Sam Foley

Samuel Robert Foley (born 17 October 1986) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Motherwell in the Scottish Premiership.

Sam Foley

Foley playing for Newport County in 2012.
Personal information
Full name	Samuel Robert Foley[1]
Date of birth	17 October 1986[2]
Place of birth	St Albans, England[2]
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[3]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Club information
Current team	Motherwell
Number	37
Youth career
	Cheltenham Town
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2006–2008	Cheltenham Town	0	(0)
2008	→ Bath City (loan)	6	(2)
2008–2009	Kidderminster Harriers	0	(0)
2008	→ Redditch United (loan)	7	(2)
2009	→ Newport County (loan)	14	(4)
2009–2012	Newport County	118	(32)
2012–2015	Yeovil Town	88	(7)
2014	→ Shrewsbury Town (loan)	9	(0)
2015–2017	Port Vale	77	(7)
2017–2019	Northampton Town	60	(4)
2019–2021	St Mirren	38	(1)
2021–	Motherwell	1	(0)
National team
	Republic of Ireland U18
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 01:59, 4 February 2021 (UTC)

A former Republic of Ireland youth international, he began his career at Cheltenham Town, and though he played on loan at Bath City he left Cheltenham in 2008 without making a first team appearance. He then spent a year with Kidderminster Harriers, who in turn loaned him on to Redditch United and Newport County. He joined Newport in June 2009, and helped them to win the Conference South title in 2009–10 and to the 2012 FA Trophy Final. He returned to the English Football League with Yeovil Town in July 2012, and played in the club's 2013 League One play-off Final victory that took them into the Championship. He lost his first team place in the 2013–14 season and joined Shrewsbury Town on loan, before winning Yeovil's Player of the Year award in the 2014–15 season as the club dropped into League Two. He joined Port Vale in June 2015, and left after two seasons to join Northampton Town in May 2017, where he would remain for another two seasons. He joined Scottish club St Mirren in August 2019 and was named as the club's Player of the Year for the 2019–20 season.

Career

Early career

Foley graduated out of the Cheltenham Town youth team to win a two-year professional contract in 2006. However he spent much of time at Whaddon Road out injured with osteitis pubis and never made a first team appearance for the "Robins".[4] He spent part of the 2007–08 season on loan at Conference South Bath City, and scored two goals in seven appearances for the "Romans".

In August 2008 he signed a one-year contract with Kidderminster Harriers after impressing manager Mark Yates during a trial spell.[5] He was sent out on loan to Conference North side Redditch United in October 2008.[6] He scored two goals in seven games and "Reds" manager Gary Whild wanted an extended loan spell, but Foley was recalled to Kidderminster in December.[7] He went on to spend the second half of the 2008–09 season on loan at Conference South club Newport County, scoring four goals in 14 appearances. He left Aggborough without making a first team appearance for the Harriers after rejecting the offer of a new contract.[8]

Newport County

In June 2009, Foley was signed by Newport County manager Dean Holdsworth. Foley was immediately a regular in the team, filling all midfield and forward roles at various times but mostly played as a supporting striker alongside Craig Reid. In the 2009–10 season County were crowned Conference South champions with a record 103 points, 28 points ahead of second placed Dover Athletic. He remained a key player in the 2010–11 season, scoring five goals in 44 games as Newport posted a ninth-place finish in the Conference Premier. Three of his goals came on 11 October, in a 4–1 win over Fleetwood Town at Highbury Stadium, in what was new manager Justin Edinburgh's first win at the club.[9] On 12 May, Foley played at Wembley Stadium in the 2012 FA Trophy Final, which Newport lost 2–0 to York City.[10] He scored 12 goals in 49 appearances during the 2011–12 season and rejected the offer of a new contract at the end of the season.

Yeovil Town

Foley signed for League One club Yeovil Town on a one-year contract in July 2012.[11] On 14 August, Foley made his Yeovil debut in the League Cup in a 3–0 victory over Colchester United,[12] and scored his first competitive goal for the side on 4 September in a 3–0 Football League Trophy win at Bristol Rovers.[13] On 19 May, Foley played in the 2013 League One play-off Final as Yeovil beat Brentford 2–1 to secure promotion to the Championship.[14] In total he scored seven goals in 51 appearances in the 2012–13 campaign, mostly from left-wing.[15] He signed a new two-year contract in June 2013.[16]

He played just nine times in the 2013–14 season as the "Glovers" were relegated out of the Championship. On 7 March 2014, Foley joined League One side Shrewsbury Town on an initial one-month loan.[17] After making nine appearances for the "Shrews", Foley was recalled to Huish Park on 16 April.[18] With Yeovil back in League One Foley was restored to the first team for the 2014–15 campaign and featured 45 times, mainly in central midfield, as the club suffered a second successive relegation.[15] Though the season was a poor one for the club Foley managed to find success on an individual level, winning the Western Gazette's Player of the Year award.[19] He rejected the offer of a new contract in the summer in favour of a move to remain in League One.[20]

