Éamon Zayed

Zayed started his career with Broadford Rovers before moving to St. Joseph's Boys AFC, based in Sallynoggin, Dublin. While with the club, Zayed was selected at U-16 and U-17 levels for both the Leinster Schoolboys and Dublin teams, and was on the Leinster Schools team at U-17. In two years at Leicester City, he played for their youth (U-18), U-19 and Reserve sides. He then returned to Ireland after Leicester's relegation from the English Premiership in 2002.

Bray Wanderers

Zayed joined Bray Wanderers and after impressing in the Under-21s, Zayed soon graduated to the senior team making his League of Ireland debut on 18 October 2002 at the Carlisle Grounds. He scored the fastest hat-trick ever by a Bray Wanderers player against Dundalk in 2003 within a nine-minute spell from the 7th to the 15th minute. Zayed signed for Crewe Alexandra in February 2004 on loan, but returned to Bray in May without having made a first team appearance at Gresty Road. Zayed was the PFAI Young Player of the Year for 2003. He represented the Eircom League Under-21s in a four nations tournament in Scotland in May 2004 and earned his second U-21 international cap against Scotland in May 2004 in Galway. In October 2004, Zayed became the first Bray player to score four goals in one match, in a 5–3 win over Athone Town. He again left Bray on loan in August 2005, this time for Aalesunds in Norway. He made one appearance for the club, coming on as a substitute in a 4–1 defeat by Molde.

Drogheda United

Zayed signed for Drogheda United in July 2006 on a two and a half-year full-time contract, and scored on his debut on 7 July. His first of 5 goals in the Europa League came in a 1–1 draw with IK Start in August 2006. The following season he scored at A.C. Libertas. His third Drogheda goal in European competition came against Helsingborgs IF. He was a key part of the Drogheda team that won their first League of Ireland title in 2007 and finished…

Republic of Ireland

Zayed was eligible to play international football for Republic of Ireland, Tunisia, as a result of his father, and Libya, as a result of his grandparents, however he chose to begin his international career with Ireland. Zayed made his international debut for the Irish U-20s against South Korea in January 2003 in a pre-World Cup tournament and followed up with two goals against the United Arab Emirates two days later in a 3–2 win. He made his U-21 debut for Ireland against Poland in a 5–1 away win in August 2003. Zayed played in all four of Ireland's games in the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship, held in the UAE, starting two and making two appearances as a substitute. Following the tournament, he was contacted by both the Tunisian and Libyan FAs with a view to declaring for either, however, Zayed declined as he wanted to pursue his dream of representing Ireland at senior level.

Libya

With no further caps at underage level for Ireland, and the chances of him receiving any senior caps looking slim, Zayed declared for Libya in October 2010. He received his first call up to the Libyan national team from Brazilian coach, Marcos Paquetá, for an African Cup of Nations qualifier against Zambia in the same month. He made his debut a few weeks later in a friendly against Niger. After impressing on his debut, Zayed was called up to Libya's 23-man training squad for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations in November 2011. He went on to play in the 2011…

On 11 August 2021, Zayed was hired as the first-ever head coach of Northern Colorado Hailstorm FC, which began playing in USL League One, starting in the 2022 season. He possesses a UEFA "A" coaching license. Zayed departed as head coach after the Hailstorm left League One. On October 15, 2025, Zayed was announced as the head coach and sporting director of Corpus Christi FC, an expansion team that joined USL League One for the 2026 season.