Danny Mandroiu

Danny Mândroiu
Personal information
Full name Daniel Jordan Mandroiu[1]
Date of birth (1998-10-20) 20 October 1998 (age 26)
Place of birth Dublin, Ireland
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Shamrock Rovers
Number 22
Youth career
St. Kevin's Boys
2015–2019 Brighton & Hove Albion
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019–2020 Bohemians 37 (14)
2021–2022 Shamrock Rovers 53 (22)
2022–2024 Lincoln City 56 (14)
2024– Shamrock Rovers 11 (1)
International career‡
2013–2014 Republic of Ireland U16 8 (2)
2017 Republic of Ireland U19 4 (0)
2019–2020 Republic of Ireland U21 7 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10:10, 20 December 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17 June 2021

Daniel Jordan Mandroiu (born 20 October 1998) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Shamrock Rovers.

Club career

Early career

Mandroiu started his football career with Ballymun United moving to St. Kevins’s Boys very early on. St. Kevin's Boys are located in the North Dublin suburb of Whitehall. St. Kevin's had previously produced a number of Republic of Ireland internationals, including Liam Brady, Damien Duff, and Jeff Hendrick. At the age of 15, Mandroiu was signed by Premier League outfit Brighton & Hove Albion. In the 2018–19 season, he made 11 league appearances for Simon Rusk's Under-23 side in the Premier League 2 Division 2, contributing towards the team's promotion to the top flight of under-23 football. The midfielder fired three goals in those matches, while also finding the back of the net in the EFL Trophy against Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium.[2]

Bohemians

On 3 December 2018, Brighton announced that Mandroiu had been released and had signed for League of Ireland Premier Division outfit Bohemians. He made his debut for "the Gypsies" on 15 February 2019 in a 1–0 home victory over Finn Harps. His first goal for the club came a week later, when he found the net away to UCD in a 2–0 win. Further goals would come against Derry City and St Patrick's Athletic, with Mandroiu earning numerous plaudits for his performances. He was nominated for the SWAI Player of the Month award for both April and May, but lost out to Bohemians teammate James Talbot and Dundalk's Sean Gannon respectively. Such was his fine form in his debut season, that Bohemians announced on 19 May that the young midfielder had been given a new contract at the club.[3]

On 14 June, Mandroiu scored two goals in a 2–1 Dublin Derby win over rivals Shamrock Rovers, including a game-winning strike from 30 yards out.[4] This was followed up with an SWAI Player of the Month award for June 2019. Mandriou would go on to win PFAI Young Player of the Year, beating off fellow nominees David Parkhouse and Republic of Ireland international Jack Byrne, while he was also named in the PFAI Team of the Year.[5] July 2020 saw Mandroiu linked with a move to Eredivisie side FC Twente but the move did not come to fruition.[6]

Shamrock Rovers

Mandroiu signed for Bohemians' arch-rivals Shamrock Rovers in December 2020.[7] In June 2021, it emerged that Shamrock Rovers were ordered by the FAI to pay Bohemians a €20,000 compensation fee following a dispute over his transfer.[8] He played an important part in Rovers' league winning season in 2021 and half of the league winning season of 2022, scoring 22 goals over 53 league games.[9] His displays for Rovers in 2021 earned him a call-up to Stephen Kenny’s Ireland senior international side for the friendlies against Andorra and Hungary.[10]

Lincoln City

On 7 July 2022, Mandroiu joined EFL League One club Lincoln City for an undisclosed fee.[11][12] He would make his long awaited debut on 1 October 2022 against Bolton Wanderers.[13] His first goal for the club came against Newcastle United U21 in the EFL Trophy.[14]

After an instrumental start to the 2023–24 season, Mandroiu received a League One Player of the Month nomination after scoring two goals and three assists in the opening five games.[15] On 14 October 2023, he was sent off in a 1–0 defeat to Burton Albion. Following the match, manager Mark Kennedy warned the player that he was at a crossroads in his career and unless his approach to the game were to change he could become "just another statistic".[16] Following the end of the 2023–24 season the club confirmed that they were negotiating a new deal with him.[17] On 27 June 2024, manager Michael Skubala admitted that Mandroiu was likely to leave the club following a break-down in negotiations over a new contract.[18]

Return to Shamrock Rovers

On 19 August 2024, Mandroiu returned to Shamrock Rovers until the end of the season.[19]

International career

Also eligible to play for the Romania national team as his father is originally from Romania, Mandroiu has represented the Republic of Ireland at under-16, under-19, and under-21 levels.

He earned his first cap with the under-21s in a European Championship qualifier at home to Luxembourg, coming on as an 86th-minute replacement for Connor Ronan. The Republic of Ireland would win the game 3–0 in what was manager Stephen Kenny's first game in charge. Following this, Mandroiu was not included in Kenny's squad for the Toulon Tournament.

