Darragh Patrick Lenihan (born 16 March 1994) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a defender. He last played for club Middlesbrough.
Club career Blackburn Rovers Born in Dunboyne, Ireland, Lenihan started playing football when he joined his local team Dunboyne A.F.C. at four years old. At the age of 10, Lenihan joined his older brothers at Belvedere. While progressing through Belvedere's youth team, he was scouted by Middlesbrough and Derby County, who offered him a contract. However, Lenihan rejected the move, stating that it wasn't a right move for him at the time. When he was sixteen years old, Lenihan signed for Blackburn Rovers in the summer of 2011. On 20 April 2012, Lenihan played the first leg in the final of the FA Youth Cup, as the academy loss 4–0 against Chelsea Youth. However, his first two years at the club were "blighted by a series of serious injuries". While progressing at the academy, both coach Eric Kinder and Colin Hendry persuaded him to switch from playing in the central midfield position to centre–back position, a position he plays today.
A year later on 1 July 2013, Lenihan signed a one-year contract with the club. In the second–half of the 2013–14 season, he appeared twice as an unused substitute in Blackburn Rovers' first team. On 1 July 2014, Lenihan signed a one-year contract extension with the club for the second time.
Loan to Burton Albion On 21 October 2014, Lenihan signed for Burton Albion on a month's loan deal. He made his league debut on 25 October 2014, coming off the bench against Stevenage, as the Brewers loss 1–0.
On 24 November 2014, Lenihan's loan spell with Burton Albion was extended until 3 January 2015. His loan spell with Burton Albion was extended twice for another month on 5 January 2015 and on 9 February 2015.
He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–1 draw with Portsmouth on 17 January 2015. After five months at Burton Albion, Lenihan was recalled by Blackburn on 4 March 2015. By the time he left the Brewers, Lenihan made seventeen appearances and scoring once in all competitions. Lenihan described his time at the Brewers, calling it "the best thing that he has done". Burton Albion's promotion to League One earned him a medal.
First team breakthrough at Blackburn Rovers Shortly after being recalled, Lenihan had to wait until on 25 April 2015 to make his debut for Blackburn Rovers against Millwall coming off the bench in the first half to replace Matthew Kilgallon, winning 2–0. After making his debut, he said in his post-match interview that it was a great experience playing at Ewood Park and that hard work and patience had helped to earn him a first team place. In a follow–up match against Huddersfield Town, Lenihan made his full debut for the side, in a 2–2 draw. At the end of the 2014–15 season, he made three appearances in all competitions. Following this, Lenihan signed a one-year contract extension with Blackburn Rovers for the third time.
Ahead of the 2015–16 season, manager Gary Bowyer said he planned on putting Lenihan in the first team, describing him as a "valuable member of the squad". He made his first appearance of the season, starting a match, in a 2–1 loss against Shrewsbury Town in the first round of the League Cup. However, Lenihan found himself out of the starting line–up, due to the partnership of Grant Hanley and Shane Duffy. He also sustained a back injury during Blackburn Rovers' pre–season tour and had been a recurring problem in the first half of the season. Following the sacking of Bowyer and the appointment of Paul Lambert, he stated that Lenihan would not be loaned out and plan on using him in the first team. This proved to be true when he began playing in the defensive midfield position. Despite starting once in the centre–back position, manager Lambert preferred Lenihan play in the defensive midfield position when he opted to sign Elliott Ward instead. In a match against Middlesbrough on 6 February 2016, he set up the opening goal of the game, in a 1–1 draw. After the match, both manager Lambert and the local newspaper Lancashire Telegraph praised his performance. On 26 February 2016, Lenihan signed a contract extension with the club, keeping him until 2019. In a match against Brentford on 19 March 2016, his performance was praised, once again, by Lancashire Evening Telegraph, due to "covering every blade of grass and made more tackles and interceptions than any other player." At the end of the 2015–16 season, Lenihan made twenty–seven appearances in all competitions. For his performance, he was nominated for the MBNA Northwest Football Awards.
