Alan Niven (4 July 1955 – 5 March 1999) was an Australian international

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a defender. Niven was born in England and played youth football for

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

. After representing

Nuneaton Borough Nuneaton Borough Football Club is an English football club that is based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. The men's 1st team competes in the , the seventh tier of English football. In 1889, Nuneaton St. Nicholas FC was the first team in Nuneaton t ...

, he moved to Australia, where he made over 250 appearances for

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions is a professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was formed in late 1996 via a merger of the Melbourne-based 1883 foundation VFL c ...

in the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...

. He made eight appearances for the Australian national team.

Early life

Niven was born in England.

Club career

Niven played youth football for

. In 1975, Niven made three appearances for

– one in the

Southern League Premier Division The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English foot ...

and two in the Midland Floodlit Cup. From 1977 to 1988, Niven represented

in the Australian

, making 252 appearances and scoring 11 goals.

International career

Niven made his international debut for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in 1981 against

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

. He went on to make eight 'A' international appearances for the side.

Style of play

Niven played as a defender.

Gerry O'Hara Gerald O'Hara (born October 1924, Boston, Lincolnshire) is an English film and television director. O'Hara was an assistant director on Laurence Olivier's film, ''Richard III''; the Carol Reed film, ''Our Man in Havana'' and the Academy Award-wi ...

, who played with Niven at Wolverhampton, described Niven as a left back with a similar playing style to

Scott Golbourne Juliou Scott Golbourne (born 29 February 1988) is an English former footballer who played as a defender. Golbourne's previous clubs include Bristol City, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Barnsley, Exeter City and Reading with brief loan spells for Wyc ...

After football

Niven went on to work for the

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the democratic administrative authority of the Australian state of Queensland. The Government of Queensland, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy was formed in 1859 as prescribed in its Constitution, as amended fr ...

at the Queensland Water Resources Commission and the

Department of Natural Resources This article lists subnational environmental agencies in the United States, by state. Agencies with a variety of titles and responsibilities are included, e.g. Department of Environment, Department of Environmental Conservation, Department of E ...

Death

Niven died on 5 March 1999, aged 43, after suffering a heart attack while playing soccer.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

International

Merlion Cup The Merlion Cup was an invitational football tournament that was held in Singapore annually from 1982–1986, in 1992, 2009 and 2019. Participants included full national sides, Olympic sides, Invitational XI's and club teams. After the 1986 tou ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

References

External links

Alan Niven
at OzFootball {{DEFAULTSORT:Niven, Alan 1955 births 1999 deaths English footballers Australian soccer players Men's association football defenders Nuneaton Borough F.C. players Queensland Lions FC players National Soccer League (Australia) players Southern Football League players Australia men's international soccer players English emigrants to Australia Place of birth missing

Early life

Club career

International career

Style of play

After football

Death

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

International

See also

References

External links