Andy Lonergan

Andy Lonergan

Andrew Michael Lonergan is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Championship club Stoke City. He started his career at Preston North End, where he won player of the year awards in both the 2008–09 and 2009–10 seasons. He has also played for Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers and West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League and the Capital One Cup. He is a former England U21 international and is eligible to play for the Republic of Ireland.

About Andy Lonergan in brief

Summary Andy LonerganAndrew Michael Lonergan is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Championship club Stoke City. He is a former England U21 international and is also eligible to play for the Republic of Ireland. He started his career at Preston North End, where he won player of the year awards in both the 2008–09 and 2009–10 seasons. He was loaned out to Swindon Town and Blackpool before returning to the club. He has also played for Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers and West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League and the Capital One Cup. He won the League Cup with Preston as a 16-year-old in a League Cup tie away at Coventry City in 2002. He also scored a goal from his own penalty area in the 39th minute against Leicester City to equalise, after his long kick bounced over Leicester goalkeeper Kevin Pressman after defender Matt Heath had let the ball bounce. He made his debut for Preston against Macclesfield Town on 21 December 2002. After recovering from an injury, he was sent out on loan to Darlington. He then joined Wycombe Wanderers on a one-month loan deal in October 2005. In October 2005, he kept a clean sheet in a 1–0 win over Grimsby Town and kept another clean sheet on his second appearance against Rushden & Diamonds. In November 2006, he returned to his parent club after injuring himself in training once again, snapping his cruciate ligament in his holding place in his place.

He returned to the first team early in the 2007–08 season and was given a first-team contract by Preston. In April 2008, he signed a new one-year deal with Stoke City until the end of the season. He left the club in the summer of 2009. He now has a contract with the Championship club until 2018. He played in the Capital 1 Cup final against Sheffield United in May 2010. He previously played for Blackpool in the FA Cup in the 2005–06 season. In the 2010–11 season, he made his Premier League debut against West Brom in a 2–1 win over the Baggies. He went on to win the Young Player of the Year award at Preston for the 2000–01 season. His time at Blackpool was short-lived after he was loaning out to rivals Blackpool. He later joined Swind on a season-long loan deal with the League One club in November 2006. In March 2011, he joined Swindle on a permanent deal. He was loaned back to Blackpool for the remainder of the 2006–07 season. After a long spell out injured with the injury it took Lonergans over two years to gain back his place in the first-choice team. He kept a club record of over 30 clean sheets in the 2004–05 season under the watchful eye of new manager Billy Davies, and played a part in 65% of the season before he ruptured his cruciate ligaments before a game against Ipswich Town.