Scott Hogan


Scott Andrew Hogan is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Aston Villa and the Republic of Ireland national football team.
Hogan played in the youth system at Rochdale but was released in 2010. He entered non-league football, playing for Woodley Sports, FC Halifax Town, Mossley, Stocksbridge Park Steels, Ashton United and Hyde before a return to Rochdale. He scored 17 goals in 2013–14 which prompted Brentford to sign him in July 2014 for a fee of £750,000. Hogan spent two-and-a-half seasons at Griffin Park and moved to Aston Villa in January 2017. He struggled to establish himself at Villa Park and spent time on loan at Sheffield United in 2018–19 and at Stoke City and Birmingham City in 2019–20.
Born in England, he represents the Republic of Ireland at international level.

Club career

Rochdale

Hogan was born in Salford, Greater Manchester. He began his career as a student at Salford College, studying for a BTEC National Diploma in Sport and playing in the college's Football Academy first team, before moving onto the youth academy at League Two club Rochdale in 2009. After just one call into the first team squad, he was released at the end of the 2009–10 season.

Woodley Sports

Hogan dropped into non-League football to join Northern Premier League First Division North club Woodley Sports during the 2010 off-season. He had a prolific spell with the club, scoring 21 goals in 27 league games. He departed the club in November 2010, but immediately returned on loan for a further month.

F.C. Halifax Town

Hogan signed with Northern Premier League Premier Division club F.C. Halifax Town in November 2010 and linked up with his brother Liam. He made his debut in a West Riding County Cup second round match against Barnoldswick Town on 15 December and scored the second goal in a 5–0 victory. On 10 January 2011, Hogan featured in a 3–0 Northern Premier League Challenge Cup third round win over Bradford Park Avenue, but his inclusion in the team caused Halifax's expulsion from the competition, as he was cup-tied after appearing for Woodley Sports in the competition earlier in the season. Hogan slowly broke into the league squad and the Shaymen finished the 2010–11 season as Northern Premier League Premier Division champions, which promoted the club to the Conference North for the 2011–12 season.
In August 2011, Hogan joined Northern Premier League First Division North club Mossley on loan. He made his debut on the opening day of the 2011–12 season, scoring in a 2–1 defeat to Ossett Townm and made three further appearances before returning to Halifax. Hogan made his first Halifax appearance of the 2011–12 season on 29 August, as a 77th-minute substitute for Lee Gregory in a 0–0 draw with Boston United. He fell out of favour and made a handful of further appearances before leaving The Shay in late December. Hogan made 22 appearances and scored four goals during just over a year with F.C. Halifax.

Stocksbridge Park Steels

Hogan signed for Northern Premier League Premier Division club Stocksbridge Park Steels in December 2011. He quickly struck up a strike partnership with Jack Muldoon and made regular appearances for the club. Hogan left the Steels in October 2012, after encountering problems commuting to Stocksbridge from his home in Warrington. He made 16 appearances and scored seven goals during the early months of the 2012–13 season.

Ashton United

In October 2012, Hogan signed for Northern Premier League Premier Division club Ashton United. He scored one goal in eight league appearances for the club, before departing in March 2013.

Hyde

On 9 March 2013, Hogan signed a non-contract deal with Conference Premier strugglers Hyde and made his debut that day as a second-half substitute for Louis Almond in a 3–0 defeat to Gateshead. He left Hyde at the end of the 2012–13 season having scored three goals from 11 Conference appearances.

Return to Rochdale

On 9 May 2013, Hogan returned to Rochdale, signing a two-year deal. He made his professional debut on 3 August, scoring the first goal of a 3–0 home win against Hartlepool United with a strike that was named as the Sky Sports News Goal of the Day. He began the season in good form and scored 10 goals in his first 20 league appearances. Four goals in five matches won Hogan the League Two Player of the Month award for February and he celebrated by scoring his second hat-trick in three weeks against Oxford United on 1 March.
Hogan finished the 2013–14 season with 19 goals in 40 appearances to help Rochdale to third place in League Two and automatic promotion to League One. In addition to winning the club's Supporters' Player of the Year award, he was voted into the PFA Football League Two Team of the Year and was shortlisted for the League Two Player of the Year award. He left the club in mid-July.

