Chris Forrester

Forrester started his schoolboy career with his local team, Smithfield, where he stayed for three seasons. He played for Bohemians for three seasons before he moved on to Belvedere and was a member of the successful Belvedere side who won the FAI Under–17 Cup in 2010 by beating Carragaline United.[2] After moving to the senior ranks, he rejoined Bohemians where he was a regular in their under 20s and A Championship team that reached the 2010 A Championship Cup final and the Dr. Tony O'Neill Cup final. Unfortunately for Forrester and Bohs, they would be defeated in both.[3][4]

With the financial uncertainty at Bohemians during the off season, Forrester found himself in the first team squad alongside some of ex Belvedere teammates such as Craig Sexton and Keith Buckley. He made his first team debut for the Gypsies on 7 March against Portadown at Shamrock Park.[5] Having been on the bench for the opening league games, Christopher made his league debut for the Gypsies against UCD on 8 April in a 2–0 win at Belfield.[6] and scored his first goal for the club against Bray Wanderers on 2 May, netting the equaliser in a 1–1 draw.[7]

His performances on the wing impressed many as he became a regular in the first team including featuring in Bohs Europa League tie against Olimpija Ljubljana. Forrester capped the off the season by being awarded the club's Young Player of the Year award for 2011.[8] During the season, Chris also spent time on trial at Mick McCarthy's Wolverhampton Wanderers and Watford.

Forrester joined St Patrick's Athletic on 12 January 2012 on a 2-year contract. He started the season off well, his impressive form in pre-season earned him a start in the league opener against Bray Wanderers.[9] Forrester scored two excellent goals in a 4–0 twin over Phoenix in the Leinster Senior Cup at Richmond Park.[10] The young winger provided an excellent assist for his old Bohs teammate Christy Fagan to score in the Dublin derby against Shelbourne at Tolka Park, he called for a long ball from Ian Bermingham, made a superb run and flicked on a header to Fagan who slotted it home in the 43rd minute of the game.[11] Forrester became a fans' favourite after he played brilliantly in the Saints' 5–1 thrashing of rivals Shamrock Rovers, he scored the opening goal of the game after just 3 minutes when he smashed a left footed shot into the top left corner, he then set up John Russell on a tee who tapped in from 5 yards to make it 2–0, then came one of the goals of the season by the 19-year-old as he collected Chris Fagan's backheel and scooped the ball over Oscar Jansson in the Rovers goal for 3–0 on 40 minutes. Unfortunately he picked up a back injury which hindered his performance in the second half but he was taken off for Dean Kelly in the 68th minute to an amazing reception by the Pats fans after a memorable performance by the winger.[12] Forrester's scooped goal in the Dublin derby went viral on the internet and was shown on the 'Showboat' section of the hugely popular football TV show Soccer AM, earning him great recognition around the world. Greg Bolger benefited from a Forrester assist late on to make it 2–0 against UCD after a fine performance by the young winger. Forrester won the Airtricity/SWAI Player of the Month Award for April 2012 for his brilliant performances including the famous performance that made him a fan favourite against Shamrock Rovers.[13] Forrester scored a header from a Ger O'Brien corner after 43 minutes at home to Dundalk in the Saints first loss of the season.[14] He impressed many with excellent and mature performances in the Saints 2012 Europa League campaign, playing in five of their six games against Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja from Iceland, NK Široki Brijeg from Bosnia and Herzegovina and German Bundesliga side Hannover 96 at their 49,000 seater stadium, the Niedersachsenstadion (temporarily called AWD-Arena). During the European run, Pats league form dropped but he did score away to U.C.D in a disappointing 1–1 draw.[15] Arguably Forrester's best form of the season was in the last two months, as he set up Jake Kelly and Vinny Faherty's goals vs Derry City from the bench in a 3–0 win,[16] scored away to his former club Bohemians as his side won 3–2,[17] yet again setting up Jake Kelly and Vinny Faherty in a 5–0 win over U.C.D[18] and scoring in the last two away games of the season away to Sligo Rovers[19] and Derry City.[20] The last game of the season was a bad way to end a magnificent season for Forrester, as he played the full 120 minutes of Pats 2012 FAI Cup Final loss to Derry City at the Aviva Stadium, but he did win the free-kick that Sean O'Connor opened the scoring with as the Saints lost their 7th FAI Cup final in a row and failed to end their 51-year drought in the FAI Cup.[21] After his first season at Pats ended, at the club's Player of the Year Awards night on 9 November 2012, he received the Supporters Young Player of the Year Award[22] and the Goal of the Season Award for his famous lob against Shamrock Rovers.[23] The following night, he won the PFAI Young Player of the Year Award, as voted by his fellow League of Ireland players.[24] He also received more exposure in the World's media when he was included in the hugely popular football website 101 Great Goals' list of the top 101 Youngsters in the World in 2012.[25]

