Derry City land substantial windfall after Bolton Wanderers defender Eoin Toal makes Northern Ireland debut

The 24 year-old defender signed for Bolton Wanderers from Derry in July 2022 for a fee believed to be in the region of €100,000 with add-ons negotiated by the Brandywell club which included a further significant payment after the player made his full international debut.

Toal, who made 155 appearances for Derry over six seasons, was first called up to the senior squad by Michael O'Neill in March this year after breaking into the Bolton side but had to be patient for his first involvement and impressed when handed his first start alongside Man United centre half Jonny Evans in the 1-0 loss to the Group H leaders.

With Daniel Ballard injured and Paddy McNair suspended, Toal got the nod over Brodie Spencer in defence and played the entire 90 minutes. The Armagh native could do nothing but watch as Adam Cerin's terrific free-kick found the back of the net off the post early on but after that Toal and his teammates did well to stifle their opponent's potent attacking force even after Shea Charles' 58th minute dismissal.

Former Armagh City defender, Toal was delighted to receive his first senior international cap and praised his central defensive teammate, Evans for helping him through the game.

"It was obviously brilliant to get my debut," said the defender afterwards. "It's just a pity about the result but hopefully we can take the positives into the games next month. I found out earlier today (Tuesday) that I was going to start and obviously I was buzzing.

"Paddy (McNair) got booked and Dan (Ballard) picked up a knock so hopefully he's okay but when Michael called me in I was just buzzing."

It was a baptism of fire for the young Bolton defender as he was charged with keeping dangerous RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sekso quiet and he did so admirably.

"I thought having Jonny beside me was a help for starters," said Toal."He's top class. He speaks for himself and he really helped me through that game tonight and talked me through it. He's obviously a class act! Those two strikers have been in really good form in this tournament so I thought we did well against them. Hopefully we can take the positives into the next game."

And he hopes it's just the start of a long and successful international career now that he's settled into life and regular football with Bolton in League One.

"At the start with Bolton it was a bit tough and it took me a wee while to get settled into England but after maybe three or four months I really enjoyed it and I love it over there at the moment.

"(My goal is to) just play as many games as possible. That's the main aim. Take every game as it comes and hopefully I get the call. Michael was brilliant and called me in there tonight so I'm grateful for the opportunity."

Northern Ireland boss O'Neill was delighted with how Toal acquitted himself against top opposition.

“Eoin can be more than happy with his performance,” said the former Shamrock Rovers manager. “He had one or two little moments, but overall he was playing against a striker who is very highly rated in Europe, a young striker that would be on a lot of clubs’ watchlists at this moment in time.

“He doesn’t play against strikers like that in League One so I think he can be really pleased with how he played.”

The result leaves O’Neill’s side fifth in Group H on six points, with both of their victories coming against San Marino. Their remaining qualifiers are against Finland and Denmark next month.

Toal was signed by former Northern Ireland women's manager, Kenny Shiels midway through the 2015 season, was made skipper by Declan Devine in 2020 and flourished under the watchful eye of current City boss Ruaidhri Higgins.

The defender’s final match for Derry was the second leg of the UEFA Europa Conference League defeat to Riga last year in Latvia.