David Eyres (born 26 February 1964) 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

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

A relative latecomer to the professional game,

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 ...

-born Eyres began his career at then Northern Premier League side

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 ...

going on to represent both

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

and

Rhyl Rhyl (; cy, Y Rhyl, ) is a seaside town and community (Wales), community in Denbighshire, Wales. The town lies within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Flintshire (historic), Flintshire, on the north-east coast of Wales at ...

at the same level before signing professional terms with

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

in 1989 who paid a fee of £10,000 to the Belle Vue-based North Wales club for his services. He subsequently made his debut for Blackpool on 22 August 1989, in a 2–2 draw at

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

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 ...

first round, first leg. He scored his first goal for the club three months later, on 11 November, in a 4–0 League victory over

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a single-tier football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two being Raikes Hall Gardens and the ...

. He spent four seasons with the Seasiders, two of which ended with appearances at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

in the play-off finals (achieving promotion in 1991–92). He also finished as the club's top league goalscorer in 1992–93, with sixteen goals. In the summer of 1993,

and Jimmy Mullen (Eyres' former manager at Blackpool) came in for his services with an offer of £90,000. "I know the fans won't forgive me," said Eyres nine years later, "but things had gone a bit stale at Blackpool and I decided it was the right time to go." Eyres remained at

Turf Moor Turf Moor is an association football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Burnley F.C. since 1883. This unbroken service makes Turf Moor the second-longest continuously used ground in English professional football ...

for four years, and then continued his tour of Lancashire by signing for Blackpool's arch-rivals

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 ...

in 1997 for £80,000. Eyres moved to

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 ...

in 2000 on a free transfer and signed a one-year extension to his contract the following January, which would keep him at the club until June 2002. He subsequently signed two more contracts, which tied him to the club until 2006. During the 2003–04 season, Eyres and teammate John Sheridan took on joint caretaker-manager roles after

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 ...

's departure from the Latics hotseat. Earlier in the season, Eyres fractured a bone in his foot, which put him out of action between October and December. Eyres, who was voted Oldham fans' player of the season in 2001–02, scored in his 234th and final appearance for Oldham in a 1–1 draw with

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town and unparished area in the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England of which it is the main administrative centre. Scunthorpe had an estimated total population of 82,334 in 2016. A pre ...

to close out the 2005–06 season and his 18-year professional career at the age of 42. He then joined

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

side

Hyde United Hyde United Football Club is a semi-professional football club in Hyde, Greater Manchester, England. Formed in 1919, they were renamed Hyde F.C. between 2010 and 2015 as part of a sponsorship deal with Manchester City.Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

side

Mossley Mossley (/ˈmɒzli/) is a town and civil parish in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, in the upper Tame Valley and the foothills of the Pennines, southeast of Oldham and east of Manchester. The historic counties of Lancashire, Cheshire ...

. In May 2007, Eyres made a return to Burnley to play at Turf Moor in the testimonial of another ex-Claret,

Graham Branch Graham Branch (born 12 February 1972) is a former professional footballer. Playing career Branch was born in Liverpool, England. A childhood Liverpool fan, he started his footballing career across the River Mersey with Heswall and then Tranmer ...

. After leaving

, Eyres joined the Everton academy in a bid to stay fit, even at 43 years old. In January 2008 Eyres signed for Northern Premier League club

Hednesford Town Hednesford Town Football Club is a football club based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Keys Park. History The club was established in 1880 as a merger of the Red & Whites and Hill Top.

. He made his debut at left-back in an away game at

Eastwood Town Eastwood Town Football Club was an English football club based in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire. The club last participated in the Northern Premier League Division One South, the eighth tier of English football. A new club, Eastwood C.F.C., was f ...

, but only made two further appearances for the Pitmen before his registration was cancelled by the club

Post-retirement

After retiring, Eyres became a match summariser for

BBC Radio Lancashire BBC Radio Lancashire is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Lancashire. It broadcasts on FM, AM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios on Darwen Street in Blackburn. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly au ...

Honours

Blackpool *

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

play-offs: 1991–92 Burnley *

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

play-offs: 1993–94 Preston North End *

: 1999–2000 Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...

: 1996–97 Second Division

References

External links

Eyres' profile at soccerbase.comHyde United Player Statistics: David Eyres
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eyres, David Living people 1964 births English footballers English Football League players Blackpool F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Hyde United F.C. players Mossley A.F.C. players Hednesford Town F.C. players English football managers Oldham Athletic A.F.C. managers Footballers from Liverpool Association football midfielders