Dara Costelloe

Dara Costelloe

Personal information
Full name	Dara James Morgan Costelloe[1]
Date of birth	(2002-12-11) 11 December 2002 (age 22)[1]
Place of birth	Limerick, Ireland
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Burnley
Number	46
Youth career
2017–2018	Galway United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2018–2020	Galway United	16	(0)
2021–	Burnley	4	(0)
2023	→ Bradford City (loan)	11	(0)
2023	→ St Johnstone (loan)	12	(1)
2024	→ Dundee (loan)	16	(0)
2024–2025	→ Accrington Stanley (loan)	17	(5)
International career
2023	Republic of Ireland U21	1	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:00, 21 December 2024 (UTC)

Dara James Morgan Costelloe (born 11 December 2002) is an Irish footballer who plays as a forward for EFL Championship club Burnley.

Club career

Costelloe was born in Limerick, County Limerick and was a part of the youth team at Aisling Annacotty before joining Galway United under-15 side in 2017.[2] He made his first team debut for Galway a year later on 31 August 2018, aged 15, when he came on as a substitute in the 2–0 defeat to Finn Harps.[2] This broke the record for the youngest every player to play for the first team. A day later he signed a first team contract having impressed for manager, Alan Murphy's, under-17 side.[3]

In February 2021, it was announced that Costelloe had signed a contract for Premier League side Burnley having trained and featured for the under-18 and under-23 setups since the previous summer.[4] He signed a deal with Steve Stone's Academy side until June 2022.[4] After two successful campaigns in the Academy, he signed a new contract with Burnley in the summer of 2022.[5] He finished as top scorer for the under-23 side with twelve goals and also made the bench for the first team for the last seven games of the Premier League season as Burnley were relegated.[5]

Costelloe made his first team debut on 29 July 2022, starting the first league game of the season in a 1–0 win over Huddersfield Town at the Kirklees Stadium.[6] It was also Vincent Kompany's managerial debut for the Clarets.[6]

On 13 January 2023, Costelloe joined EFL League Two side Bradford City on loan for the remainder of the 2022-23 season.[7]

In August 2023, he signed on loan for St Johnstone of the Scottish Premiership.[8] After being recalled on 1 January 2024, Costelloe immediately joined fellow Scottish side Dundee on loan until the end of the season.[9] Costelloe made his debut for the Dark Blues on 20 January in a Scottish Cup game away to Kilmarnock.[10] On 21 May 2024, Burnley said the player would be returning once the loan ended.[11]

In August 2024, Costelloe joined League Two side Accrington Stanley on a season-long loan deal.[12] He made his debut from the bench in the league opener against Doncaster Rovers.[13] Costelloe scored his first goal for Stanley on 1 October against Cheltenham Town.[14] He was recalled from his loan in January 2025.[15]

International career

Costelloe made his Republic of Ireland U21 debut on 16 June 2023, in a 2–2 draw with Ukraine U21 in a friendly played in Bad Blumau, Austria.[16]

Career statistics

As of match played 21 December 2024

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup[a]		League Cup[b]		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Galway United	2018[1]	LOI First Division	2	0	0	0	0	0	—		2	0
	2019[1]	LOI First Division	14	0	0	0	2	0	—		16	0
	2020[1]	LOI First Division	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
	Total		16	0	0	0	2	0	—		18	0
Burnley	2021–22[1]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2022–23[1]	Championship	4	0	0	0	2	0	—		6	0
	Total		4	0	0	0	2	0	—		6	0
Bradford City (loan)	2022–23[1]	League Two	11	0	—		—		0	0	11	0
St Johnstone (loan)	2023–24[1]	Scottish Premiership	12	1	—		—		—		12	1
Dundee (loan)	2023–24[1]	Scottish Premiership	16	0	1	0	—		—		17	0
Accrington Stanley (loan)	2024–25[1]	League Two	17	5	2	0	1	0	1[c]	0	21	5
Career total			76	6	3	0	5	0	1	0	85	6

Notes

1. Includes Scottish Cup
2. Includes League of Ireland Cup, EFL Cup
3. Appearances in EFL Trophy

References

1. Dara Costelloe at Soccerway. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
2. Browne, PJ (2 February 2021). "Limerick Teenager Signs For Burnley After Impressing During Trial". www.balls.ie.
3. Byrne, Tom (2 February 2021). "GALWAY UNITED: Kelly, Higgins and Costelloe Sign First Team Contracts". Galway Daily. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
4. Kelly, Darren (1 September 2018). "Former Galway United player Dara Costelloe signs for Burnley under-23s". Extra Time. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
5. "Young Burnley forward Dara Costelloe signs new deal". www.burnleyexpress.net. 22 June 2022.
6. James, Alex (29 July 2022). "Burnley team news confirmed as Vincent Kompany names his first Clarets XI". LancsLive.
7. "Costelloe joins Bantams on loan". Burnley FC. 13 January 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
8. Hamilton, Sean (15 August 2023). "St Johnstone seal loan deal for Burnley starlet Dara Costelloe". thecourier. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
9. "Costelloe joins Dundee". Dundee Football Club - Official Website. 1 January 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
10. "Kilmarnock v Dundee". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
11. "CLUB CONFIRM RETAINED LIST | BurnleyFC". www.burnleyfootballclub.com. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
12. "SIGNING: Dara joins on loan". www.accringtonstanley.co.uk. 8 August 2024. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
13. "Doncaster Rovers 4-1 Accrington Stanley". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
14. "Cheltenham Town 2-1 Accrington Stanley". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
15. "Dara Costelloe: Burnley recall striker from loan at Accrington Stanley". BBC Sport. 24 January 2025.
16. https://www.fai.ie/ireland/news/report-u21-ireland-2-2-ukraine ^[bare URL]