Pádraig Amond

Pádraig Amond (born 15 April 1988) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a striker for League of Ireland Premier Division club Waterford.

Amond joined Shamrock Rovers in 1999, at the age of 10, and progressed through the schoolboy ranks of the club.

In 2005, he led the team to victory in the All-Ireland Minor B Hurling Championship and, the following year, he played at minor (under-18) level, reaching the Leinster final at Croke Park.

He began his career in his native Ireland with Shamrock Rovers, progressing through the club's youth academy before making his first-team debut in 2006.

In his first season, he helped the team achieve promotion to the League of Ireland Premier Division.

He was part of the team that were champions of the League of Ireland First Division in the 2006 season, being promoted to the League of Ireland 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 hurling.

In 2006, he signed his first professional contract with Shamrock Rovers and, in order to keep playing for Carlow, he was left out of team photos and listed under a false name, Brendan Amond, in the matchday programmes to avoid being spotted.

The ruse was eventually discovered when his picture appeared in a newspaper following a victory.

Having long resisted advice from coaches to focus on football he eventually gave up hurling after discussions with manager Pat Scully.

Amond joined Kildare County on a season-long loan for the 2007 season.

He scored twice on 8 April 2007 in what was Kildare County's first victory of the season in a 2–2 draw against Wexford Youths, he got their first within four 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.

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 a 2–0 away win.

His final goal while on his loan spell came on 27 April 2007 against Kilkenny City.

He scored five goals for Kildare before being recalled by Shamrock Rovers.

Following his return, 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.

After a spell on loan to Kildare County, Amond established himself in the first-team and was named the club's Young Player of the Year in 2008.

He has represented Ireland at under-21 level, winning four caps in 2008.

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 a 2–1 victory against Sligo Rovers in the third round of the 2008 FAI Cup.

Amond finished as Shamrock Rovers' top goalscorer with nine league goals in the 2008 season and won the club's Young Player of the Year award.

Amond made his first appearance for the 2009 season on 3 April, in the fifth match of the season, during a 2–2 draw with Drogheda United.

On 10 May 2009, he scored the first two goals within 4 minutes, in a 3–0 win against Sligo Rovers.

His final league goal for the club came on 2 October 2009 with the winner in the 1–0 victory over Bohemians.

He made twenty league appearances and scored four goals in the 2009 season.

In December 2009, he signed for Sligo Rovers.

Amond played in the 2009–10 Setanta Sports Cup, scoring the third goal in the 86th minute on his competitive debut for Sligo, in a 3–0 win over Cliftonville.

He also played in both legs of the semi-final against St Patrick's Athletic, where they lost 6–2 on aggregate.

He joined Sligo Rovers in 2010, scoring 23 goals in his only season and winning both the League of Ireland Cup and the FAI Cup.

Amond signed for Portuguese club Paços de Ferreira in 2010 but never made a first-team start for the team and moved to English League Two club Accrington Stanley, initially on loan, after less than a year.

Amond played three matches as part of the team that won the 2010 FAI Cup.

He also played three matches and scored five goals as part of the squad that won the final of the 2010 League of Ireland Cup, including a brace in a 6–0 victory over Ulster Senior League team Letterkenny Rovers in the second round of the cup on 11 May 2010.

He joined Morecambe in 2013, scoring 21 goals in all competitions during a two-year spell before being released, joining Grimsby Town.

At Grimsby, he enjoyed the most prolific season of his career by scoring 30 league goals in the National League, as he helped the team achieve promotion to the English Football League after winning the 2016 National League play-off final.

He left the club after one season to join Hartlepool United but suffered relegation to the National League in 2017.

Following a spell with Hartlepool, Amond enjoyed a four-year stint with Newport County for which he collated over 200 appearances before making the move to National League, Woking in July 2022.