Pádraig Amond

Pádraig Amond (born 15 April 1988) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a striker or a winger for Hartlepool United.

Shamrock Rovers

Amond joined Shamrock Rovers in 1999 and progressed through the schoolboy ranks of the club. He represented the club in the Milk Cup in both 2003 and 2004, assisting the team in reaching the quarter finals the first year. He scored the Hoops' first goal of the tournament in 2003 in a 3–1 defeat of Israeli side Maccabi Haifa in the junior section game at The Warren, Portstewart.

He was part of the team that were champions of the LOI First Division in the 2006 season, being promoted to the LOI Premier Division. He was promoted to the senior squad at the start of the season, making his League of Ireland debut as a substitute against Athlone Town on 16 March 2006. He scored his only goal against Finn Harps in September 2006. He made ten appearances, eight from the bench, for the whole season. Amond also represented his native county of Carlow at minor (under-18) level hurling in 2006, reaching the Leinster final at Croke Park.

Loan to Kildare County

Amond joined Kildare County on a season long loan for the 2007 season. Amond scored twice on 8 April 2007 in what was Kildare County's first victory of the season in the 2–2 draw against Wexford Youths, he got their first within 4 minutes after goalkeeper Shane Dunphy fumbled a Gary Walsh corner-kick leaving Amond to shoot from close range; in the 90th minute Amond scored an equalising penalty sending Dunphy the wrong way after Conor Sinnott had handled a Philip Byrne shot. He became the first opposition player to score at Athlone Town's new stadium at Lissywollen in the League of Ireland First Division on 16 April 2007, in the 0–2 away win, on 27 minutes Philip Gorman's shot was blocked and with Athlone failing to clear, the ball fell to Amond, who from close range blasted the ball into the back of the net; then on 68 minutes, defenders Jim Sheridan and Ronan Frawley both went for a high ball, it broke loose, Amond nipped in behind the pair and skillfully directed his shot over the head of home goalkeeper Danny O'Leary. His final goal while on his loan spell came on the 27 April 2007 against Kilkenny City, he scored on 57 minutes when a cross on the right by Philly Gorman reached the Amond unmarked in the box to head home to put them 1–2 in front, the game finishing in a 3–3 stalemate. He scored five goals for Kildare before being recalled by Shamrock Rovers.

Return to Shamrock Rovers

Amond scored Shamrock Rovers' 4000th league goal in a 4–0 win over Galway United on 14 September 2007. He made six league appearances in the 2007 season along with an appearance in the 2007 League of Ireland Cup.

He scored his first goal of the 2008 season on 18 April and followed it with another three weeks later. On 8 June 2008, he scored the first goal of the 2–1 victory against Sligo Rovers in the third round of the 2008 FAI Cup on 51 minutes, a downward header at the far post from a freekick. Amond finished as Shamrock Rovers' top goalscorer with 9 league goals in the 2008 season. He won the club's Young Player of the Year award.

Amond made his first appearance for the 2009 season on 3 April, in the 5th game of the season, during the 2–2 stalemate against Drogheda United, with the team losing he came off the subs bench on 80 minutes and made an immediate effect on the game, Madden's cross was met by Amond on 86 mins with a bullet header and the Hoops were level. On 10 May 2009, he scored the first two goals within 4 minutes, in the 0–3 win at Sligo; his first came on the 25th minute when Amond and Robinson combined for the Hoops captain to cross deep for Stephen Bradley whose first time ball across the face of goal found the inrushing Amond and he drilled his low shot past Brush from close range; his second came after latching onto Gary Twigg's flick to give Amond space on the ball and he fired a low shot past Brush and into the corner of the net. His final league goal for the club came on 2 October 2009 with a decisive winner, in the 1–0 victory over Bohemians when he was only on the pitch 4 minutes, a free kick by O'Connor was attacked by Sives and the ball fell to the Amond and he skillfully managed to squeeze the ball past Murphy from a tight angle. He made twenty league appearances and scored four goals in the 2009 season

On his time in Ireland Padraig reflects: "Shamrock Rovers is the biggest and best club in Ireland by a distance and to have come all the way up through the ranks is something that I am very proud of. If you speak to anyone in Ireland they have a good memory of Rovers and it was a great opportunity for me to play for them. Hopefully, I will return and play for Rovers again some day."

