Delaney joined QPR from Hull City for a fee in the region of £600k in January 2008. A signing that raised eyebrows amongst the QPR support initially, but Delaney was a huge success in his first season at Loftus Road.

DOB – 20/07/81
Height – 6ft 3in
Weight – 14st
Contract Expires - 2011

Damien Delaney endured a tough second season at Loftus Road after making a tremendous start in 2007/08. It would be fair to say the signing was hardly met with roars of approval by QPR fans. Hull City, and Delaney in particular, had hardly covered themselves in glory in the five recent meetings prior to his arrival and many regulars at Loftus Road recalled a particularly memorable back pass attempt from the Irishman that ended up turning a Hull attack into a QPR corner with one fell swing of his boot. Delaney also seemed to be the second choice left back for QPR, who’d spent the previous three weeks trying to nail down Sheffield Wednesday’s Tommy Spurr.

Not the greatest start then, but Delaney spent the second half of the 2007/08 season wowing the crowds in W12 and cementing his place in the Republic of Ireland team. Delaney’s rampaging attacking runs down the left flank, resulting in a first goal for the club at Sheff Wed in March, and thunderous challenges made him an overnight crowd favourite.

However that international call up meant a summer spent travelling Europe with his national side. He won his first two caps in games against Serbia and Columbia as he looked to cement his place in Giovanni Trapattoni’s team following the international retirement of Steve Finnan. However Delaney blamed this for a below par 2008/09 season.

With Luigi De Canio gone the more regimented regimes of first Iain Dowie and then Paulo Sousa reigned Delaney's attacking prowess in a little bit and while he did score a tardemark goal in defeat at Barnsley overall he was not nearly as effective as he had been the previous season. Solid defensively but with appalling distribution and crossing ability Delaney was seen as a weak link by many QPR supporters and linked with a £600k move to Ipswich at the end of the season by which time he had lost his starting place at left back to Matthew Connolly.

Delaney started his career at his home town club Cork City before being brought to England, and the Premier League, by Leicester City manager Peter Taylor. Loan spells at Stockport, Mansfield and Huddersfield followed as Delaney found first team chances limited at Filbert Street. Taylor’s appointment as Hull City manager in the old Third Division gave Delaney a second chance to make it in this country all be it four divisions lower than he was playing at with Leicester.

Delaney forged a reputation as a hard working, well liked but ultimately limited footballer at the KC Stadium as he helped the Tigers move from the fourth tier to the second in successive seasons under Taylor. Originally a centre back, Delaney shifted across to left back under first Taylor, then Parkinson and finally Phil Brown before moving down south when QPR came calling in January 2008. 

Photo: Action Images

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