Port Vale

In June 2015, Foley signed a two-year contract with League One club Port Vale.[20] He said his aim was to secure a regular first team place in central midfield.[21] He went on to score six goals in 50 appearances throughout the 2015–16 season, and was also the club's penalty-taker, converting two of four penalty kicks.[22] Manager Rob Page played him both in central midfield and on the left-side of midfield throughout the campaign, and told the media that Foley was "outstanding" in both roles.[23]

He remained a key player under new manager Bruno Ribeiro, and missed just two of the opening 15 league games of the 2016–17 season, being named on the EFL team of the week after providing two assists in a 3–1 win over Scunthorpe United at Vale Park on 27 August.[24] However he was forced to undergo surgery on a long-standing ankle injury in October.[25] He returned to training after a three-month recovery spell.[26] In February 2017, he was praised by caretaker-manager Michael Brown for playing despite being below full fitness during a difficult period for the club.[27] He scored his first goal of the season in a crucial 2–1 home win against relegation rivals Shrewsbury Town on 17 March.[28]

Northampton Town

In May 2017, Foley rejected the offer of a new contract at Port Vale to remain in League One on a two-year contract with Northampton Town; the move reunited him with former Newport manager Justin Edinburgh.[29] Port Vale manager Michael Brown said that Port Vale had offered a better wage than Northampton, but Foley had wanted to play at as high a level as possible.[30] He lost his first-team place under new manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and scored three goals in 28 appearances for the "Cobblers" as the club were relegated at the end of the 2017–18 season. He scored two goals in 40 appearances in the 2018–19 campaign, maintaining his first-team place under first Dean Austin and then Keith Curle, before he was released on 6 May.[31]

St Mirren

On 1 August 2019, Foley signed a two-year deal with Scottish Premiership side St Mirren.[32] He stepped in as the "Saints" team captain during the absence of Stephen McGinn and Kyle Magennis in January.[33] He went on to win the vote for the PDE St Mirren player of the year award for the 2019–20 season; he said that "I’ve won a few awards throughout my career though and I see them as a reward for hard work on and off the pitch. When you get to my age it’s about a love of the job and football is my trade. You need to have a willingness and desire to work hard."[34] He played 15 games in the first half of the 2020–21 season before being benched.[35]

Motherwell

On 29 January 2021, Foley signed for Motherwell on a contract until the end of the 2020–21 season.[36]

Style of play

Foley can operate on the left or centre of midfield, and has good dribbling, passing and ball control skills.[23] He is an intelligent player with a good work rate, but lacks natural pace.[23]

Career statistics

As of match played 3 February 2021

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Cheltenham Town	2006–07[37]	League One	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2007–08[38]	League One	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Bath City (loan)	2007–08	Conference South	6	2	0	0	—		1[lower-alpha 1]	0	7	2
Kidderminster Harriers	2008–09	Conference Premier	0	0	0	0	—		0	0	0	0
Redditch United (loan)	2008–09	Conference North	7	2	0	0	—		0	0	7	2
Newport County (loan)	2008–09	Conference South	14	4	0	0	—		0	0	14	4
Newport County	2009–10	Conference South	38	17	2	0	—		4[lower-alpha 2]	0	44	17
	2010–11[39]	Conference Premier	40	5	1	0	—		3[lower-alpha 2]	0	44	5
	2011–12[39][40]	Conference Premier	40	10	2	1	—		7[lower-alpha 2]	1	49	12
	Total		132	36	5	1	—		14	1	151	38
Yeovil Town	2012–13[41]	League One	41	5	1	0	2	0	7[lower-alpha 3]	2	51	7
	2013–14[42]	Championship	7	0	2	0	0	0	—		9	0
	2014–15[43]	League One	40	2	4	0	0	0	1[lower-alpha 4]	0	45	2
	Total		88	7	7	0	2	0	8	2	105	9
Shrewsbury Town (loan)	2013–14[42]	League One	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	0
Port Vale	2015–16[44]	League One	45	6	3	0	2	0	0	0	50	6
	2016–17[45]	League One	32	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	33	1
	Total		77	7	3	0	3	0	0	0	83	7
Northampton Town	2017–18[46]	League One	24	2	1	0	0	0	3[lower-alpha 5]	1	28	3
	2018–19[47]	League Two	36	2	0	0	1	0	3	0	40	2
	Total		60	4	1	0	1	0	6	1	68	5
St Mirren	2019–20[48]	Scottish Premiership	27	1	4	1	0	0	—		31	2
	2020–21[49]	Scottish Premiership	11	0	0	0	4	0	—		15	0
	Total		38	1	4	1	4	0	0	0	46	2
Motherwell	2020–21[49]	Scottish Premiership	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Career total			418	59	20	2	10	0	28	4	476	65

1. Appearance in Somerset Premier Cup
2. Appearances in FA Trophy
3. Four appearances and two goals in Football League Trophy, three appearances in League One play-offs
4. Appearance in Football League Trophy
5. Appearances in EFL Trophy

