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Ruaidhri Higgins

Name: Ruaidhri Higgins
Born: 23 October 1984, Limavady
Height: 5.10 ft (1.78 m)
Weight: 12.00 st (76 kg)
Position: Midfielder

Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: 1 Under-21 Cap (2005); Irish League Representative (2011).
Club Honours: (with Derry) FAI Cup Winner 2006, 2012, Runner-Up 2008; League of Ireland Cup Winner 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011; (with Dundalk) League of Ireland Champion 2014, League of Ireland Cup Winner 2014.

Club Career:
Teams ....... --Seasons-- Signed -Fee- --League-- FA Cup FL Cup Europe Other
Coventry City .................. Youth ..0 (0)/ 0
Derry City... 2004 - 2009 ............ 156 (-)/ 2 ............. 3(2)/0
Aberdeen ................ Nov-09 Trial ..0 (0)/ 0
Bohemians.... 2010 ...... Feb-10 .Free .11(11)/ 2 ............. 2(0)/0
Derry City .. 2011 - 2013 Jan-11 ...... 86 (2)/ 1 ............. 2(0)/0 
Dundalk ..... 2014 ..................... 6(17)/ 0 ............. 2(2)/0
Coleraine ... 14/15-15/16 Jan-15 ...... 20 (-)/ 0

Biography:
Attacking midfielder Ruaidhri Higgins was on the books at Coventry City as a teenager. On his release in the summer of 2004 he joined Derry City for whom he made his debut against Drogheda that November. An attacking midfielder with "fantastic vision and a great range of passing", his good form through the 2005 season saw him called into the Northern Ireland Under-21 squad for an August friendly against the Republic of Ireland. He played the full ninety minutes of a 2-2 draw as Northern Ireland let a two goal lead slip.

Possessor of an excellent shot, Higgins is capable of scoring superb free-kicks as witnessed in a Setanta Cup match against Glentoran in September 2008, but still his overall goalscoring record is disappointing. With Derry he played in two FAI Cup Finals - a 2006 extra-time win over St. Pat's and a 2008 penalty shoot-out defeat by Bohemians. In 2006 he was among Derry's penalty shoot-out scorers in a League Cup Final win over Shelbourne and he collected further medals in 2007 and 2008 following wins over Bohemians and Wexford Youths respectively.

In late 2009, as the state of Derry's mismanagement became clear, all of their players had their contracts terminated. Higgins was one of several players to find himself without pay for several months. During this time he had a trial with Aberdeen which came close to yielding a move, but by late December he looked certain to join Bohemians, managed by Pat Fenlon who had originally signed Higgins for Derry. Even then, that deal was delayed as the FAI took some time to approve the Bohs' accounts.

After a three-season return to the Brandywell, Higgins played a minor role in Dundalk's resurgence as a force in the League of Ireland. He returned to the North-West with Coleraine. He later coached back at Dundalk before taking on the role of chief scout and opposition analyst for Republic of Ireland manager, and his ex-boss at Derry, Stephen Kenny. In April 2021 he left his FAI role to return to Derry as manager.

Dundalk

Northern Ireland Under-21 Cap Details:
16-08-2005 Rep. Ireland H D 2-2 FR

Summary: 1/0. Won 0, Drew 1, Lost 0.

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