Willo Flood

Despite not being a first choice player, Flood made his Champions League debut when the club played against Arsenal in the Champions League Qualifying Round, coming on as substitute for Shaun Maloney in the 61st minute.

The match ended with Arsenal winning 5–1 on aggregate.

William Robert Flood (born 10 April 1985) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

He earned 15 caps for his country at under-20 and under-21 levels.

He represented eight clubs in England and Scotland including Manchester City, Cardiff City, Dundee United, Celtic, Middlesbrough and Aberdeen.

Flood was born in Dublin and grew up on a housing estate in the Ballyfermot area of the city.

Flood started off his early career with Cherry Orchard before joining Manchester City.

At the age of 14, Flood dislocated his patella playing in the All-Ireland Final.

He described it as "very sore".

After breaking through into the first team in 2002, he was sent out on loan spells to Rochdale and then Coventry City.

Flood made his debut in the qualifying round of the 2003–04 UEFA Cup, in a 7–0 aggregate win over Total Network Solutions.

Later in the 2003–04 season, Flood joined Rochdale on a month's loan.

His first career goal came in September 2004 when he scored Manchester City's third goal in a 7–1 win against Barnsley in the Football League Cup.

He scored his first career league goal for Manchester City in November 2004 in a 1–1 draw at home to Norwich City.

Manager Kevin Keegan was impressed with Flood's display following his performance.

In the 2005–06 season, Flood joined Championship side Coventry City on a month's loan which was later extended into a second month.

Flood scored his second career league goal in September 2005, in a 3–1 win at home to Watford.

Flood joined Cardiff City for a fee of £200,000, paid in separate instalments, in 2006 and made 25 appearances for the Bluebirds.

He scored just once for Cardiff, a memorable winning goal at Elland Road in August 2006.

Following this performance, Flood signed a contract with Manchester City, up until 2007.

However, after struggling to settle at Ninian Park, he joined Dundee United on a season-long loan for the 2007/08 season as Cardiff manager Dave Jones wished to see how Flood would perform over a long season of first-team football.

Flood's debut resulted in a red card before half time on the opening day of the season, after collecting two cautions, and his second match, for the reserves, resulted in the same outcome.

On this occasion, Flood was "bizarrely sent off...for taking a quick free kick when the referee was apparently not ready."

On 15 December 2007, he scored his first goal for Dundee United against St Mirren in a 3–0 win, a goal which later earned him the SPL Goal of the Season award.

In follow-up interviews the next day, Flood said he would be disappointed to leave United at the end of the season, admitting he would be "gutted because I have loved it here."

Despite returning to Cardiff at the end of the season, a second season-long loan was agreed in July 2008.

In the semi finals of the Scottish League Cup against Celtic, which finished 0–0 and went to a penalty shoot-out, Flood missed the eleventh penalty knocking Dundee United out of the competition.

Four years on, Flood admitted that the penalty left him with bitter memories when he compared the penalty miss to Manchester United's match in the League Cup against Sunderland.

When his move to Celtic came to light, Manager Craig Levein urged Flood to stay at Dundee United, rather than joining Celtic.

Flood joined Celtic on 30 January 2009, signing a two-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee, for the team he supported as a boy.

Upon joining the club, Flood's move to Celtic was not well received by Celtic's supporters, with some of them believing he was "not good enough for Parkhead".

He made his debut for Celtic against Rangers on 15 February 2009 at Celtic Park, playing for just over an hour before being substituted.

Flood commented that making his debut was a "big shock" for him.

By the 2009–10 season, with Celtic under the management of Tony Mowbray, Flood found himself out of the first team and expressed unhappiness over this.

At one point, Dundee United considered signing him, but the move did not materialise.

In December 2009, Flood admitted he "regretted" joining Celtic, describing it as "a mistake".

Cherry Orchard won the final and Flood received a winners' medal, which was his only one until winning the Scottish League Cup in 2014 with Aberdeen.

While at Cherry Orchard, Flood was mentored by Barry Pointon, who had known Flood since he was 15.

Flood's Performances for Cherry Orchard attracted interest from Celtic, Manchester United and Arsenal, but he joined Manchester City.

When he joined Manchester City and signed a professional contract, Flood had injuries sorted by the club's medical team and quote: ''"If it wasn't for them I wouldn't be playing football"'.