Conor Pepper
{{Short description|Irish footballer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=February 2018}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Conor Pepper
| image =
| fullname =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1994|5|4|df=y}}
| birth_place = Dublin, Ireland
| currentclub = Cliftonville
| clubnumber = 2
| height =
| position = Midfielder, defender
| youthyears1 =
| youthclubs1 = Portmarnock
| youthyears2 =
| youthclubs2 = Cherry Orchard
| youthyears3 = 2011–2012
| youthclubs3 = St Patrick's Athletic
| years1 = 2012
| clubs1 = St Patrick's Athletic
| caps1 = 0
| goals1 = 0
| years2 = 2012–2014
| clubs2 = Inverness Caledonian Thistle
| caps2 = 12
| goals2 = 2
| years3 = 2014–2017
| clubs3 = Greenock Morton
| caps3 = 47
| goals3 = 2
| years4 = 2018–2020
| clubs4 = Glentoran
| caps4 = 57
| goals4 = 0
| years5 = 2020–2023
| clubs5 = Linfield
| caps5 = 34
| goals5 = 0
| years6 = 2023–
| clubs6 = Cliftonville
| caps6 = 23
| goals6 = 0
| nationalyears1 = 2012–2013
| nationalteam1 = Republic of Ireland U19
| nationalcaps1 =
| nationalgoals1 =
| club-update = 15:40, 29 April 2024 (UTC)
}}
Conor Pepper (born 4 May 1994) is an Irish professional association football player, who plays as a midfielder or full-back for NIFL Premiership club Cliftonville.
Career
Born in Dublin, Pepper played youth football with Portmarnock AFC and Cherry Orchard. He played for St. Patrick's Athletic Under 19s and also made one first team appearance in the Leinster Senior Cup in a Dublin derby away to Shamrock Rovers, before signing for Scottish Premier League club Inverness Caledonian Thistle in July 2012.{{cite news|url=http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/23314/7941741/Caley-snap-up-Pepper|title=Caley snap up Pepper|work=Sky Sports|publisher=BSkyB|date=27 July 2012|accessdate=18 August 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120727155236/http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/23314/7941741/Caley-snap-up-Pepper|archivedate=27 July 2012|df=dmy-all}}
He made his first competitive appearance for Inverness on 18 August 2012. During this appearance he scored a late equalising goal in a 2–2 draw against Hearts at Tynecastle.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19309415|title=Inverness: Butcher hails late Conor Pepper strike|work=BBC Sport|publisher=BBC|date=18 August 2012|accessdate=18 August 2012}} He made an assist in his second match, a 4–2 loss against Celtic. Then scored his second goal for the club in his first start away at Hibernian.
Pepper has represented the Republic of Ireland at youth international levels.{{cite news|url=http://www.fingal-independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/conor-makes-ireland-debut-2221255.html|title=Conor makes Ireland debut|first=Francis|last=Reilly|work=Fingal Independent|publisher=INM|date=16 June 2010|accessdate=18 August 2012}}
Despite a promising first campaign with Inverness with Terry Butcher, Pepper failed to feature during his second season and was subsequently released by the club in May 2014 by manager John Hughes.{{cite news|title=Christie signs new ICT deal|url=http://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/Sport/Football/Christie-signs-new-ICT-deal-15052014.htm|work=Inverness Courier|publisher=Scottish Provincial Press|date=16 May 2014|accessdate=28 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140526014208/http://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/Sport/Football/Christie-signs-new-ICT-deal-15052014.htm|archive-date=26 May 2014|url-status=dead}}
However, Pepper stayed in Scottish football by signing for Greenock Morton.{{cite news|url=http://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/sport/morton/articles/2014/06/10/500786-exclusive-morton-set-to-secure-double-signing/|title=Morton set to secure double signing|first=Jonathan|last=Mitchell|work=Greenock Telegraph|publisher=Clyde & Forth Press Limited|date=10 June 2014 |accessdate=23 June 2014 }} He agreed a new deal with Morton in May 2016.{{cite news|url=http://www.greenocktelegraph.co.uk/sport/14473026.Five_stars_to_stay_at_Morton/|title=Five starts to stay at Morton|publisher=Greenock Telegraph|date=5 May 2016|accessdate=5 May 2016|first=Jonathan|last=Mitchell}} Pepper was part of the team that won the Scottish league One title in his first season at Greenock Morton. Pepper featured in every game up of his second campaign until February 2016 when suffered a knee injury and didn't feature again for the first-team. After 3 seasons with Morton, Pepper left the club in May 2017 at the end of his contract.{{cite web |url=http://gmfc.net/2017/05/15/player-contract-updates/ |title=Player contracts update |first=Jonathan |last=Mitchell |publisher=Greenock Morton F.C. |website=gmfc.net |date=15 May 2017 |accessdate=15 May 2017 |archive-date=12 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812214002/https://gmfc.net/2017/05/15/player-contract-updates/ |url-status=dead }}
After spending 2 years without playing first-team football, still recovering from injury, Pepper moved to Belfast to sign for NIFL Premiership side Glentoran.{{cite web|url=https://www.glentoran.com/news/welcome-conor-pepper|title=Welcome Conor Pepper|publisher=Glentoran F.C.|website=glentoran.com|date=2 August 2018|accessdate=12 August 2018}} In his first month as a Glentoran player, Pepper won the Glentoran Supporters Player of the Month Award for August 2018 with 85% of the vote.{{cite web|url=https://www.glentoran.com/news/conor-player-month|title=Conor is Player of the Month|publisher=Glentoran F.C.|website=glentoran.com|date=2 September 2018|accessdate=2 September 2018}} Pepper was praised by his manager Mick McDermott, who said "I have said it before, and I will say it again, that we have the best two full-backs in the league"{{cite web|url=https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/glentoran-boss-mick-mcdermott-reveals-16920922|title=Glentoran boss Mick McDermott reveals defensive pair he wouldn't swap for anyone|publisher=Gareth Fullerton|website=belfastlive.co.uk|date=14 September 2019|accessdate=14 September 2019}} After two seasons with Glentoran, Pepper signed for Big Two rivals Linfield.{{cite web|url=https://www.linfieldfc.com/interview.aspx?id=2995|publisher=Linfield F.C.|website=belfastlive.com|date=1 August 2020|accessdate=1 August 2020|title=Interview: David Healy - 'Delighted to reveal the signing of Conor Pepper'}}
