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Jonny Tuffey

Name: Jonathan Tuffey
Born: 20 January 1987, Banbridge
Height: 6.01 ft
Weight: 12.08 st
Position: Goalkeeper
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Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: 8 Full (2008-2011), 13 Under-21 Caps (2006-2008), 11 Under-19 Caps, 8 Under-17 Caps, 10 Under-16 Schools Caps (2002-2003).
Club Honours: (with Inverness) North of Scotland Cup Winner 2011/12; (with Linfield) Co. Antrim Shield Winner 2013/14; (with Glenavon) Irish Cup Winner 2015/16; NIFL Charity Shield Winner 2016.
Awards: Scottish First Division Player of the Month March 2008; NIFWA Goalkeeper of the Year 2015/16.
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Club Career:
Teams.......... --Seasons-- Signed -Fee- -League- FA Cup FL Cup Europe Other
St Patrick's Boys Club
Coventry City.............. Jul-05 Youth ..0(0)/0
Partick Thistle 06/07-09/10 Aug-06 .Free 109(1)/0 9(0)/0 7(0)/0 3(0)/0
Inverness C.T. .10/11-11/12 Jul-10 .Free ..8(0)/0 5(0)/0 3(0)/0 
St Johnstone .. 12/13 ..... Jun-12 .Free . 0(0)/0 ...... 1(0)/0 
Linfield ...... 13/14-14/15 Jun-13 .Free .59(0)/0 2(0)/0 3(0)/0 8(0)/0 5(0)/0
Glenavon ...... 15/16-20/21 May-15 .Free 218(0)/0 (all comps)
Crusaders ..... 20/21- date Jan-21
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Biography:
A promising young 'keeper and former captain of Northern Ireland Under-21s, Jonny Tuffey was called into the Full squad for the first time for World Cup qualifiers against Slovakia and Czech Republic in September 2008 - he may have to serve a long apprenticeship as back-up for Maik Taylor and Alan Mannus.
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A former trainee at Coventry, where he was a regular in the reserve side at 18, Tuffey decided to join Partick Thistle in 2006. He established himself as first choice at Partick through the 2007/08 season, taking the place of former Scotland 'B' international, Kevin Arthur. In 2008/09 he aided Partick to runners-up spot in the Scottish First Division, one place of promotion, earning fans' Player of the Year accolades.
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Tuffey has already tasted some success for Northern Ireland at youth level. He featured in the 2004 UEFA European Under-17 Finals in France and 2005 Under-19 Finals hosted by Northern Ireland. He also starred in the Northern Ireland Elite side that were defeated by the USA in the Final of the 2005 Milk Cup.
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Tuffey made his full international debut as a half-time substitute in a friendly against Hungary in November 2008. He stood little chance for either of the goals he conceded in a 2-0 defeat. He made his first start for Northern Ireland in an end-of-season friendly against Italy, marking the occasion with a penalty save.
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After turning down a new contract with Partick in the summer of 2010, Tuffey was linked to a number of clubs in Scotland, England and the USA. Eventually he joined SPL side Inverness Caledonian Thistle on a two-year deal, after the club agreed "development" compensation with Partick. To date Tuffey has been merely back-up for Caley, though he retained his place as Northern Ireland's second choice 'keeper and put in a particularly impressive performance against Morocco in November 2010 before being replaced by Alan Blayney at half-time.

Having played only cup matches for Caley, Tuffey was finally given a run in the final three league matches of the season, so becoming the first goalkeeper from Northern Ireland to feature in the SPL since it was founded in 1998. He shared international goalkeeping duties with Blayney in the end-of-season Carling Nations Cup matches. The arrival of Lee Camp on the international scene, the continued presence of the veteran Taylor and a squad re-call for Mannus saw Tuffey fall from the the Northern Ireland reckoning.

After another campaign as Inverness' back-up and cup 'keeper, Tuffey was released in the summer of 2012. He joined the Steve Lomas managed St Johnstone where he competed for a place with Mannus. Having been unable to oust his fellow country-man from the Perth club's number one spot, Tuffey was released at the close of the season. He returned to Northern Ireland, signing for Linfield for whom he made his debut in a 2-0 Europa League win at IF Fuglafjordur of the Faroe Islands in July. Tuffey spent two largely disappointing seasons at Linfield that yielded only a County Antrim Shield win. Inconsistent form saw him lose his place for a portion of the 2014/15 season and he was released that summer.

Tuffey moved to Glenavon for 2015/16 and re-found his form as the Lurgan club finished third in the Irish League and claimed the Irish Cup.

In January 2021 it was announced that Tuffey had rejected a new three year deal would be leaving Mourneview. He subsequently signed for Crusaders. With the Crues he combined playing and coaching duties, including taking charge of Crusaders Strikers in January 2022.
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Northern Ireland Cap Details:
19-11-2008 Hungary. H L 0-2 FR sub
06-06-2009 Italy... A L 0-3 FR
12-08-2009 Israel.. H D 1-1 FR sub
14-11-2009 Serbia.. H L 0-1 FR sub
03-03-2010 Albania. A L 0-1 FR sub
17-11-2010 Morocco. H D 1-1 FR
09-02-2011 Scotland N L 0-3 CNC
27-05-2011 Wales... N L 0-2 CNC

Summary: 4(4)/0. Won 0, Drew 2, Lost 6. Goals conceded: 9.

Northern Ireland B Cap Details:
06-05-2009 Scotland A L 0-3 FR

Northern Ireland Under-21 Cap Details:
14-11-2006 Germany... A L 1-2 FR 
06-02-2007 Wales..... H L 0-4 FR 
24-03-2007 Romania... A L 0-2 FR 
24-05-2007 Scotland.. A L 0-4 FR 
01-06-2007 Moldova... A W 1-0 ECQ 
21-08-2007 Finland... H W 2-1 FR 
07-09-2007 Germany... H L 0-3 ECQ 
12-09-2007 Luxembourg A W 2-1 ECQ 
17-10-2007 Israel.... H L 1-3 ECQ 
16-11-2007 Luxembourg H W 5-0 ECQ 
20-11-2007 Moldova... H W 3-0 ECQ 
06-02-2008 Israel.... A L 1-2 ECQ 
26-03-2008 Romania... H L 1-3 FR sub 

Summary: 12(1)/0. Won 5, Drew 0, Lost 8.

Picture by Roy Cathcart.


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