David Matthew Mirfin (born 18 April 1985) is an English retired 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 ...

who played as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

Career

Huddersfield Town

Mirfin was born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

, South Yorkshire. He graduated from the

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

Academy in the 2003–04 season and made an immediate impression, helping the team keep 16 clean sheets out of the 25 matches he appeared in that season and also scoring three goals as an emergency striker. On 5 May 2007, Mirfin was voted the Player's Player of the Year, the Away Supporters' Top Performer and the Fans' Player of the Year. He also collected the Young Terriers Award and the ''

Huddersfield Examiner The ''Huddersfield Daily Examiner'' is an English local daily evening newspaper covering news and sport from Huddersfield and its surrounding areas. History The first edition was published as a weekly, starting on 6 September 1851, as the '' ...

'' Majority Man of the Match for the whole season. During the 2007–08 season, Mirfin's chances seemed to be limited following a poor defensive partnership between him and Nathan Clarke, but following the arrival of

Rob Page Robert John Page (born 3 September 1974) is a Welsh football manager and former player, who is currently the manager of the Wales national team. In an 18-year career in the Premier League and the English Football League, he made 550 competitiv ...

and the departure of manager Andy Ritchie, Mirfin found himself in a three-man central defence partnership with Page and Clarke, which after five matches kept four clean sheets.

Scunthorpe United and Watford

Mirfin signed for Huddersfield's League One rivals Scunthorpe United on 11 August 2008 on a three-year contract for a transfer fee of £150,000 plus add ons and a 25% sell-on clause. He made his debut on 16 August in a 2–1 away defeat to

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

, but his debut lasted just 10 minutes, after he was sent off for a foul on Jabo Ibehre. His first goal for Scunthorpe came on 4 November in the

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 Le ...

with a header in stoppage time in a 1–0 home over

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

, which put Scunthorpe into the northern area semi-final. Mirfin was released by the club at the end of the 2010–11 season when his contract expired. Mirfin signed for Championship club

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

on 5 July 2011 on a two-year contract on a free transfer. He made his debut on 23 August in a 1–1 draw away to

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

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 ...

, with Watford losing 4–2 in the resulting

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

Return to Scunthorpe United

Mirfin rejoined Scunthorpe United, now in League One, on 31 January 2012 on

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 ...

until the end of the 2011–12 season, playing 19 matches. He was released from his Watford contract by mutual consent on 31 July 2012 to re-sign for Scunthorpe permanently on a two-year contract. Mirfin joined League Two club

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded i ...

on 2 February 2015 on a one-month loan.

Mansfield Town

Mirfin signed for League Two club

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...

on 23 May 2017 on a contract of undisclosed length on a free transfer. He scored on his debut on 5 August in a 2–2 draw away to

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 ...

with a shot at the far post from Joel Byrom's

free kick A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play. Association football In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...

. Mirfin joined

National League 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 Syst ...

club

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

on 1 February 2019 on loan until the end of the 2018–19 season. He made his debut the following day, starting in a 3–2 win away to

Alfreton Town Alfreton Town Football Club is a football club based in Alfreton, Derbyshire, England. The club are currently members of and play at North Street. History The club was formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alfr ...

in the league. In May 2019 it was confirmed, that Mirfin had decided to retire.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

Huddersfield Town *

Football League Third Division play-offs The EFL League Two play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from fourth to seventh in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are part of the annual En ...

: 2004 Scunthorpe United *

runner-up: 2008–09 *

Football League One play-offs The EFL League One play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL League One table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , the play-offs comprise ...

: 2009 *

Football 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 ...

runner-up: 2013–14

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mirfin, David 1985 births Living people Footballers from Sheffield English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Watford F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players York City F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players