Richie Foran

Richard Foran (born 16 June 1980) is an Irish football player and coach.

He played for St Patrick's Athletic, Shelbourne, Carlisle United, Oxford United, Motherwell, Southend United, Darlington and Inverness Caledonian Thistle. After retiring as a player he became the manager of Inverness, but he left this position after the club were relegated in his first season in charge.

Born in Dublin, Foran started his career in Ireland with St Patrick's Athletic but failed to make a first team appearance, before signing for fellow League of Ireland club Shelbourne in 2000. He finished his first season in the league by winning the PFAI Young Player of the Year award. Also during his debut season with Shelbourne, he scored home and away against Rosenborg in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, and made his debut for the Republic of Ireland under-21 international team in Cyprus.

In 2001, manager Roddy Collins spent £120,000 to secure Foran's signature for Carlisle United, in England. While at Brunton Park he scored twenty-nine goals, with sixteen of them coming in the 2001–2002 season, helping Carlisle to a respectable mid-table finish – despite the club's recent history of battling to stay in The Football League. Over the next two seasons, Carlisle struggled and Foran found it difficult to score goals. He had a short loan spell at Oxford United during the 2003–2004 season, but at the end of the campaign, Carlisle United were relegated. During his time at Carlisle, he had a highly publicised 'fight' in the tunnel with Huddersfield Town's Steve Yates after a series of fouls committed by Foran in the first-half. Both were sent-off, Yates lost a front tooth and Foran picked up a five-match ban.

Foran moved to Scottish Premier League outfit Motherwell on a free transfer in 2004, where he scored twenty-three league goals in ninety matches. He also played in the 2005 Scottish League Cup Final against Rangers, but Motherwell lost the match 5–1.

On 31 January 2007 he completed a £200,000 transfer to Southend United. His career at Southend started with an assist for Freddy Eastwood against Stoke City, after coming on as a substitute. He then had a man-of-the-match performance playing against Crystal Palace. However, his early, impressive start was somewhat tarnished when he was sent-off for a second bookable offence during a game against Leicester City. His first goal in a Southend shirt came in the 1–0 win against Burnley in the later part of the 2006–07 season. His only other goal for the club came in a Football League Trophy tie against Dagenham & Redbridge.

Foran went on-loan to Darlington from Southend, but due to a knee injury, he returned to his 'parent' club.
Nevertheless, he made a second loan-move to Darlington in October 2008 following an injury to their striker Liam Hatch. He did not play for Southend during the 2008–09 season and his contract was terminated in January 2009.

Soon afterwards he joined Inverness Caledonian Thistle on a deal until the end of the season, making him their first signing under manager Terry Butcher. Foran made his debut in a goalless draw against Celtic and scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 win over Hibernian. He also netted a hat-trick for Inverness in an emphatic 5–1 win over Ayr United.