Sligo Rovers

In December 2009, he signed for Sligo Rovers. Amond played in the 2009–10 Setanta Sports Cup, scoring the 3rd goal in the 86th minute on his competitive debut for Sligo, in the 3–0 win over Cliftonville, Amond's precise pass of the ball to Matthew Blinkhorn on the left wing, whose inch perfect cross to return the ball, Amond gets on to the end of it and heads it past Duffin in the Cliftonville goal. He also played in both legs of the semi-final against St Patrick's Athletic, where they lost 6–2 on aggregate.

Amond played 3 games as part of the team that won the 2010 FAI Cup. He also played 3 games and scoring 5 goals as part of the team that won the final of the 2010 League of Ireland Cup. On 11 May 2010, he scored a brace in the 6–0 thrashing of Ulster Senior League side Letterkenny Rovers in the 2nd Round of the cup, Amond scored the 1st goal three minutes before the break, Joseph Ndo and Gary McCabe combined in midfield, feeding Amond who turned the defender and put Rovers one up going in for the break; 89 minutes from time he scored the 6th goal, Matthew Blinkhorn combined with Mark Doninger who in turn found Amond to make it six. On 1 June 2010, he scored Sligo's 4th goal in the 4–1 victory over St Patrick's Athletic shooting past their keeper Dan Connor to confirm a place in the last four. On 17 August 2010, Amond continued his goal scoring run with a brace against in the 2–1 victory against his old club Shamrock Rovers in the semi-final, a neat through pass on 18 minutes by Eoin Doyle gave Amond possession, he then skipped past defender Dan Murray to run on with goal in sight and shoot low past their keeper; Doyle then blocked Centre back Aidan Price’s clearance in the 49th minute and slipped the ball through to Amond who again found himself free of the last defender to smash his shot home past Alan Mannus at his near post, this was Amond's 23rd goal of the season in all competitions.

Paços de Ferreira

Amond was subject of a bid from Portuguese Primeira Liga side Paços de Ferreira in August 2010, which was rejected by Sligo Rovers. However, in September 2010 the club made an improved offer, which Sligo accepted and Amond signed on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut as a substitute in a home game against Braga on 19 September, helping his team haul back a two-goal deficit to draw the match 2–2. He also made one appearance in the 2010–11 Taça de Portugal, he came on as a sub in the 87th minute during the 3–1 victory against São João de Vêr. On 10 November 2010, he made his second start and scored his first goal for Paços de Ferreira against Leixões in the Portuguese League Cup.

Amond made a total of 17 league appearances for Pacos, but with all of them coming from the substitutes bench it meant that the forward played just under 300 minutes in total. On his final appearance for the club, he set up his side's equaliser in a 3–3 draw away to F.C. Porto.

Accrington Stanley

On 26 August 2011, it was announced that Amond had signed for English League Two club Accrington Stanley on a season-long loan deal. Prior to signing, he had spent a week on trial with League One side Sheffield Wednesday. Amond scored his first goal for Accrington in the 3–2 Johnstone's Paint Trophy win against Carlisle, he came off the bench in the 70th minute and scored an equaliser 4 minutes from time, Procter headed on Luke Joyce’s cross for Amond to head in. During his ninth appearance, he scored his first league goal for the club, an equaliser to make it a 2–2 draw at Plymouth, a 67th-minute header from a corner at close range.

After a successful loan spell the previous season, on 13 August 2012, Amond signed a one-year deal with Accrington Stanley. He scored his first goal of the 2012–13 campaign in the 2–0 win at home to Port Vale on 21 August 2012, blasting a penalty kick into the top right corner in the 43rd minute after his strike partner Karl Sheppard was brought down by the Vale keeper. Amond had been struggling with groin, abductor and hip problems since January 2013, which limited him to brief cameo appearances from the bench until the beginning of April.

Morecambe

After leaving Accrington Stanley, Amond went on trial with Morecambe; he signed for Morecambe on 1 August 2013, on a free transfer after a successful trial period. On 31 August 2013, Amond scored his first goal for Morecambe in the 2–1 win against Plymouth, he struck a left footed volley from 15 yards out past Luke McCormick seven minutes from time to give the Shrimps their first win over Argyle in the Football League. On 5 October 2013, he scored the winning goal as Morecambe came back from 3–0 down, with only 6 minutes to go Amond with lightning quick reflexes headed home from the centre of the box Sampson's left-wing cross, which flashed past visiting keeper Tommy Lee to beat league leaders Chesterfield 4–3 at the Globe Arena Amond won Morecambe's Golden Boot award for the 2013–14 season, he finished their top goal-scorer with 11 goals in all competitions.

