Introduction
Brandon Miele (born 28 August 1998) is an Irish professional footballerwho is currently a Free agent. He last played for League of Ireland Premier Division club, St Patrick's Athletic, having previously played for his first senior club Shamrock Rovers for 4 years.
Club career
Youth career
Miele started out playing schoolboy football with Dublin club Cherry Orchard. After impressing for The Orchard, he was signed by Premier League club Newcastle United in 2010. He made his way through the ranks right up to reserve team level. He had a successful time at underage level for the club, with Miele and Newcastle clinching the Tier Two title and also winning the Premier Academy Group D at under-18's level. After 4 years at the club without being given an opportunity at first-team level, he left the club and returned home. During his time at Newcastle he played with included Rolando Aarons, Adam Campbell, Nile Ranger, Jamie Sterry, Jak Alnwick, Curtis Good, Romain Amalfitano, Mehdi Abeid, Marcus Maddison, Freddie Woodman, Adam Armstrong and Lee Desmond among others. He signed for Leinster Senior League side Bluebell United on his return, to keep fit before leaving the club a few days before Christmas 2014 when he returned to professional football by signing for League of Ireland Premier Division side Shamrock Rovers, from his hometown of Tallaght.
Shamrock Rovers
2015 season
On 23 December 2014, it was announced that Miele had signed for Pat Fenlon's Shamrock Rovers side, on the same day that it was announced that ex-Ireland international Stephen McPhail had signed a new contract at the club. Miele's debut in senior football came on 3 April 2015, when he came on from the bench in the 84th minute and in injury time he scored the third goal in a 3–0 win over Galway United at Tallaght Stadium. The season turned out to be a huge success for Miele, scoring 11 league goals in 28 league games, he also played in all 4 of Rovers' UEFA Europa League campaign as they knocked out Luxembourg side Progrès Niederkorn before being knocked out by Odds BK of Norway. This form saw him voted into the PFAI Team of the Year by his fellow professionals as well as being voted the PFAI Players' Player of the Year and Shamrock Rovers Player of the Year.
2016 season
The 2016 season saw Miele score 9 goals in 30 league games as Rovers finished 4th and qualified for Europe again. The season was a disappointment for the club however, as well as finishing 22 points off champions Dundalk, they lost 5–0 at home to Cork City in the FAI Cup and were knocked out of the UEFA Europa League at the first hurdle by RoPS of Finland 4–1 on aggregate, with Miele playing in both games. This poor form saw manager Pat Fenlon replaced by Stephen Bradley on 3 July.
2017 season
Rovers finished 2017 once again 22 points off 1st place but improved their league position, finishing in 3rd place as well as making it to an FAI Cup Semi-final Replay and League of Ireland Cup Final, losing both to Dundalk. Miele was named as League of Ireland Player of the Month for September 2017 after scoring a goal against Cork City, another against Finn Harps as well as a hat-trick in the FAI Cup against his former side Bluebell United. Miele again played in every European game for Rovers as they knocked out Stjarnan of Iceland before losing to Mladá Boleslav of the Czech Republic. In all competitions, Miele played in 41 games, scoring 16 goals.
2018 season
Miele signed a new 2-year contract at Rovers on 17 November 2017. The season turned out to be a disappointment for Miele, as he played 29 games in all competitions, scoring 3 goals but just 15 of those appearances were starts in the league and he played no part in Rovers' narrow 2–1 aggregate loss to Swedish side AIK.
St Patrick's Athletic
Despite having a year left on his Rovers contract, it was announced on 12 December 2018 that Miele, along with former Rovers' teammate Mikey Drennan had signed a 2-year contract with Dublin rivals St Patrick's Athletic where he would play with former Newcastle United teammate Lee Desmond. Miele was released mid season by the club for personal reasons after 8 appearances for the club.
International career
Miele has Italian family roots, with his paternal grandfather from the village of Cassino outside Naples. He has played at various underage levels for Ireland, making his Republic of Ireland U21 debut against Norway U21 on 17 November 2015, a 0–0 draw at the RSC in Waterford.
Career statistics
Professional appearances – correct as of 1 August 2019.
| Club | Division | Season | League | Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Shamrock Rovers | League of Ireland Premier Division | 2015 | 28 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 12 |
| 2016 | 30 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 11 | ||
| 2017 | 29 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 16 | ||
| 2018 | 26 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 3 | ||
| Shamrock Rovers Total | 113 | 32 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 142 | 42 | ||
| St Patrick's Athletic | League of Ireland Premier Division | 2019 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Career Total | 120 | 32 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 150 | 42 | ||
Honours
Individual
- PFAI Young Player of the Year (1): 2015
- PFAI Team of the Year (1): 2015
- League of Ireland Player of the Month (1): September 2017
- Shamrock Rovers Player of the Year (1): 2015