Eoin Toal

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Eoin Toal
Personal information
Full name Eoin Toal[1]
Date of birth (1999-02-15) 15 February 1999 (age 27)
Place of birth Armagh, Northern Ireland
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[2]
Position Defender
Team information
Current team
 Bolton Wanderers
Number 18
Youth career
–2015 Armagh City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2017 Armagh City
2017–2022 Derry City 140 (5)
2022– Bolton Wanderers 94 (10)
International career‡
Northern Ireland U15
2015 Northern Ireland U17 3 (0)
2017 Northern Ireland U19 3 (1)
2019–2020 Northern Ireland U21 13 (0)
2023– Northern Ireland 10 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 11:57, 14 December 2025 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 22:03, 7 September 2025 (UTC)

Eoin Toal (born 15 February 1999) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays as a defender for EFL League One club Bolton Wanderers, whom he also captains, and the Northern Ireland national team.

Early and personal life

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Toal was born in Armagh.[2] One of his uncles, Peter Rafferty, and one of his cousins, Ethan Rafferty, played for Armagh in Gaelic football. Peter later managed Armagh U21 to All-Ireland glory in 2004. Eoin himself played Gaelic football until the age of 14, deciding instead to switch to association football. Another uncle, Mickey Toal, and another cousin, Thomas Mackle, both played Irish road bowling, with Mickey considered a legend in the sport, whilst Thomas has won the All-Ireland Championship.[3][4]

Club career

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Toal began his career with Armagh City, captaining the youth team and making his first-team debut in 2015 aged 16, making over 50 appearances for the club in all competitions, before moving to Derry City in 2017.[5] He served as club captain for Derry City, making 155 appearances for the club in all competitions.[6] He started and played in the 2019 League of Ireland Cup final, and even converted one of the penalties in the penalty shootout, but it wasn't enough as they lost to Dundalk.[7][4]

Toal signed for Bolton Wanderers in July 2022 on a three-year contract.[8][9][10][11][12][13] It was reported in 2024 that Bolton paid £50,000 for the defender.[14]

Toal picked up an ankle injury towards the end of his time at Derry, choosing to play through the injury as he did not want to miss their matches in the UEFA Europa Conference League against Riga. In doing so, he worsened the injury which caused him to miss Bolton's pre-season, as well as the start of their season.[15] Upon his return from injury, he played for Bolton's B team to build up match fitness.[16][17] He then stepped up his recovery by playing matches in the EFL Trophy.[18] After more matches for the B team, as well as the EFL Trophy, Toal made his Football League debut on 2 December 2022 in a 1–1 draw against Bristol Rovers,[19] with Toal being praised for his performance.[20] Three weeks later he scored his first Bolton goal, scoring the equaliser in a 1–1 draw with Lincoln City.[21][22] He received praise from his teammates for how well he had played during the start of his Bolton career[23] and was named Bolton Player of the Month for December 2022.[24] On 2 April, he started in the 2023 EFL Trophy final which Bolton won 4–0 against Plymouth Argyle.[25] He was forced off towards the end of the match after a challenge by Sam Cosgrove, with Bolton manager Ian Evatt accusing Cosgrove of injuring him on purpose. A few days later, it was revealed the injury would possibly keep Toal out for the rest of the season.[26] Toal recovered much earlier than expected though, allowing him to return for Bolton's last few games of the season.[27] On 4 March 2024, he signed a new three-year contract with Bolton.[14] On 2 August 2025, he was named the new Bolton captain.[28] A week later, he scored his first goal as captain in a 2–0 win against Plymouth Argyle — the same team that injured him in the EFL Trophy final in 2023, gaining a small measure of revenge.[29]

International career

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Toal first played international football with the Northern Ireland under-15 team.[4] He later played three times for the under-17 team in 2015, three times for the under-19 team in 2017, and 13 times for the under-21 team between 2019 and 2020. He scored one goal during this time, on 7 October 2017 in a 7–1 defeat against Germany under-19.[30] He captained the under-21 team on multiple occasions.[4]

On 7 March 2023, he received his first call-up to the Northern Irish senior national team by manager Michael O'Neill, for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches against San Marino and Finland.[31][32][33] His debut came seven months later on 17 October when he started in a 1–0 qualifier defeat against Slovenia.[34]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played 13 December 2025
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Derry City 2017[2] League of Ireland Premier Division 3 0 0 0 0 0 — 3 0
2018[2] League of Ireland Premier Division 30 1 0 0 2 0 — 32 1
2019[2] League of Ireland Premier Division 35 2 2 0 4 0 — 41 2
2020[2] League of Ireland Premier Division 18 0 2 0 — 1[a] 1 21 1
2021[2] League of Ireland Premier Division 34 1 2 0 — — 36 1
2022[2] League of Ireland Premier Division 20 1 0 0 — 2[b] 0 22 1
Total 140 5 6 0 6 0 3 1 155 6
Bolton Wanderers 2022–23[35] League One 22 3 0 0 0 0 9[c] 0 31 3
2023–24[36] League One 40 4 3 0 1 0 7[d] 1 51 5
2024–25[37] League One 19 2 0 0 2 0 1[e] 0 22 2
2025–26[38] League One 13 1 2 0 0 0 1[e] 0 16 1
Total 94 10 5 0 3 0 18 1 120 11
Career total 234 15 11 0 9 0 21 2 275 17
  1. ^ Appearance in UEFA Europa League
  2. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
  3. ^ Seven appearances in EFL Trophy, two appearances in the League One play-offs
  4. ^ Four appearances in EFL Trophy, three appearances and one goal in League One play-offs
  5. ^ a b Appearance in the EFL Trophy

International

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As of match played 7 September 2025[39]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Northern Ireland 2023 3 0
2024 5 0
2025 2 0
Total 10 0

Honours

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Derry City

Bolton Wanderers

References

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