Lenihan continued to play in the defensive midfield position for Blackburn Rovers' first five league matches of the 2016–17 season. However, he missed one match due to picking up five yellow cards. Lenihan made his return, coming on as a 75th minute substitute, in a 2–1 loss against Leeds United on 13 September 2016. In a match against Birmingham City on 1 October 2016, he made a poor pass to the wing which led to the opposition team to score the only goal of the game. Due to the injury of Wes Brown and Gordon Greer, Lenihan began starting playing in the centre–back position and formed a partnership with Charlie Mulgrew and Tommie Hoban. His no-nonsense approach to defending in the centre–back position proved to effective, as his partnership with Mulgrew against Brentford and Newcastle United was praised by manager Owen Coyle. In a follow–up match, he made his 50th appearance for the club, in a 1–1 draw against Huddersfield Town and was named Man of the Match. However, Lenihan's partnership with Mulgrew was short–lived due to shortage of defenders, and at one point, saw both players play in left–back and right–back positions respectively. To make matters worse when on 20 December 2016, he received a straight red card for a foul on Sam Morsy, as Blackburn Rovers loss 2–0 against Barnsley. After the match, manager Coyle believed that Lenihan was not a "malicious player" but warned him "not to let his frustrations get the better of him". Following his return after a three match suspension, he returned to the starting line–up, reuniting his centre–back partnership with Mulgrew, against Ipswich Town, as the club loss 3–2 on 14 January 2017. However, Lenihan suffered a groin injury but he quickly made a full recovery, in a 2–1 loss against Sheffield Wednesday. Under the new management of Tony Mowbray, he resumed the partnership of Lenihan and Mulgrew in the centre–back position, as Blackburn Rovers' results improved through March. However in a match against Reading on 4 April 2017, Lenihan suffered a groin injury and was substituted at half time, as the club loss 3–1. This saw him miss three matches. But on 22 April 2017, he made his return to the starting line–up for Blackburn Rovers and helped kept a clean sheet, in a 0–0 draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Despite an improvement in form that offered some hope of survival, Lenihan started the match, in a 3–1 win against Brentford, but other results went against them and they were relegated to League One. Despite Blackburn Rovers' relegation, he and Mulgrew were praised by manager Mowbray for their performance, describing the pair as "giving the club confidence that they have a solid base to build from". At the end of the 2016–17 season, he made forty–four appearances in all competitions.
Ahead of the 2017–18 season, Lenihan was linked with a move to Sheffield United had two bids rejected for him. Manager Mowbray said he was determined to keep the player, which he did. However, Lenihan fractured a foot injury during a 2–1 loss against Southend United in the opening game of the season. Following a scan, he was eventually out until February, which impacted most of his 2017–18 season. Since returning to training in December, Lenihan spent two months, making progress on recovering from his injury in order to maintain his fitness. He played two times for Blackburn Rovers' reserve team in order to maintain his fitness. On 13 February 2018, Lenihan made his first team return from injury, coming on as a 55th minute substitute, in a 2–1 win against Portsmouth. Following his return from injury, he started in the next five matches, reforming a centre–back partnership with Mulgrew. However, his return was short–lived when Lenihan suffered a back injury and was substituted in the 30th minute, as the club won 2–0 against Bradford City on 29 March 2018. After missing two matches with a back injury, he made his return to the starting line–up, in a 1–0 win against Gillingham on 10 April 2018. Lenihan started the match against Doncaster Rovers on 24 April 2018 and kept a clean sheet, in a 1–0 away win, which saw the club secure an immediate return to the Championship. On the last game of the season, he scored his first goal for Blackburn Rovers, scoring an opener header, in a 2–1 win against Oxford United. At the end of the 2017–18 season, Lenihan made sixteen appearances and scoring once in all competitions.
On 3 July 2018, Lenihan signed a contract extension with Blackburn Rovers, keeping him until 2022. He stated the club is "better equipped this time" on their return to the Championship. In the opening game of the season, Lenihan started the match and helped Blackburn Rovers drew 2–2 against Ipswich Town. After the match, both the Lancashire Telegraph and Mowbray praised his performance. He then helped the club go on unbeaten start in the first month of the season, including keeping three clean sheets. Since the start of the season, Lenihan regained his first team place in a centre–back position, forming a partnership with Mulgrew for the third time. He then scored his first goal of the season, scoring from a header, which turned out to be a winning goal, in a 2–1 win against Leeds United on 20 October 2018 (he described this as his favourite goal for Blackburn Rovers). In a follow–up match against Swansea City, Lenihan suffered a hip injury and was substituted in the 11th minute, in a 3–1. After missing one match, he returned to the starting line–up against Queens Park Rangers on 3 November 2018 and helped the club kept a clean sheet, in a 1–0 win, which saw him named Man of the Match by the Lancashire Telegraph. However, his return was short–lived when Lenihan suffered another hip injury that saw him out for three matches. He made his return from injury, starting a match, in a 2–2 draw against Birmingham City on 15 December 2018. Lenihan scored his second goal of the season, in a 4–2 loss against Newcastle United in the FA Cup third round replay. He helped the club kept three consecutive clean sheets between 12 January 2019 and 26 January 2019. However, Lenihan suffered a knee injury that saw him out for a month. It wasn't until on 30 March 2019 when he made his return to the starting line–up, in a 2–1 loss against Aston Villa. Following his return from injury, Lenihan regained his first team place in a centre–back position with Derrick Williams for the remainder of the season. After the absence of Mulgrew and Elliott Bennett, he captained the club for the first time in his career and helped Blackburn Rovers kept a clean sheet under his leadership throughout the match, in a 2–0 win against Bolton Wanderers on 22 April 2019. After the match, local newspaper Lancashire Telegraph believed that Lenihan has the potential to be a captain on a "long-term" for the club. On the last game of the season, he scored his third goal of the season, in a 2–2 draw against Swansea City. At the end of the 2018–19 season, Lenihan made thirty–eight appearances and scoring three times in all competitions. For his performance, he awarded Peter Jackson the Jeweller Man of the Match award. Local newspaper Lancashire Telegraph praised Lenihan, describing him as the "importance to Blackburn Rovers" and showing his maturity that has the potential to be the future captain.