Having just been called into the Republic of Ireland under 21 squad, Forrester was watched by Republic of Ireland senior team manager Giovanni Trappatoni in Pats' league opener, a 1–0 win against Drogheda United.[26] Forrester made his 50th career league appearance on 2 April 2013 in a 2–1 loss at home to Dundalk. His first goal of the season came on 5 April 2013 when he scored the winner against Bray Wanderers at The Carlisle Grounds, controlling a Kenny Browne pass with his chest, then placing a wonderful volleyed lob over Darren Quigley from a tight angle.[27] He followed this up by scoring his first career hat-trick and also setting up Conan Byrne's goal in a 4–0 win for Pats at home to Shelbourne on 15 April 2013.[28] Shelbourne would suffer further, on 17 May 2013 at Tolka Park when Forrester scored a header from a Killian Brennan corner, Pats third goal in a 3–0 win.[29] Forrester scored his 6th of the season when he scored a beautiful chip to put Pats 3–0 up in a 5–0 win over UCD on 28 May 2013.[30] Although he continued to assist his teammates' goals, Forrester wen through a goal drought until he headed in the opening goal at home to title rivals Dundalk in a vital 2–0 win for Pats.[31] He continued this form into the Saints title charge in the last month of the season, performing well away to Bray Wanderers and scoring and assisting away to UCD a week later in a 3–1 coming from behind.[32] St Patrick's Athletic beat Sligo Rovers 2–0 on 13 October 2013 to win the 2013 League of Ireland, with Forrester coming in from the bench in the second half.[33] A week later he picked up the first winners medal in professional football as the Saints lifted the league trophy following a 1–1 draw with Derry City. Forrester finished the season with a goal in a 4–2 loss against Cork City at Turners Cross in front of Republic of Ireland assistant manager Roy Keane.[34] Forrester was voted the 2013 St Patrick's Athletic Young Player of the Season by supporters, his third club Young Player of the Year award in three years.[35]

During the off season in the League of Ireland, Forrester trained with Bristol City.[36][37] Unfortunately for Forrester, just before he looked to be offered a contract after impressing the coaching staff, then Bristol City manager Sean O'Driscoll was sacked. Before he went to train with Bristol City, he had agreed with Liam Buckley to sign back with St Patrick's Athletic for the 2014 season. It was announced that Forrester signed a new contract with the Saints on 14 December 2013, turning down Dublin rivals Shamrock Rovers.[38][39] Forrester started the season off well, scoring in a 1–0 Setanta Cup win against Ballinamallard United at Ferney Park on 24 February 2014.[40] His first league goal of the season came on 4 April when he opened the scoring against Dundalk at Richmond Park.[41]

On 29 August 2015, Forrester signed a 3-year deal with League One club Peterborough United for an undisclosed fee. In 2016, he came to prominence in Britain during a televised FA Cup game, earning praise from Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer.[42]

After an impressive debut campaign, which saw him earn comparisons to Michael Carrick, he was named club captain and rewarded with a new 3-year contract with the club, with the option of another year. He was subject to an array of bids from Wolves, QPR, and Derby County on the opening day of the January 2017 transfer window.

Forrester fell out of favour at Peterborough during the 2017–18 season, and was transfer listed by manager Steve Evans.[43]

Forrester signed a three-year contract with Scottish Premiership club Aberdeen in June 2018, with a reported transfer fee of £200,000 being paid.[43] He made his debut for the club on 2 August 2018, coming off the bench in a UEFA Europa League game against Burnley at Turf Moor.[44] His league debut came 3 days later in a 1–1 draw with Rangers at Pittodrie.[45] He had his contract mutually terminated in January 2019 citing personal issues.[46]

Following the termination of his contract at Aberdeen on 22 January 2019, Forrester signed a three-year deal to return to St Patrick's Athletic in the League of Ireland Premier Division the following day, he was announced as part of a double signing with Scottish midfielder Rhys McCabe who had joined from Sligo Rovers.[47] He made his returning debut for the club on 15 February 2019 in a 1–0 win over Cork City at Richmond Park on the opening night of the season.[48] His first goal since his return to the club came in a 3–0 win over Wexford in the Leinster Senior Cup as he collected a Cian Coleman pass before setting himself to rifle into the top corner from 25 yards.[49] Forrester's first league goal of the season came in a 2–1 win over Sligo Rovers on 19 April 2019, as he controlled a loose ball on his chest before looping a volley over Mitchell Beeney in goal to open the scoring.[50] Forrester received the Man of the Match award after a 0–0 draw with Bohemians on 18 October 2019.[51] He followed this up with another Man of the Match performance by scoring the equaliser in a 3–1 win away to Derry City 4 days later.[52]

Forrester started off the 2020 season in fine form, scoring on his first start of the season in a 2–0 win over Sligo Rovers at The Showgrounds.[53]

After a fantastic 2012 season, Forrester was called up to his first ever international squad when he was called up to Noel King's Republic of Ireland under 21 squad on 25 January 2013 for a friendly against Netherlands under 21s at Tallaght Stadium on 6 February.[54] He came on in the 57th minute to make his first appearance on the international scene in a 3–0 win for the Republic of Ireland.[55] On 8 March 2013, he was watched by Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trappatoni in Pats' league opener, a 1–0 win against Drogheda United.[26] Forrester retained his place in the Republic of Ireland under 21 squad for the Friendly game against Portugal under 21s when Noel King made his squad announcement on 13 March 2013.[56] He came on from the bench at half time in a 2–1 loss for the Republic of Ireland at Oriel Park.[57]

Forrester received his first call-up to the senior Republic of Ireland squad on 11 March 2016 for Ireland's friendlies against Switzerland and Slovakia.[58]

St Patrick's Athletic

• LOI Premier Division (1): 2013
• FAI Cup (1): 2014
• President of Ireland's Cup (1): 2014
• LFA Leinster Senior Cup (2): 2014, 2019

Bohemians

• Young Player of the Year (1): 2011

St Patrick's Athletic

• Young Player of the Year (2): 2012, 2013
• Goal of the Season (2): 2012 (vs. Shamrock Rovers), 2014 (vs. Drogheda United)
• LOI Player of the Month (3): April 2012, April 2014, June 2015
• PFAI Young Player of the Year (1): 2012

Peterborough United

• Players' Player of the Year (1): 2015–16[59]
• BBC Radio Cambridgeshire Player of the Year (1): 2015–16[59][60]
• PISA Player of the Year (1): 2015–16[59]
• Away Travel Player of the Year (1): 2015–16[59]