Austin Dunne (31 July 1934 – 5 March 2007) was an Irish professional

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 in the League of Ireland for Limerick, and in England for

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

club Colchester United and Southern League club Tonbridge. Apparently he later played for Deal Town but details are sketchy.

Career

Austin Dunne was born in Limerick on 31 July 1934. He signed for Limerick from Garryowen Celtic during the 1950–51 season, began his League of Ireland career as a 16-year-old

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

, was described as "showing great promise and was proving a worthwhile addition to the side", and finished that season as the club's joint top scorer in league competition, albeit with only five goals. He represented Ireland in junior and youth international matches. Dunne moved to England, where he signed for Colchester United in October 1953. It was 18 months before he made his first-team debut, playing at

left half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

in a 2–1 defeat away to Gillingham in the Football League Third Division South on 9 April 1955. It was his only senior appearance. He left on a free transfer at the end of the 1955–56 season for Tonbridge of the Southern League, and over the next six years, scored 15 goals from 201 appearances in all competitions for the club. He also demonstrated his positional versatility: as well as the forward role that began his career and his "natural" position of wing half, he was often used at centre half. Dunne moved to Deal Town during the 1964 /65 season. Dunne was married to Anne ''née'' Englefield, whom he met while she was a student nurse at the hospital where his fractured wrist was being treated during the 1956–57 season. They had three children. Dunne died in Tonbridge on 5 March 2007 at the age of 72.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunne, Austin 1934 births 2007 deaths Association footballers from Limerick (city) Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association football wing halves Men's association football utility players Limerick F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Tonbridge Angels F.C. players League of Ireland players English Football League players Southern Football League players