David Alexander Beharall (born 8 March 1979) is an English former 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 as a
defender.
Beharall started his football playing career for
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 ...
in 1996 and graduated to the first team in 1998. While at
St James' Park
St James' Park is a football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Premier League club Newcastle United F.C. With a seating capacity of 52,305 seats, it is the eighth largest football stadium in England.
St James' Park ...
he had
loan
In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...
spells at
Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...
and
Oldham Athletic
Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system.
The history of Oldham Athletic ...
in 2001 and 2002 before joining Oldham for a fee of £150,000 in March 2002. He left Oldham in February 2005 to join
Carlisle United
Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...
on a
free transfer and a year later in February 2006 Beharall joined
Stockport County
Stockport County Football Club are a professional association football, football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they wer ...
. He retired from football at the age of 27 due to a knee injury in 2006.
Career
Newcastle United
Beharall started off his playing career at hometown club Newcastle United in 1996 where he graduated to the first team in 1998 after being captain to the youth and reserve teams.
Beharall made his first
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
start and his debut for Newcastle in the 3–1 loss against
Everton on 17 April 1999.
Beharall started another 3 Premier League games during the
1998–99 season. During the
1999–2000 season, Beharall played 2 more Premier League games; the 3–3 draw against
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
and the 5–1 loss at
Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
.
The match against Manchester United turned out to be his last match for the club. After two years without a first team appearance, Beharall wanted to join
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 loan after spending two days at
Deepdale
Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England, the home of Preston North End. Deepdale is "widely recognised as being the oldest 'continuously used' football stadium in the world, though this is contested".
History ...
in early January 2001,
but Preston's manager
David Moyes
David William Moyes ( ; born 25 April 1963) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player. He is currently the manager of Premier League club West Ham United. He was previously the manager of Preston North End, Everton, Manches ...
decided against the move.
Grimsby Town
With first team opportunities running out at Newcastle, Beharall joined Grimsby Town in August 2001 originally on trial, with a view to a loan move due to Grimsby's lack of centre backs. After his trial he joined The Mariners on loan in August 2001 for 3 months and made his début in a 1–0 win against
Crewe Alexandra
Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...
on 11 August.
David played another 15
league
League or The League may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band
* ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football
Sports
* Sports league
* Rugby league, full contact footba ...
and cup games for Grimsby Town, including the 2–1 cup upset they inflicted on
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
in the
League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
3rd round at
Anfield
Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...
on 9 October 2001. Beharall gave away the
penalty
Penalty or The Penalty may refer to:
Sports
* Penalty (golf)
* Penalty (gridiron football)
* Penalty (ice hockey)
* Penalty (rugby)
* Penalty (rugby union)
* Penalty kick (association football)
* Penalty shoot-out (association football)
* Penalty ...
that Liverpool midfielder
Gary McAllister
Gary McAllister MBE (born 25 December 1964) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player.
McAllister played primarily as a midfielder in a career spanning over nineteen years. He started his career at local side Motherwell b ...
scored as he was judged to have handled the ball in the penalty box. That goal gave Liverpool the lead with 19 minutes left but goals from
Marlon Broomes
Marlon Charles Broomes (born 28 November 1977) is an English former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football)#Centre-back, centre-back from 1994 to 2012.
He also played as a Defender (associ ...
and
Phil Jevons
Phillip Jevons (born 1 August 1979) is an English football coach and former professional footballer.
As a player, he was a forward who played between 1996 and 2014 for Everton, Grimsby Town, Hull City, Yeovil Town, Bristol City, Huddersfield ...
in stoppage time cancelled out Beharall's mistake and Grimsby pulled off a big cup upset.
Beharall ended his loan spell in November 2001.
Oldham Athletic
Ten days after leaving Grimsby Town, Beharall was on the move again, this time to Oldham Athletic on a loan deal to the end of the season.
Beharall made his dèbut in a 0–0 draw against
Stoke City
Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...
on 21 November 2001.
He played 17 league games, two
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
and two
Football League Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...
matches during his loan spell at Oldham, scoring one
goal
A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines.
A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ai ...
in the 89th minute in a 1–1 draw against
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, ...
on 15 December 2001.
Beharall was bought by Oldham Athletic on 6 March 2002 for £150,000 on a three-year contract after impressing during his loan deal.
David played one more league game for The Latics during the
2001–02 season against Wigan on 9 March, a match which Wigan won 1–0.
In the
2002–03 season Beharall played 32 league, 4 League and 3 FA Cup games for Oldham under the management of
Iain Dowie
Iain Dowie (born 9 January 1965) is a football manager, former professional footballer and sports television pundit.
He played as a striker from 1983 until 2001, notably in the Premier League for Southampton, Crystal Palace and West Ham Unit ...
, who replaced
Mick Wadsworth
Michael Wadsworth (born 3 November 1950) is an English association football, football coach and former player.
Born in Barnsley his playing career spanned only one season in The Football League with Scunthorpe United F.C., Scunthorpe United, a ...
in the summer of 2002. In the
pre-season
In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...
of the
2003–04 season, he suffered an injury which left him out of action until October 2003.
