Conor Sammon

Conor Sammon (born 6 November 1986) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Alloa Athletic.

Sammon started his professional career in the League of Ireland Premier Division with University College Dublin and Derry City.

He then signed a scholarship deal with UCD ahead of the 2005 season.

Sammon scored a hat trick in the Harding Cup final in February 2005.

On 8 April 2005 he made his League of Ireland debut as a substitute at Turners Cross.

His first league goal came exactly one year later when he netted a brace against Bray Wanderers at Belfield Park.

His single goal knocked Derry City out of the 2007 FAI Cup with a Deft near post finish at the Brandywell.

Sammon was nominated for 2007 PFAI Young Player of the Year, he lost out to Mark Quigley of St Patrick's Athletic.

The club's fans humorously dubbed him Sammon of college, before a number of impressive performances saw him snapped up by fellow League of Ireland side Derry City in December 2007.

In 2008, he moved to Scottish Premier League club Kilmarnock, and in January 2011, English Premier League club Wigan Athletic signed him for £600,000.

After a short trial, Sammon signed a three-year deal with Kilmarnock in July 2008 for an undisclosed fee, and made his debut on 9 August 2008 in a 1–0 win against Hibernian.

He scored his first goals for the club on 24 September 2008, scoring a brace in a 4–2 Scottish League Cup win against Aberdeen.

Sammon struggled in his first two seasons at the club, scoring just seven times in all competitions.

In the 2010–11 season, his record was more prolific, scoring 18 goals in 27 games.

In January 2011, Sammon turned down a move to Championship club Scunthorpe United after Kilmarnock had accepted a bid of around £450,000 for him.

Derby County were also interested in the player.

On 31 January 2011, Sammon signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Premier League club Wigan Athletic for an undisclosed fee, believed to be worth an initial £600,000, after he turned down a move to Derby County.

He made his debut on 5 March in a 1–0 defeat against Manchester City.

He scored his first goal for the club in his sixth game – the second in a 3–2 win against West Ham United on 15 May.

His first start for the club came in the following game, a 1–0 win at Stoke City on 22 May 2011, a result which ensured Wigan's Premier League status.

In the 2011–12 season, Sammon started nine games and came on as a substitute eighteen times but he failed to score a single goal.

On 26 December 2011, in a game at Manchester United Sammon was sent off for catching the face of Michael Carrick with his elbow, a decision which was judged as "harsh" by the BBC.

Wigan appealed the decision, with manager Roberto Martínez saying, "Conor did nothing wrong. You need to accept punishment when you do something wrong but this is a normal phase of play."

The appeal was successful and the card was rescinded.

In August 2012, he moved to Derby County for £1.2 million.

In July 2012, Sammon was again linked with a move to Derby County.

A fee of £1.2 million was reported to be agreed by both clubs on 12 August 2012.

After leaving, Sammon said of his time at Wigan: "I learned a lot from my time in the Premier League. I've got a lot of time for Roberto Martínez and the staff there. They looked after me well and gave me a great opportunity. I look back on my time there with good memories but also some frustration from not playing as much as I would have liked. Ultimately, I've had a great experience in the Premier League. I've taken lots of positives from my time there and I'm looking to use all of those during my time here at Derby."

On 20 August 2012, Sammon joined Derby County on a four-year contract.

Derby manager Nigel Clough said of Sammon, "He is going to be a key player for us and when he plays regularly, we know he can score goals. We really like how hard he works too and that means he will fit into our squad comfortably."

Sammon made his Derby debut in a 2–0 defeat to Bolton Wanderers on 21 August and scored his first goal for the club in a 5–1 win against Watford on 1 September.

After only scoring twice in his opening sixteen games for the club, Sammon was criticised by fans for a lack of goals, however Clough said he was happy with Sammon, stating that his work-rate was keeping him in the starting line-up ahead of Nathan Tyson who had a better strike rate.

His style of play meant that he frequently held up the ball and provided and assists for teammates.

Clough particularly praised his "absolutely superb" performance in the 2–1 win against Ipswich Town on 23 October, where he provided assists for Theo Robinson and Tyson.

Sammon ended his drought with a brace in a 3–2 win against Birmingham City on 24 November and put his improvement of form down to his regaining confidence.

Formerly an under-21 international, Sammon won 9 international caps for the Republic of Ireland, all in 2013.

Born in Dublin, Sammon started his career with Malahide United F.C. before moving to Cherry Orchard.

During his time there, he also had loans to Ipswich Town, Rotherham United and Sheffield United, before returning to Scotland by signing for Heart of Midlothian in June 2016.

He was then loaned by Hearts to Kilmarnock, Partick Thistle and Motherwell before joining Falkirk in 2019.

After leaving Falkirk, Sammon signed for Alloa in June 2021.