Ruairí Harkin Explained

Ruairí Harkin
Birth Date:11 October 1989
Birth Place:Derry, Northern Ireland
Height:1.83 m
Position:Central midfielder
Youthclubs1:Don Bosco's
Youthclubs2:Charlton Athletic
Years1:2006–2008
Caps1:0
Goals1:0
Years2:2007–2008
Clubs2:Heybridge Swifts (loan)
Years3:2009–2011
Clubs3:Derry City
Caps3:43
Goals3:3
Years4:2009
Clubs4:Finn Harps (loan)
Caps4:12
Goals4:0
Years5:2012–2016
Clubs5:Coleraine
Caps5:133
Goals5:10
Years6:2016–2019
Clubs6:Cliftonville
Caps6:28
Goals6:2
Years7:2019–
Clubs7:Finn Harps
Caps7:15
Goals7:0
Nationalyears1:2005
Nationalteam1:Northern Ireland U16
Nationalyears2:2006
Nationalteam2:Republic of Ireland U17
Nationalcaps2:4
Nationalgoals2:0
Nationalyears3:2006–2008
Nationalteam3:Republic of Ireland U19

Ruairí Harkin (born 11 October 1989) is a former footballer who played as a central midfielder.

Club career

Youth

Harkin began his career at a very young age with Don Boscos. Throughout his career with Don Bosco's, Harkin made several appearances for the Derry and District League Select in the Foyle Cup and also County Londonderry in the Milk Cup. Having turned down opportunities to sign for a number of English clubs, such as Blackburn Rovers, in order to finish his GCSE exams at St. Columb's College, he eventually signed for Charlton Athletic in the summer of 2006.

Senior

Harkin looked set to have a bright future in the game and his ability was praised by coaches. However, the young midfielder failed to play a senior game for the English team and instead languished in the reserves, before being loaned out to non-league outfit, Heybridge Swifts. At the end of 2008, Harkin was released by Charlton and promptly snapped up by his hometown club, Derry City. Harkin was loaned out to Derry's rivals, Finn Harps at the beginning of the 2009 season. He made 12 appearances for Harps in the early part of 2009 before returning to the Brandywell where he turned out 3 times for the Candystripes before the season ended. Ruairi made 20 league appearances for Derry in 2010, scoring three times, as the club won the First Division title, and in 2011 he made another 20 appearances, though 14 of these came as a substitute. Harkin signed for Coleraine in the Irish Premier League on 5 January 2012.[1] Harkin joined Cliftonville on 1 August 2016 for a fee believed to be £18,000.

International career

Having represented Northern Ireland at Under-16 level, Derry-born Harkin was later called up to the Republic of Ireland Under-19 squad,[2] where he was capped four times between 2006 and 2008.

Career statistics

[3]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueNational cupLeague cupOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Derry City2009LOI Premier Division40000040
2010LOI First Division2030000203
2011LOI Premier Division1900021211
Total4330021454
Finn Harps2009LOI First Division1200000120
Coleraine2011–12IFA Premiership1302010160
2012–13IFA Premiership37220102[4] 0422
2013–14NIFL Premiership304101021345
2014–15NIFL Premiership1930010213
2015–16NIFL Premiership3411030381
Total1331060704115011
Cliftonville2016–17NIFL Premiership1420010152
2017–18NIFL Premiership902000110
2018–19NIFL Premiership60000060
Total2922010322
Finn Harps2019LOI Premier Division7000002[5] 090
2020LOI Premier Division802000100
2021LOI Premier Division00000000
Total150200020190
Career total245151001016127117

Honours

Derry City

Notes and References

  1. News: Coleraine sign Paul Owens from Carrick and Derry's Ruairi Harkin . 5 January 2012 . BBC . 2 March 2020 .
  2. Web site: U19 men - Season 2007/'08 Summary Report. Football Association of Ireland. 17 January 2011.
  3. Web site: Ruairí Harkin. Soccerway. 26 December 2019.
  4. Appearances in the Setanta Sports Cup.
  5. Appearances in the Relegation Playoff.