Brian McGovern (born 28 April 1980) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

former

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.

Club career

McGovern was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. A former Irish U18 and U21 player, he joined Arsenal as a trainee in summer 1997. He made a single appearance for Arsenal against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

on 14 May 2000, in which a youthful Arsenal side lost 4–2. While with the Gunners, McGovern also had a short loan spell with

QPR Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus R ...

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

manager

Bryan Hamilton Bryan Hamilton (born 21 December 1946) is a Northern Irish former professional football player and manager. He gained 50 caps for Northern Ireland between 1969 and 1980, and later managed the national team for four years. He later became Techn ...

signed McGovern for a fee of £50,000 in August 2000. McGovern was unable to establish himself in the first team at Carrow Road, scoring once against

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...

, and was released in October 2002. He joined

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

but after failing to establish himself there also, and returned to Ireland when a move to

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional F ...

fell through. Briefly with

St Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Lúthchleas Phádraig Naofa) is a professional Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the Irish Premier Division. Founded in May 1929, they played origin ...

before going to

Longford Town Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meet ...

, where again a move to Calley fell through in autumn 2004. He was signed by the seasiders from

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

, who had signed him on loan from Longford Town, where he had failed to command a place. McGovern departed from Bray Wanderers in December 2006, having made a total of 40 appearances.

Sources

*''Canary Citizens'' by Mark Davage, John Eastwood, Kevin Platt, published by Jarrold Publishing, (2001),

References

External links

Career information at ex-canaries.co.ukBrian McGovern career stats at Soccerbase
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGovern, Brian Living people 1980 births Association football defenders Arsenal F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland under-21 international footballers Premier League players English Football League players St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players Longford Town F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Bray Wanderers F.C. players League of Ireland players Cherry Orchard F.C. players