 Zayed withPersepolis in 2012 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1983-10-04)4 October 1983 (age 42) | ||
| Place of birth | Dublin, Ireland | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Corpus Christi FC (Head Coach & Sporting Director) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2000–2002 | Leicester City | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2002–2006 | Bray Wanderers | 105 | (54) |
| 2004 | →Crewe Alexandra (loan)[2] | 0 | (0) |
| 2005 | →Aalesunds (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 2006–2008 | Drogheda United | 71 | (47) |
| 2008–2010 | Sporting Fingal | 39 | (21) |
| 2011 | Derry City | 36 | (22) |
| 2011–2013 | Persepolis | 15 | (7) |
| 2013 | Aluminium Hormozgan | 8 | (1) |
| 2013–2014 | Shamrock Rovers | 22 | (4) |
| 2014 | →Sligo Rovers (loan) | 11 | (5) |
| 2014–2015 | Sabah | 21 | (11) |
| 2016–2017 | Indy Eleven | 59 | (26) |
| 2018 | Charlotte Independence | 25 | (8) |
| 2019–2020 | Chattanooga Red Wolves | 19 | (6) |
| Total | 441 | (226) | |
| International career | |||
| 2003 | Republic of Ireland U20 | 4 | (0) |
| 2003–2004 | Republic of Ireland U21 | 6 | (0) |
| 2011–2015 | Libya | 8 | (1) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2021–2024 | Northern Colorado Hailstorm | ||
| 2025– | Corpus Christi FC | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Éamon Zayed (Arabic:أیمن زايد; born 4 October 1983) is a former professionalfootballer and current head coach and sporting director forCorpus Christi FC. He played as aforward. Born in the Republic of Ireland, he represented theLibya national team as a player.
Zayed gained international fame on 2 February 2012 after scoring a hat-trick in the final ten minutes of theTehran derby againstEsteghlal in a match wherePersepolis were one man down and losing 2–0 until the 82nd minute, and which was later referred to as "10 minutes with 10 men" or "10–10–3".[3][4][5][6]
Zayed started his career with Broadford Rovers before moving to St. Joseph's Boys AFC, based inSallynoggin, Dublin. While with the club, Zayed was selected at U-16 and U-17 levels for both the Leinster Schoolboys and Dublin teams, and was on the Leinster Schools team at U-17. In two years atLeicester City, he played for their youth (U-18), U-19 and Reserve sides. He then returned to Ireland after Leicester's relegation from theEnglish Premiership in 2002.
Zayed joinedBray Wanderers and after impressing in the Under-21s, Zayed soon graduated to the senior team making hisLeague of Ireland debut on 18 October 2002 at theCarlisle Grounds. He scored the fastest hat-trick ever by a Bray Wanderers player against Dundalk in 2003 within a nine-minute spell from the 7th to the 15th minute.[7]
Zayed signed forCrewe Alexandra in February 2004 on loan, but returned to Bray in May without having made a first team appearance at Gresty Road. Zayed was thePFAI Young Player of the Year for 2003.[8] He represented the Eircom League Under-21s in a four nations tournament in Scotland in May 2004[9] and earned his second U-21 international cap against Scotland in May 2004 in Galway.[10] In October 2004, Zayed became the first Bray player to score four goals in one match, in a 5–3 win overAthone Town.[7] He again left Bray on loan in August 2005, this time forAalesunds in Norway. He made one appearance for the club, coming on as a substitute in a 4–1 defeat byMolde.[11]
Zayed signed forDrogheda United in July 2006 on a two and a half-year full-time contract,[12] and scored on his debut on 7 July.[13] His first of 5 goals in theEuropa League came in a 1–1 draw withIK Start in August 2006.[14] The following season he scored atA.C. Libertas.[15] His third Drogheda goal in European competition came againstHelsingborgs IF.[16] He was a key part of the Drogheda team that won their firstLeague of Ireland title in 2007 and finished as their top scorer.[17]
In the midst of great financial uncertainty at Drogheda at the end of the 2008 season, Zayed was released from his contract. He went on trial atIncheon United in theK-League,[18] but eventually decided to remain in Ireland and moved toSporting Fingal in January 2009.[19] He scored twice against his former club Bray in Fingal's 4–2FAI Cup semi-final victory in October 2009. He also scored twice againstC.S. Marítimo in July 2010 in Sporting Fingal's European debut.[20] He was released bySporting Fingal at the end of the 2010 season. He was set to sign forAl Ahly in theLibyan Premier League, but the transfer was blocked following the introduction of a new rule preventing foreign-born Libyan internationals under the age of 30 from playing in the league.[citation needed]
Zayed joinedDerry City in January 2011 on a free transfer, signing a one-year contract.[17][21] In his first season at Derry, Zayed finished as the league's top scorer with 23 goals (helping the club to European qualification), and also scored the winner in the Candystripes' League Cup final victory overCork City. Zayed gained himself a place in the Premier Division team of the season, and went on to win thePFAI Players' Player of the Year award.[22]
At the end of the2012 League of Ireland season Zayed is joint twenty fourth in the all-time League of Ireland goalscoring list with 118 league goals[23]
On 23 December 2011, Zayed signed a six-month contract withIran Pro League side,Persepolis. He wore the number 12 shirt.