During this time in August 2003 Beharall was a victim of a
carjacking
Carjacking is a robbery in which the item taken over is a motor vehicle.Michael Cherbonneau, "Carjacking," in ''Encyclopedia of Social Problems'', Vol. 1 (SAGE, 2008: ed. Vincent N. Parrillo), pp. 110-11. In contrast to car theft, carjacking is ...
when he and teammate
Adam Griffin
Adam Griffin (born 26 August 1984) is an English semi-professional footballer who last played for Ashton United FC.
He started his career at Oldham Athletic, having loan spells with Chester City, Oxford United and Stockport County. After a su ...
were attacked when they stopped at a
cash machine
An automated teller machine (ATM) or cash machine (in British English) is an electronic telecommunications device that enables customers of financial institutions to perform financial transactions, such as cash withdrawals, deposits, fund ...
with Beharall leaving Griffin in the passenger seat and his £21,000
Mercedes-Benz R230
The R230 generation of the Mercedes-Benz SL-Class was introduced at the 2001 Frankfurt Motor Show and 2001 Bologna Motor Show, replacing the R129. The R230 underwent revisions in 2006 and 2008, and was superseded by the new SL-Class R231 in 201 ...
car parked at a
Texaco
Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American Petroleum, oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its Gasoline, fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an Indepe ...
garage in
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...
. Griffin was left defenseless with one of the attackers holding him at
knife
A knife ( : knives; from Old Norse 'knife, dirk') is a tool or weapon with a cutting edge or blade, usually attached to a handle or hilt. One of the earliest tools used by humanity, knives appeared at least 2.5 million years ago, as evidenced ...
point and another man hit Griffin's left arm with an
iron bar, then dragging and throwing Griffin to the ground. Beharall left his
wallet
A wallet is a flat case or pouch often used to carry small personal items such as paper currency, credit cards; identification documents such as driver's license, identification card, club card; photographs, transit pass, business cards and oth ...
and mobile phone in the car but was relieved that he and Griffin were OK.
During the 2003–2004 season Beharall played 7 league, 2 FA Cup and 2 Football league games, he also scored 2 league goals against
Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...
on 1 November 2003.
After playing only 6 league games during the
2004–05 season new manager
Brian Talbot
Brian Ernest Talbot (born 21 July 1953) is an English former football player and manager. He was capped six times for the England national team.
Talbot played in midfield for Ipswich Town, Arsenal, Watford, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, ...
, Beharall left the club on 24 January 2005 after agreeing a
settlement
Settlement may refer to:
*Human settlement, a community where people live
*Settlement (structural), the distortion or disruption of parts of a building
*Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction
*Settlement (fina ...
figure.
Carlisle United
Nine days after leaving Oldham, Beharall joined Carlisle United, with him signing a contract until July 2006.
This was the first time in his career he played for a non-league club. Beharall made his debut for the club in the 2–2 draw against
Gravesend & Northfleet on 12 February 2005.
In the 2004–05 season, Beharall was part of Carlisle's return to the Football League, playing 14 matches (3 of these being playoff matches) and playing 1
FA Trophy
The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...
match. He scored one Conference goal, in the 2–1 win at
Farnborough Town
Farnborough Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Farnborough, Hampshire, England. Founded in 1967 as Farnborough Town, they are currently members of the , the sixth tier of English football and play at Cherrywood Road.
H ...
on 2 April 2005.
Beharall's pre-season preparations were ruined by an injury which made him miss the start of Carlisle's season, but the
MRI scan
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves ...
revealed he had not suffered a tear to any of the major
knee ligaments
In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...
.
When he returned from injury in October 2005, Beharall played 6 League and 2 Football League Trophy matches. Most of these appearances came in October and November. However, with the lack of opportunities, Beharall left Carlisle by mutual consent on 1 February 2006.
Stockport County
After being released by Carlisle, Beharall decided to join
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
strugglers Stockport County until the end of the 2005–06 season, after playing well in a reserve match for County prior to his move, he had high hopes of saving the club from
relegation
In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...
and also hoped to impress the County manager
Jim Gannon
James Paul Gannon (born 7 September 1968) is a professional football manager and former player who most recently was manager of Hyde United. He started and finished his career as a player in Ireland, but made most of his professional appearan ...
enough to earn a new contract for the following season.
Beharall made his début for County in the 2–1 away victory against
Chester City.
Beharall played another 11 league games during the 2005–06 for Stockport and was starting contract negotiations the managed Jim Gannon,
but in May 2006 Beharall retired due to an ongoing bad knee injury.
Personal life
Since retiring Beharall has gone on to set up and run digital agency CandidSky based in Manchester city centre. He has won North West Entrepreneur of the year as well as an award for his work within social media. In June 2016 CandidSky won 'Best Use of Search & CRO'
at the 18th annual Big Chip Awards. It is the longest-running digital industry awards in the UK.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beharall, David
1979 births
Living people
Footballers from Newcastle upon Tyne
English men's footballers
Men's association football central defenders
Newcastle United F.C. players
Grimsby Town F.C. players
Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players
Carlisle United F.C. players
Stockport County F.C. players
Premier League players
English Football League players
National League (English football) players