Exclusive: John Egan Hungry for Games After Swapping Promotion Push for Relegation Fight

Two-time promotion winner John Egan has swapped a promotion fight for a relegation battle to get his career back on track.

The experienced Republic of Ireland international defender struggled to break into a Burnley side flying high in the promotion places in the Championship, and so the 32-year-old centre-back opted to join relegation-strugglers Hull City on transfer deadline day last month to see if he can secure himself some regular playing time.

Egan started just twice for the Clarets and featured six times as a substitute having signed for the club in September last year.

That lack of action saw Egan pen an 18-month deal with the Tigers who, after a horrid season thus far, are fighting for their lives, third from bottom in the second tier.

“Every footballer wants to play – and I’m no different,” stressed Egan, speaking exclusively to SportsBoom.com. 

“I’ve always played for the majority of my career, so I’m just dying to get back out on to the pitch and play regular football."

“I want to do as well as I can here to get into the team and then try and stay it."

“I just want to bring myself, my ability and I want to help the club move forward."

“I’ve got a lot of built-up energy and hunger to get back on the pitch.”

DOUBLE PREMIER LEAGUE PROMOTION

Egan enjoyed the best years of his career at Sheffield United, a club he spent six seasons at, with two memorable promotions to the Premier League the highlight.

The Cork-born defender famously played in the Blades’ side which won promotion to the top-flight in the 2018-19 season.

The South Yorkshire club finished an impressive ninth position in their first season back in the Premier League, but were relegated the following season.

But a second-placed finish in the 2023-24 saw the Blades promoted back to the Prem for a second time.

However, Egan struggled with injury and only played six games that campaign before a move to the Clarets.

“I got injured last season and had an operation October-time and then I was back fit for June/July,” reflected Egan.

“I went to Burnley off the back of missing pre-season. The lads were doing really well."

“I played seven or eight times, so I was happy to get my chance when I did."

“The lads were doing brilliantly defensively, so it proved to be a hard team to break into."

“But I’ve settled in really well [at Hull], I’ve had a good weeks’ training under my belt, it’s been good."

“I know [midfielder] Regan Slater from my time at Sheffield United and [defender] Sean McLoughlin is from Cork as well, so it’s good to have them two to chat too."

“I’m also good friends with David Meyler who is involved with the Under-18s here, he’s always spoke very highly of Hull City, so I knew a good bit about the club before joining to be fair."

“We just need to pick points up at the end of the day, we need to be consistent and attack every game head-on and try and drive ourselves up the table.”