Brentford

On 21 July 2014, Hogan signed a three-year contract with Championship club Brentford, for a fee reported to be approximately £750,000. After missing a portion of the 2014–15 pre-season with an ankle injury, he made his Bees debut on 26 August as a second-half substitute for Nick Proschwitz in a 1–0 defeat to West London rivals Fulham in the second round of the League Cup. Hogan made his league debut for Brentford in the following game against Rotherham United, coming on for Jota after 67 minutes, but he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in his left knee on 82 minutes and was immediately substituted. Hogan underwent reconstructive surgery on 10 September and re-injured the same knee in April 2015, after catching his foot in the turf during a passing drill in training. He underwent further surgery on 29 April and later signed a one-year contract extension, which would keep him at Griffin Park until the end of the 2017–18 season.
Hogan finally returned to the pitch with an appearance for the Development Squad against Crystal Palace on 29 February 2016 and he scored the opening goal of the 2–2 draw. After two further appearances, he made his return to the first team with a late substitute appearance in a 1–0 defeat to Blackburn Rovers on 19 March. Though he subsequently suffered from a hamstring problem, Hogan soon returned to the team and finished the season with seven goals from seven games.
Hogan began the 2016–17 season as an ever-present and got off the mark on his fourth appearance, with the only goal of the game versus Nottingham Forest on 16 August 2016. He went on to score 13 goals in an 18-match spell, which included his first Brentford hat-trick and the September 2016 Championship Player of the Month award. Hogan left the club on 31 January 2017 and scored 21 goals in 36 appearances during two-and-a-half seasons at Griffin Park.

Aston Villa

On 31 January 2017, Hogan joined Championship club Aston Villa on a four-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee. He scored his first goal for Villa in a 2–0 win over Wigan Athletic on 18 March 2017, which would prove to be the only goal he scored during the 13 appearances he made during the second half of the 2016–17 season. Hogan had an injury and form-affected first half of the 2017–18 season, but featured regularly during the second half of the campaign to finish with 41 appearances and 9 goals. Hogan made seven appearances during the first half of the 2018–19 season, predominantly as a substitute and departed on loan for the rest of the campaign in January 2019. He returned at the end of the regular season, but was not eligible to play in Villa's play-off campaign.

Sheffield United (loan)

On 31 January 2019, Hogan joined Championship high-flyers Sheffield United on loan until the end of the 2018–19 season. He scored two goals in eight appearances and celebrated promotion to the Premier League with the club at the end of the season.

Stoke City (loan)

On 7 August 2019, Hogan joined Stoke City on loan for the 2019–20 season. Hogan scored twice in a 2–2 draw against Derby County on 17 August 2019. He scored a late goal against Swansea City on 5 October 2019, giving Stoke their first win of the season. Following a change of managers in November Hogan fell out of favour.

Birmingham City (loan)

Hogan was recalled from Stoke City by Villa on 29 January 2020 and loaned straight out to another Championship club, city rivals Birmingham City, for what remained of the season. He started the next match, at home to Nottingham Forest, and scored the opening goal in a 2–1 win. He continued to score freely, playing in a 4–4–2 formation in partnership with Lukas Jutkiewicz, and finished his first month with six goals from seven Championship appearances, which included the winner at Barnsley, a late equaliser against Sheffield Wednesday, and both Birmingham's goals in a 2–2 draw away to Queens Park Rangers. His performances earned him the Championship Player of the Month award. By the time football was suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he had seven goals from eight league matches. When it was confirmed that the season would be completed, his loan was extended to cover the remaining fixtures, but he failed to score after the resumption.

International career

Hogan was called up to the Republic of Ireland U21 squad in February 2014, but did not feature in a match. He is eligible to play for Ireland through having two Irish grandparents. Hogan was called up to the senior Republic of Ireland squad for two 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and two subsequent second round matches in October and November 2017 respectively, but was an unused substitute in all four matches. He made his senior debut on 23 March 2018 in a 1–0 friendly defeat to Turkey.

Personal life

Hogan's brother Liam is also a professional footballer and the pair played together at F.C. Halifax Town. Having both studied at Salford College, the brothers returned to take part in the presentations at the 2014 Salford City College Sports Awards.

Career statistics

Honours

F.C. Halifax Town
Rochdale
Sheffield United
Individual