On 2 February 2012, he came on as a substitute in his first appearance, in theTehran derby with Persepolis being reduced to 10 men and 2–0 behind, he scored in the 82nd minute to make it 2–1 with a right-footed curling shot. Two minutes later, he headed home an angled cross to level the game. In the 92nd minute of the match Zayed put Persepolis into a 3–2 lead in dramatic style to be the first non-Iranian player to net ahat-trick in the Tehran derby.[24]He was voted World Player of the Week after the Tehran derby byGoal.com.[25][26]
On 21 March 2012, Zayed scored a second hat-trick againstAl-Shabab inAFC Champions League. This was the first hat-trick a Persepolis player had scored in theAFC Champions League.[27] Persepolis won the game 6–1. Zayed scored another hat-trick againstRah Ahan F.C. on 6 May 2012. Persepolis fans then began referring to Zayed as "Mr. hat-trick". Due to his great performances and popularity with the fans, Persepolis extended his contract for the new season 2012–2013.[28] However, he decided to leave his team before end of the season and on 24 November 2012, Perspolis and Zayed officially agreed to cancel his contract.[29]
On 11 January 2013, Zayed joined another Iranian club,Aluminium Hormozgan and signed a contract with this team until the end of the season.[30]
On 3 July 2013, Zayed made a return to the League of Ireland when he signed an 18-month contract with Shamrock Rovers.[31] He made his debut in a friendly againstBirmingham City.[32] He scored his first league goal for Rovers on 16 July.[33]
On 31 July 2014, Zayed joinedSligo Rovers on loan until the end of the season.[34]
In December 2014, Zayed joined Sabah FA. On 6 February 2015, Eamon scored his first goal against Kuala Lumpur SPA bringing the team towards victory.
On 23 December 2015, Zayed signed with the NASL side,Indy Eleven.[35] On 16 April 2016, Zayed scored two late goals against theNew York Cosmos, leading his side to a 2–1 victory, and earning Player of the Week honors.[36] On 11 June, Zayed scored a hat-trick in the final game of theSpring season, a 4–1 victory over theCarolina RailHawks.[37] This result evened the Eleven and the Cosmos atop the table on goals scored and allowed, with Indy holding the tiebreaker based on their head-to-head result with New York.
On 23 March 2018, Zayed signed withUSL sideCharlotte Independence for the 2018 season.[38]
On 24 October 2018, it was announced that Zayed would joinUSL League One sideChattanooga Red Wolves SC ahead of their inaugural season in 2019.[39]
Zayed was eligible to play international football forRepublic of Ireland,Tunisia, as a result of his father, andLibya, as a result of his grandparents,[40] however he chose to begin his international career with Ireland. Zayed made his international debut for theIrish U-20s againstSouth Korea in January 2003 in a pre-World Cup tournament and followed up with two goals against theUnited Arab Emirates two days later in a 3–2 win. He made his U-21 debut for Ireland againstPoland in a 5–1 away win in August 2003. Zayed played in all four of Ireland's games in the2003 FIFA World Youth Championship, held in the UAE, starting two and making two appearances as a substitute.[41] Following the tournament, he was contacted by both the Tunisian and Libyan FAs with a view to declaring for either, however, Zayed declined as he wanted to pursue his dream of representing Ireland at senior level.[42]
With no further caps at underage level for Ireland, and the chances of him receiving any senior caps looking slim, Zayed declared forLibya in October 2010. He received his first call up to the Libyan national team fromBrazilian coach,Marcos Paquetá, for anAfrican Cup of Nations qualifier againstZambia in the same month.[43] He made his debut a few weeks later in a friendly againstNiger.[40] After impressing on his debut, Zayed was called up to Libya's 23-man training squad for the2012 Africa Cup of Nations in November 2011.[44] He went on to play in the2011 Pan Arab Games inDoha, Qatar,[45] gaining three caps againstSudan,[46]Palestine[47] andJordan.[48] He scored his first goal for his country on 4 September 2013 against Equatorial Guinea in an international friendly, scoring the Libyan goal of the 1–1 draw.
On 11 August 2021, Zayed was hired as the first ever head coach ofNorthern Colorado Hailstorm FC, which began playing inUSL League One, starting in the 2022 season. He possesses aUEFA "A" coaching license.[49] Zayed departed as head coach after the Hailstorm left League One.[50]
On October 15, 2025, Zayed was announced as the head coach and sporting director ofCorpus Christi FC, an expansion team set to join USL League One in the 2026 season.[51]
Eamon's father is Libyan and his mother is Irish. His younger brother has played forUCD in the 2012–13 FAI U19 League.[52]
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 4 September 2013 | Estadio de Malabo,Malabo, Equatorial Guinea |  Equatorial Guinea | 1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly | Equatorial Guinea vs. Libya (1:1) |
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