Irish Footballers that Played for Manchester United – Don Givens

Don Givens – Introduction

Don Givens from Limerick in the Republic of Ireland was born on 9 August 1949. As a teenager Givens had been quite a prolific striker for Dublin Rangers. He signed for Matt Busby’s Manchester United in September 1965 at a time when Busby was still rebuilding following the Munich air disaster. Givens still hadn’t made a first team appearance when United won the European Cup in 1968 – Busby’s crowning achievement.

Don Givens & Manchester United

Manager Wilf McGuinness gave Don Givens his debut for Manchester United on 9 August 1969 against Crystal Palace. It was his twentieth birthday and United drew 2-2 at Selhurst Park courtesy of goals from Scot Willie Morgan and the great Bobby Charlton. Givens was a substitute on the day.

Givens made nine appearances in the 1969/70 season all of them in the first half season and four of them as a substitute. He made his first start for United on 19 August in a 3-0 loss to Everton at Goodison Park.

Don Givens scored his first, and last, goal for Manchester United on 30 August 1969 against Sunderland at Old Trafford. The other scorers for the Reds in a 3-1 win that day were Brian Kidd and the great George Best. The young Dubliner made just three more appearances for United and Don Givens made his last appearance for Manchester United on 25 October 1969 against West Bromwich Albion. He came on as a substitute as WBA won 2-1 at the Hawthorns. In April 1970 United sold Givens to Luton Town for a transfer fee of £15,000.

Don Givens – Republic of Ireland Career

Don Givens made his debut for the Republic of Ireland on 27 May 1969 against Denmark in a 1970 World Cup qualifier. It was a debut to forget as Ireland lost 2-0. Givens scored his first goal for Ireland on 8 June 1969 against Hungary at Dalymount Park in the next World Cup qualifier. Dalymount was also the venue for some of Don Givens greatest goal scoring exploits during his Irish career. It had been almost two and a half years since his last international goal when Givens took to the field ‘Dalyer’ against the former USSR in a 1976 European Championship qualifier. A Don Givens hat trick gave the Irish team one of it’s greatest ever victories. He followed this up with a goal in the 1-1 draw away to Turkey and then, unbelievably, he scored all four goals in a 4-0 win over the Turks in the return match at Dalymount.

On 30 April 1980 Don Givens scored his last goal for Ireland against Switzerland in a friendly match at Lansdowne Road (now Aviva Stadium). At the time this made Don Givens Ireland’s record goal scorer with 19 goals. This record stood for nine years until Frank Stapleton took his goal tally to 20. Don Givens played his last match for Ireland on 24 February 1981 against Wales in a friendly match at Tolka Park.

Don Givens – Manchester United & Ireland Statistics

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Tony Dunne Pat Dunne – Jonny Evans – Sonny Feehan – Darron Gibson – John Giles – Keith Gillespie
Don Givens Harry Gregg – Ashley Grimes – Mickey Hamill – David Healy – Denis Irwin
Tommy Jackson Michael Keane – Roy Keane – Paddy Kennedy – Davy Lyner – Mick Martin
David McCreery Noel McFarlane – Pat McGibbon – Chris McGrath – Paul McGrath – Sammy McIlroy
Sammy McMillan Walter McMillen – Liam Miller – Kevin Moran – Tommy Morrison – Phil Mulryne
Jimmy Nicholl Jimmy Nicholson – Liam O’Brien – John O’Shea – Patrick O’Connell – John Peden
James Robinson Paddy Roche – Jackie Scott – Tom Sloan – Frank Stapleton – Billy Toms
Anthony Whelan Liam Whelan – Norman Whiteside

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