Dave McKearney (born 20 June 1968) is an English 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 ...

. He was a versatile player who played both as a defender and

midfielder 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 ...

Career

He made his

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 ...

debut for Crewe Alexandra, coming on as a substitute in a goal-less draw at

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

on 17 October 1989. After sporadic appearances during the rest of the season, he gained a regular starting place after left back Paul Edwards was sold to

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

in March 1990, and McKearney scored his first Crewe goal in a 2–1 defeat at Mansfield Town on 28 April 1990.Crisp, p.121. In 1993, in his last game for the club, McKearney was part of the Crewe side beaten by York City after a penalty shoot-out in the 1993 Football League Third Division play-off final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

on 29 May 1993,Crisp, p.124. he scored an extra-time penalty to make the score 1–1 and take the game to the shoot-out. During his time at Crewe, McKearney played 108 league games, scoring 12 goals.Crisp, p.149. After time at

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

, McKearney moved to

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

from

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came pr ...

in July 1996, and made almost 300 appearances in just under ten years at the club. He was part of the team that won the Spalding Cup in 1998, and won two Lancashire Cup winners' medals with the club.Dave McKearney on Morecambe FC official website
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References

Sources

* 1968 births Living people English men's footballers Men's association football defenders English Football League players Northwich Victoria F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Chorley F.C. players Morecambe F.C. players Burscough F.C. players People from Crosby, Merseyside Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton Footballers from Merseyside {{England-footy-defender-1960s-stub