In September 2019, Mandroiu was selected by Kenny for Ireland's squad in upcoming qualifiers against Armenia and Sweden. He came on as a substitute against Armenia and started against Sweden, with Ireland beating Armenia 1–0 at home and Sweden 3–1 away. He was subsequently called into the squad for the October qualifying clashes against Italy and Iceland, although he remained benched for the entire match against the young Italians.

On 24 May 2021, Mandroiu received his first call up to the Republic of Ireland senior squad for the summer friendlies against Andorra and Hungary, but remained an unused substitute in both.[20]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played on 19 December 2024[21]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Brighton & Hove Albion U23 2016–17 — — — — — 1[a] 0 1 0
2017–18 — — — — 2[a] 1 2 1
2018–19 — — — — 1[a] 0 1 0
Total — — — — 4 1 4 1
Bohemians 2019 LOI Premier Division 28 11 3 2 3 1 — 0 0 34 14
2020 9 3 0 0 — 1[b] 0 — 10 3
Total 37 14 3 2 3 1 1 0 0 0 44 17
Shamrock Rovers 2021 LOI Premier Division 35 15 1 0 — 6[c] 0 1[d] 0 43 15
2022 18 7 — — — 1[d] 0 19 7
Total 53 22 1 0 — 6 0 2 0 62 22
Lincoln City 2022–23 League One 25 6 0 0 1 0 — 3[a] 1 29 7
2023–24 31 8 1 0 2 0 — 2[a] 0 36 8
Total 56 14 1 0 3 0 — 5 1 65 15
Shamrock Rovers 2024 LOI Premier Division 11 1 — — 5[e] 0 — 16 1
Career total 157 51 5 2 6 1 9 0 14 2 191 54
  1. ^ a b c d e Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy
  2. ^ Appearance in UEFA Europa League
  3. ^ Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, four appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
  4. ^ a b Appearance in President of Ireland's Cup
  5. ^ Two appearances in UEFA Europa League, three appearance in UEFA Conference League

Honours

Shamrock Rovers[22]

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Homepage".
  2. ^ "Mandroiu Moves To Bohemians". Brighton & Hove Albion. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  3. ^ Sneyd, David. "Global star Danny Mandroiu just happy to be at home". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  4. ^ "Go And Watch Daniel Mandroiu While You Can, He's A Special Talent". Pundit Arena. 15 June 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  5. ^ "'I was hit over the head with a pint of Bulmers when I scored. I don't know where it came from'". the42. 9 July 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  6. ^ "Top Dutch Eredivisie club eye up Bohemians and Ireland under-21 star Danny Mandroiu". ExtraTime.com. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  7. ^ "Danny Mandroiu crosses Liffey to join Shamrock Rovers as arrival of Sean Gannon also confirmed". independent. 16 December 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  8. ^ "Shamrock Rovers ordered to pay €20k to arch-rivals Bohs over Danny Mandroiu switch". independent. 11 June 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  9. ^ "Shamrock Rovers' Danny Mandroiu completes Lincoln City move". 7 July 2022.
  10. ^ "Danny Mandroiu".
  11. ^ "Danny Mandroiu is an Imp". Lincoln City FC. 7 July 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  12. ^ "Imps snap up Shamrock Rovers midfielder Mandroiu". BBC Sport.
  13. ^ "Bolton Wanderers 2 Imps 0". Lincoln City FC. 1 October 2022. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  14. ^ "Imps 2 Newcastle United U21 0". Lincoln City FC. 18 October 2022. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  15. ^ "Sky Bet League One: Manager and Player of the Month nominees". EFL. 6 September 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  16. ^ "Danny Mandroiu at 'crossroads' after red card, says Lincoln boss Mark Kennedy". BBC Sport. 16 October 2023. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  17. ^ "Retained list". Lincoln City FC. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  18. ^ "Mandroiu & Bishop likely to leave Imps - Skubala". BBC Sport. 26 June 2024. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  19. ^ "New signing Danny Mandroiu". Shamrock Rovers F.C. 19 August 2024.
  20. ^ "Kenny names 27-man squad for Andorra & Hungary | Football Association of Ireland". www.fai.ie. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  21. ^ "Republic of Ireland – D.Mandroiu". Ie.soccerway.com. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  22. ^ "D. Mandroiu". Soccerway. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  23. ^ "Young Player of the Year - previous winners". Professional Footballers Association Ireland (PFAI). Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  24. ^ Malone, Emmet (23 October 2019). "Mandroiu and Parkhouse break top-two monopoly in PFAI team of the year". The Irish Times. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  25. ^ "Mandroiu wins Player of the Month award for June". RTÉ.ie. 9 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  26. ^ "Shamrock Rovers win their first Player of the Month of 2021 as Mandroiu scoops October prize". The42.ie. 9 November 2021. Retrieved 18 November 2021.