Honours
Morton
- Scottish League One: 2014–15{{cite news|url=http://sport.stv.tv/football/clubs/morton/319243-greenock-morton-claim-league-1-title-after-3-1-win-against-peterhead/|title=Greenock Morton claim League 1 title after 3–1 win against Peterhead|publisher=Scottish Television|date=2 May 2015|accessdate=15 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304095128/http://sport.stv.tv/football/clubs/morton/319243-greenock-morton-claim-league-1-title-after-3-1-win-against-peterhead/|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}
Glentoran
- Irish Cup: 2019–20{{cite news |title=Irish Cup final: Glens edge Sky Blues to win Windsor decider|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/53596794 |access-date=31 July 2020 |work=BBC Sport |date=31 July 2020}}
Linfield
- NIFL Premiership: 2020-21{{cite news |title=Linfield win Danske Bank Premiership to draw level with Rangers' world record for domestic league titles|url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/irish-league/linfield/linfield-win-danske-bank-premiership-to-draw-level-with-rangers-world-record-for-domestic-league-titles-40467556.html |access-date=25 May 2021 |work=Belfast Telegraph |date=25 May 2021}}
- Irish Cup: 2020-21{{cite news |title=Irish Cup final: Healy savours 'raw emotion' of win as Linfield beat Larne 2-1 in decider|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/57203836 |access-date=22 May 2021 |work=BBC Sport |date=22 May 2021}}
Cliftonville
Career statistics
{{updated|match played 28 January 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://ie.soccerway.com/players/conor-pepper/260220/|title=Republic of Ireland – C.Pepper|publisher=Ie.soccerway.com|accessdate=2020-03-10}}
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" | ||||||||||||
| rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season !colspan="3"|League !colspan="2"|National Cup !colspan="2"|League Cup !colspan="2"|Europe !colspan="2"|Other !colspan="2"|Total | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| St Patrick's Athletic
|2012 |0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0{{efn|Appearances in UEFA Europa League|name=statsUEL}} | 0 | 1{{efn|Appearances in Leinster Senior Cup|name=statsLSC}} | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| rowspan="3"|Inverness Caledonian Thistle
|rowspan="2"|Scottish Premiership |12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 15 | 2 | |||
| 2013–14
|0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 0 | 0 | |||
| colspan="2"|Total
!12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 15 | 2 | |||
| rowspan="4"|Greenock Morton
|25 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | 2{{efn|Appearances in Scottish Challenge Cup|name=statsSCC}} | 0 | 31 | 2 | ||
| 2015–16
|rowspan="2"|Scottish Championship |22 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | 1{{efn|Appearances in Scottish Challenge Cup|name=statsSCC}} | 0 | 30 | 0 | ||
| 2016–17
|0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | 0{{efn|Appearances in Scottish Challenge Cup|name=statsSCC}} | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| colspan="2"|Total
!47 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | 3 | 0 | 61 | 2 | ||
| rowspan="3"|Glentoran
|rowspan="2"|NIFL Premiership |34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 36 | 0 | |||
| 2019–20
|23 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 25 | 0 | |||
| colspan="2"|Total
!57 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 61 | 0 | |||
| rowspan="4"|Linfield
|rowspan="3"|NIFL Premiership |17 | 0 | 5 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | 1{{efn|Appearances in UEFA Champions League|name=statsUCL}} | 0 | 1{{efn|Appearances in County Antrim Shield|name=statsCAS}} | 0 | 24 | 0 | ||
| 2021–22
|7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2{{efn|1 appearance in UEFA Champions League & 1 appearance in UEFA Europa Conference League}} | 0 | 0{{efn|Appearances in County Antrim Shield|name=statsCAS}} | 0 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2022–23
|10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2{{efn|1 appearance in UEFA Champions League & 1 appearance in UEFA Europa League}} | 0 | 5{{efn|3 appearances in County Antrim Shield, 1 appearance in NIFL Charity Shield & 1 appearance in Scottish Challenge Cup}} | 0 | 21 | 0 | |
| colspan="2"|Total
!34 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 54 | 0 | |
| rowspan="5"|Cliftonville
|rowspan="1"|NIFL Premiership |23 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | |2{{efn|1 appearance in County Antrim Shield & 1 appearance in Scottish Challenge Cup}} | 0 | 28 | 0 | ||
| colspan="2"|Career Total
!173 | 4 | 15 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 220 | 4 |
{{notelist}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Soccerbase}}
{{Cliftonville F.C. squad}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pepper, Conor}}
Category:Republic of Ireland men's association footballers
Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland
Category:St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players
Category:League of Ireland players
Category:Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. players
Category:Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers
Category:Scottish Premier League players
Category:Association footballers from Dublin (city)
Category:Greenock Morton F.C. players
Category:Scottish Professional Football League players
Category:Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers
Category:Cherry Orchard F.C. players
Category:Irish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland
Category:Men's association football defenders
Category:Men's association football midfielders
Category:Glentoran F.C. players
Category:NIFL Premiership players
Category:Linfield F.C. players