2014.[11][12] Connolly signed for Vale of Clyde in the summer of 2014 and had short stints at Rossvale and St. Anthony's before joining East Superleague side Fauldhouse United in October 2016.[13][14][15][16]

Connolly was appointed as player-manager of Fauldhouse in February 2017.[17]

Big JC is now seen playing Over 35 football for Lanarkshire Forest, in the Central Over 35s league. Forest have successfully won Division 1A of the 2023 season, securing promotion to the Premier Division for 2024. Big JC is also actively working at Annan Athletic as goalkeeping coach.

References

  1. [1]
    "JON CONNOLLY IS THE NEW GOALKEEPING COACH!". Twitter. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  2. [2]
    "Jon Connolly". Pride of Anglia. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  3. [3]
    Kenny Smith (6 August 2008). "Ex-Motherwell keeper signs up". Rutherglen Reformer. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  4. [4]
    Peter O'Rourke. "Woods signs new Well deal". Sky Sports. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  5. [5]
    "United hold off Well challenge". BBC Sport. 28 April 2001. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  6. [6]
    Chris Roberts. "Motherwell 0 Aberdeen 2". Sporting Life. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  7. [7]
    "Hilcoat joins St Mirren". BBC Sport. 26 February 2002. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  8. [8]
    "Thistle aim high". Daily Record. 14 August 2004. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  9. [9]
    "Website player stats". Bo'ness United FC. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  10. [10]
    Kenny Smith (21 April 2010). "Lang boss hits out at fixture madness". Rutherglen Reformer. Retrieved 5 March 2013.
  11. [11]
    O'Donnell, Jim (6 June 2013). "McDonald: Shotts can rise from ashes". Evening Times. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  12. [12]
    "Connolly coup solves the No.1 problem for Rob Roy". Evening Times. 29 January 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  13. [13]
    O'Donnell, Jim (17 June 2014). "Currie's keeping calm as big guns hit the Pail trail to target starlets". Evening Times. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
  14. [14]
    O'Donnell, Jim (17 February 2016). "Rossvale boss Martin Lauchlan urges his side to get back in thick of promotion race". Evening Times. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  15. [15]
    O'Donnell, Jim (16 July 2016). "St Anthony's co-boss Ronnie McDonald happy to get a little help from his friends". Evening Times. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  16. [16]
    Wilson, Fraser (14 October 2016). "Have gloves will travel: Veteran keeper Jon Connolly happy to have returned home to Fauldhouse United". Daily Record. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  17. [17]
    Huddlestone, Dave (21 February 2017). "Official Statement". FAULDHOUSE UNITED F.C. – Website. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
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