David Healy (footballer)
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| David Healy | ||
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | David Jonathan Healy | |
| Date of birth | 5 August 1979 | |
| Place of birth | Killyleagh, Northern Ireland | |
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) | |
| Playing position | Striker | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Fulham | |
| Number | 9 | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1999–2001 2000 2000–2001 2001–2004 2003 2003 2004–2007 2007– |
Manchester United → Port Vale (loan) → Preston North End (loan) Preston North End → Norwich City (loan) → Norwich City (loan) Leeds United Fulham |
1 (0) 16 (3) 2 (1) 136 (43) 5 (1) 8 (1) 111 (29) 30 (4) |
| National team2 | ||
| 2000– | Northern Ireland | 64 (34) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
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David Jonathan Healy (born 5 August 1979 in Killyleagh) is a professional footballer who has scored a record 34 international goals for Northern Ireland. He plays his club football for Fulham of the English Premier League.
Contents |
[edit] Club career
[edit] Manchester United
Healy was raised in Killyleagh, and played for Crossgar, Lisburn Youth and Down Academy High School in Downpatrick. He signed for Manchester United in August 1999, just four days before his 20th birthday. He made his debut for the Manchester United first team in a League Cup tie away to Aston Villa on 13 October 1999. In February 2000 he was loaned to Port Vale, but before playing for them he made his international debut.
He made 16 appearances for Port Vale, scoring three goals. In the following season he made a second appearance in the League Cup (as a 90th minute substitute in a game that went into extra time, United eventually losing to Sunderland), and he made his Premiership debut on 28 November 2000 as a second half substitute in a 2–0 victory over Ipswich Town. This was to be his last appearance for United; he signed for Preston North End on loan on 29 December 2000, and the deal was made permanent five days later. The fee was £1,500,000.
[edit] Preston North End
In the remainder of the 2000–01 season, Healy made 26 appearances for Preston and scored 10 goals. He was a virtual ever-present in the 2001–02 season, appearing in 44 League games and scoring 10 goals.
In the 2002–03 season he was less successful; by the end of January 2003 he had made only 23 League appearances but scored five goals. Healy joined Norwich City, managed by Nigel Worthington, on a month's loan at the end of January; in the end he stayed for the remainder of that season, but in 13 appearances for the Canaries he scored only two goals. However, in 2003–04, he returned to Preston and netted 15 times in 42 matches.
[edit] Leeds United
Healy joined Leeds United on 29 October 2004, quickly becoming a fans' favourite. In his first season at Leeds, he was the club's joint top scorer alongside Brian Deane with seven goals. He followed this by finishing joint top scorer in the 2005–06 season with Rob Hulse on 14 goals and then finished the following 2006–07 season as top scorer with 10 goals. He left for Fulham after the 2006–07 season because of Leeds United's relegation from the Championship after the club entered administration. In 2008 rumours that Healy had an affair with an administration assistant surfaced and never went away.
[edit] Fulham
Healy reunited with ex-Northern Ireland boss and then Fulham boss Lawrie Sanchez on 13 July 2007 from cash-strapped Leeds United for an undisclosed fee, reportedly around £1.5million.[1] He scored his first goal for Fulham in a pre-season friendly against South China in the Asia Trophy, with a low diving header. In his first match for Fulham in the Premiership, Healy repaid Sanchez' faith in him with a goal against Arsenal after 50 seconds play after a Jens Lehmann mistake. His second match against Bolton also had Healy scoring a goal which, at the time, made him joint-top goalscorer in the Premiership. Healy also scored in a home Carling Cup clash against Bolton Wanderers which Fulham lost 2–1. He added to his goal tally in Fulham's 3–1 win over Reading. Following the sacking of Sanchez, new manager Roy Hodgson has preferred a strike partnership of the American pairing of Brian McBride and Eddie Johnson, leaving Healy with two starts and more normally at best on the substitutes bench.[2]
He has been linked with a return to Leeds in the summer of 2008.[3]
[edit] Personal life
Healy is married to Emma Heron and they have two children. They live in Worsley, Manchester.
[edit] International career
He made his debut for Northern Ireland in February 2000, in a friendly against Luxembourg, scoring two goals. He was still only 20 years old; having made his debut appearance for Manchester United the previous October, he had just joined Port Vale on loan. His competitive international debut came in September 2000, in a World Cup qualifying game against Malta, and he scored his first competitive goal for his country a month later against Denmark.
On 6 June 2004, in a friendly game away to Trinidad and Tobago, he scored his 13th and 14th goals for Northern Ireland, thus equalling and overtaking Colin Clarke's record for the country. It was his 35th international.
On 7 September 2005, at Windsor Park, Healy secured a famous victory for his country against England in a World Cup qualifier when he scored the only goal of the game.
He achieved his 50th cap against Finland in August 2006. In this game he captained his country for the first time and scored his 20th international goal.
On 6 September 2006, Healy became the first man since Colin Clarke to score a hat-trick for Northern Ireland and the first since George Best to do so in Belfast. His three goals gave Northern Ireland an historic 3–2 victory over Spain.