Amond scored on the opening day of the 2014–15 season in the 0–3 thrashing of Dagenham & Redbridge, fellow striker Jack Sampson was brought down in the box, Amond then dispatched the rewarded penalty kick to put them 0–2 up on 54 minutes. On 2 September 2014, Amond scored a brace in the first round of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, he scored an equaliser on 28 minutes when Stewart Drummond split the Fleetwoods defence in half with a ball through the middle, which was met by Amond who confidently finish low past Maxwell from 15 yards, Amond made it 1–3 eight minutes from time when he tapped in from close range after Maxwell had saved Sampson's close range effort. On 11 April 2015, Amond's 8th and final league goal of the campaign came in the 3–1 win over Portsmouth in the 92nd minute, he leapt upon a loose ball to crash an unstoppable half-volley from 18 yards.

In May 2015, after the end of the 2014–15 season Amond was released by Morecambe.

Grimsby Town

On 1 July 2015, Amond signed for Conference National side Grimsby Town on a one-year deal. Grimsby fended off interest from League of Ireland Premier Division champions Dundalk, NIFL Premiership side Linfield as well as a number of English clubs in League Two to sign Amond. On 8 August 2015, he scored a debut opening goal for Grimsby in the 43rd minute in the 2–2 draw against Kidderminster, Bogle with great control and forward pass to Amond who curled his run perfectly to avoid being flagged offside; he ran down on goal and placed a great finish past the keeper and into the far corner. Amond scored a brace in the 4–1 home win against Bromley, scoring the opener just on 3 minutes when Nathan Arnold chested a cross into the path of Amond who finished past the keeper into the bottom corner; he scored the 3rd goal of the game on 25 minutes, Arnold's cross was headed back goalwards by Josh Gowling at the far post and Amond volleyed into the roof of the net. On 13 October 2015, Amond netted his first hat-trick in English football and finished with 4 goals in the 7–0 thumping of Halifax.

On 24 October 2015, Amond scored a brace in the 1–4 convincing win against National League North side Harrogate Town in the fourth round qualifier of the FA Cup, his first came on 34 minutes when Conor Townsend beat three defenders, breaking into the box and played the ball across for Amond to drive home; he scored the 4th goal for Grimsby in the 71st minute when substitute Jon-Paul Pittman played a one-two with Amond who found space in the box and side-footed home with a sharp finish; the two goals were his very first goals in any FA Cup competition. Amond came off the bench to score twice in the first round of the FA Cup against National League South side St Albans City, after replacing his usual strike partner Omar Bogle in the 43rd minute due to an injury; he scored the 2nd goal of the game in the 45th minute latching onto a header back to the goalkeeper, he scored his 2nd and the 5th goal in the 93rd minute, a header from the left side of the box.

Amond played in Grimsby's 3–1 victory over Forest Green Rovers in the 2016 National League play-off Final at Wembley, seeing Grimsby promoted to League Two after a six-year absence from the Football League. His efforts over the season earned him a place in the 2015–16 Vanarama Conference team of the year, alongside the league's outstanding players.

Hartlepool United

On 20 June 2016, Amond signed for Hartlepool United on a two-year contract. On his return to Blundell Park he scored a brace as Hartlepool won 3–0.

Amond is a National Citizen Service (NCS) Ambassador for the 2016/17 season, joining 40 footballers from across the country in pledging their support for the youth empowerment scheme.

He earned his first cap for the Republic of Ireland U21 team against Austria on 19 August 2008. He made his second appearance for the team in Bulgaria and his first start against Portugal. He earned his fourth cap in October 2008 in Lithuania.

Amond also writes articles as a sport columnist for the Republic of Ireland newspaper based in his native county of Carlow, the Carlow Nationalist.

Club

Shamrock Rovers

• League of Ireland First Division Champions (1): 2006

Sligo Rovers

• League of Ireland Cup Champions (1): 2010
• FAI Cup Champions (1): 2010

Paços de Ferreira

• Portuguese League Cup Runner-up (1): 2010–11

Grimsby Town

• National League play-offs: 2015–16 (promotion to League Two)

Individual

• SRFC Young Player of the Year:
  • Shamrock Rovers – 2008
• Carlow Sportsperson of the Year Award (Soccer): 2006, 2009
• Grimsby Town Player of the Year: 2016
• National League Team of the Year: 2015–16