Honours

Newport County

• Conference South: 2009–10
• FA Trophy runner-up: 2011–12[10]

Yeovil Town

• Football League One play-offs: 2013[14]

Individual

• Yeovil Town Player of the Year (Western Gazette): 2014–15[19]
• St Mirren Player of the Year: 2019–20[34]

References

1. "Sam Foley". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
2. "FootballSquads - Port Vale - 2016/2017". www.footballsquads.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
3. "FootballSquads - Port Vale - 2016/17". www.footballsquads.co.uk. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
4. "'Keep believing and an opportunity will come'". Gloucestershire Echo. 18 April 2013. Archived from the original on 20 June 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
5. "Harriers sign on four trialists". BBC Sport. 5 August 2008. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
6. "Foley joins United on loan". The Shuttle. 3 October 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
7. "Sam Foley's chance to impress at Harriers". Birmingham Mail. 2 December 2008. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
8. "Foley tipped for bright future". Express and Star. 19 May 2009. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
9. "Fleetwood 1-4 Newport". BBC Sport. 11 October 2011. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
10. Woodcock, Ian (12 May 2012). "FA Trophy: Newport County 0-2 York City". Retrieved 19 June 2015.
11. "Yeovil Town sign Marsh-Brown, Foley and Hinds". BBC Sport. 29 May 2012.
12. "Yeovil 3–0 Colchester". BBC Sport. 14 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
13. "Bristol Rovers 0–3 Yeovil". BBC Sport. 4 September 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
14. "Brentford 1–2 Yeovil". BBC Sport. 19 May 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
15. "New signing Sam Foley targets central midfield spot". The Sentinel. 18 June 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
16. "Yeovil: Kevin Dawson & Sam Foley re-sign as Sam Hoskins arrives". BBC Sport. 26 June 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
17. "Shrewsbury Town: Andy Morell and Yeovil's Sam Foley join". BBC Sport. 7 March 2014. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
18. "Shrewsbury Town: Sam Foley recalled and Dave McAllister out". BBC Sport. 16 April 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
19. "Sam Foley wins Player of the Season award after impressive year with Yeovil Town". Western Gazette. 25 April 2015. Archived from the original on 20 June 2015. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
20. "Sam Foley: Port Vale sign Yeovil Town midfielder". BBC Sport. 18 June 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
21. "Port Vale: New signing Sam Foley targets central midfield spot". The Sentinel. 18 June 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
22. Baggaley, Mike (17 October 2015). "Port Vale 1, Peterborough 1 report: Missed penalties cost Vale in dramatic draw". The Sentinel. Archived from the original on 20 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
23. Baggaley, Mike (19 March 2016). "Port Vale v Burton: Super Sam Foley emerging as key Vale player". The Sentinel. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
24. "Sky Bet EFL: Team of the Week". www.efl.com. 29 August 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
25. Sharpe, Rich (27 October 2016). "Port Vale midfielder Sam Foley set for extended spell on the sidelines". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
26. Baggaley, Mike (26 January 2017). "Port Vale: Sam Foley thrilled to end injury frustration". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
27. Baggaley, Mike (17 February 2017). "Michael Brown says Sam Foley is showing true grit for Port Vale". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
28. Baggaley, Mike (17 March 2017). "Port Vale 2, Shrewsbury 1: Brown's battlers claim crucial win". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
29. "Sam Foley: Northampton Town sign Port Vale midfielder". BBC Sport. 22 May 2017. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
30. Baggaley, Mike (22 May 2017). "Brown says Port Vale beat Northampton's wage offer to Foley". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
31. "Northampton Town release eight players and transfer-list three more". BBC Sport. 6 May 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
32. "St Mirren: Midfielder Sam Foley arrives on a two-year deal". BBC Sport. 1 August 2019. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
33. Ramage, Ben (29 January 2020). "Sam Foley opens up on "privilege" of donning the St Mirren captain's armband". dailyrecord. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
34. Ramage, Ben (30 May 2020). "Sam Foley thanks St Mirren fans after picking up PDE player of the year award". Daily Record. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
35. Ramage, Ben (29 January 2021). "Captain Foley's exit confirmed as midfielder pays tribute to "proud" Saints fans". Daily Record. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
36. "SAM FOLEY SIGNS FOR MOTHERWELL". motherwellfc.co.uk. 29 January 2021. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
37. "Games played by Sam Foley in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
38. "Games played by Sam Foley in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
39. Sam Foley at Soccerway
40. "Games played by Sam Foley in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
41. "Games played by Sam Foley in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
42. "Games played by Sam Foley in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
43. "Games played by Sam Foley in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
44. "Games played by Sam Foley in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
45. "Games played by Sam Foley in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
46. "Games played by Sam Foley in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
47. "Games played by Sam Foley in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
48. "Games played by Sam Foley in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
49. "Games played by Sam Foley in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 August 2020.

External links

• Sam Foley at Soccerbase