Healy followed this feat with the winner against Latvia on 11 October 2006.[4] In the following international game, against Liechtenstein, he scored a second hat-trick; this made him the first player ever to score two hat-tricks for Northern Ireland.[5]
He scored both of Northern Ireland's goals in a 2–1 win against Sweden on 28 March 2007,[6] and two more against Liechtenstein on 22 August, followed by a penalty away to Iceland on 12 September. On 17 November 2007, when he scored against Denmark, it was his 13th goal in the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group F tournament (in 11 games). This made him the highest-ever goalscorer in a UEFA European Championship qualifying campaign and also the first Northern Irish football player to break a football record. The previous record, of 12 goals in 10 games, had been held by Davor Šuker of Croatia since 1996.
Healy's goalscoring exploits have made him one of the most popular players ever to appear for Northern Ireland. Up to the end of the Euro 2008 qualifiers he had scored 33 goals in 62 appearances for his country. Only Bobby Charlton, Gary Lineker, Jimmy Greaves and Michael Owen (all of England) have scored more goals for the various international sides of the British Isles. Healy's international average of 0.53 goals per game, or one goal every 1.88 games, compares with 85 goals in 326 appearances for his various clubs (up to the end of November 2007): an average of 0.26 goals per game, or one goal every 3.84 games. His international scoring rate is therefore marginally over twice as good as his club rate. (81 of his 326 club appearances - just under 25% - have been as a substitute.)[7]
The records he has beaten
- The joint top goalscorers record for Northern Ireland which was shared by Billy Gillespie and Colin Clarke in 2004.
- First goal in 1298 minutes against Norway in 2004.
- First win in 16 matches against Estonia in 2004.
- First goal against England since 1980, first win over England since 1972 and first win in Belfast since 1927.
- First hat-trick for Northern Ireland in 2006 since Colin Clarke in 1991 against the Faroe Islands and the first since George Best in 1971 against Cyprus in Belfast.
- First ever Northern Ireland player to get 2 hat-tricks (against Liechtenstein in 2007)
- In 2007 he became the highest goalscorer of the Home Nations (other than England) in the 2–1 win over Sweden; by overtaking the Wales goalscoring record held by Ian Rush by one goal.
- The next game against Liechtenstein he scored twice in the 3–1 win and he also broke the joint Scotland goalscoring record held by Kenny Dalglish and Denis Law.
- First player to score 13 in a European Championship qualifying campaign; he broke the record held by Davor Šuker who scored 12 for Croatia in the Euro 96 qualifying campaign.
In 2007 Healy was named The Belfast Telegraph Sports Star of the Year after his Record scoring in this years Euro 2008 Qualifications[8]
Since his debut, he has scored 34 goals during 65 appearances for Northern Ireland.
[edit] International goals and caps
- Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first. The "Caps" figures are in bold for games in which he scored
[edit] International matches missed
- Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first.
| Date | Venue | Opponent | Result | Competition | Location | Reason | WHBC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004-10-09 | Tofik Bakhramov Stadium, Baku |  Azerbaijan |
0-0 | FIFA World Cup qualification | |
Suspended | 39th Cap |
| 2005-11-15 | Windsor Park, Belfast |  Portugal |
1-1 | International Challenge Match |  |
Ankle Injury | 49th Cap |
| 2006-05-21 | Giants Stadium, East Rutherford |  Uruguay |
0-1 | Universal Soccer Tour 2006 |  |
Club commitments | 50th Cap |
| 2006-05-26 | Soldier Field, Chicago |  Romania |
0-2 | Universal Soccer Tour 2006 | |
Club commitments | 51st Cap |
| 2007-02-06 | Windsor Park, Belfast |  Wales |
0-0 | Nationwide International | |
Broken Elbow Injury | 55th Cap |
Scorer
- Warren Feeney 1 Goal
Club commitments
- Involved in Leeds United's Championship promotion play-off games
WHBC
- Would have been Caps
[edit] Other Goalscorers for Northern Ireland since 23/02/2000
Still Playing* As of 01/04/2008
[edit] References
- ^ STRIKER HEALY AGREES FULHAM MOVE. Article from bbc.co.uk. Retrieved on 13 July 2007.
- ^ Cottagers aim to keep Healy :
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/gossip_and_transfers/7449848.stm
- ^ NI team spirit is key, says Healy BBC Sport Online, 13 October 2006. Retrieved 14 October 2006.
- ^ David Healy scored a hat-trick as Northern Ireland beat Liechtenstein 4-1 in their Euro 2008 qualifier in Vaduz. BBC Sport Online, 23 March 2007. Retrieved 23 March 2007.
- ^ Healy does it again! Classic brace against Sweden takes Northern Ireland to top of group. BBC Sport Online, 28 March 2007. Retrieved 28 March 2007.
- ^ [1] David Healy career record on www.soccerbase.com
- ^ People: Healy double joys - imported - Belfast Telegraph
[edit] External links
- David Healy career stats at Soccerbase
- Northern Ireland Fans Forum
- Our Wee Country Supporters Forum
- Career information at ex-canaries.co.uk
- Northern Ireland International Career
- Career Stats
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