Gavin Peers (born 10 November 1985) is an Irish football coach and former player, who is currently the first-team coach at

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 ...

Career

Peers started his footballing career at

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

, and later moved to

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 ...

, where he made 30 total appearances. He was signed for Sligo Rovers by

Sean Connor Sean Connor (born 12 July 1967) is a Northern Irish Association football, football manager (association football), manager and former player who was most recently manager of NIFL Championship side Institute F.C., Institute. He had a brief playin ...

following the club's promotion to the Premier Division and played regularly at right-back that year. The following year following the departure of centre-backs Michael McNamara and Liam Burns Peers moved into the centre of defence. Injuries forced him to miss much of the

2009 League of Ireland The 2009 League of Ireland Premier Division was the 25th season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The division was made up of 10 teams. Bohemians were champions while Shamrock Rovers finished as runners-up. Teams Overview The 20 ...

season and his presence was badly missed. He did recover in time to take his place in the team for the 2009 FAI Cup Final, but it would end in disappointment with

Sporting Fingal Sporting Fingal Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Fine Gall Spórtúil) was an Irish association football club based in Fingal. Between 2008 and 2010, the club played three seasons in the League of Ireland. During their first two seasons they ...

winning 2-1. The following year was much better with Peers playing consistently and Sligo having a fantastic season that saw him play in both the

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

and

League of Ireland Cup The League of Ireland Cup ( ga, Corn Sraithe na hÉireann), also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', is an annual knockout competition in men's football in the Republic of Ireland. It is contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited c ...

finals. He played a major role in the

2010 FAI Cup The 2010 FAI Senior Challenge Cup, also known as the 2010 FAI Ford Cup, is the 90th season of the national football competition of the Republic of Ireland. The competition was won by Sligo Rovers who defeated Shamrock Rovers in the final on 1 ...

victory by scoring the winning goal in the 1-0 semi-final win over

Bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park (Irish: ''Páirc Cnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., who have played there since the early 20th century. Affectionately known ...

. Following the departure of Conor O'Grady at the end of the 2010 season Peers became the club's longest serving player. Sligo Rovers repeated the FAI Cup success in 2011 this time beating Shelbourne in the final. Peers had one of his most consistent seasons making a career-best 46 appearances over the season. The next season brought even more success as Sligo won the league title with the centre-back pairing of Peers and

Jason McGuinness Jason McGuinness (born 8 August 1982) is an Irish footballer. Career McGuinness played at youth level for Tolka Rovers, Sheriff Y.C. and Bohemians before graduating to the Bohs first team, making his league debut as a substitute against UCD ...

a major part of the success. He scored against

FC Spartak Trnava FC Spartak Trnava () is a Slovak professional Association football, football club based in Trnava. Historically, it is one of the most successful clubs in the country, having won the Czechoslovak First League five times and the Czechoslovak Cup ...

in the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League. 2013 brought FAI Cup glory again but this time the final would be a bittersweet occasion for Peers as he suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury. Despite this he signed a new two-year contract at the end of the season which kept him at the club for 10 seasons. He has made the 5th most appearances in the history of the club. Peers was awarded a testimonial by Sligo where he scored in a 3-3- draw with Portsmouth F.C. in July 201

After 346 appearances in 11 seasons at The Showgrounds (Sligo), The Showgrounds, Peers departed for

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 ...

side

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 ...

for the

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

season. His signing was announced by manager

Liam Buckley Liam Buckley (born 14 April 1960), is an Irish former professional footballer. He made two appearances for the Republic of Ireland national football team. He was most recently the manager of League of Ireland Premier Division club Sligo Rover ...

at the club's 2016 Awards Night on 19 November 2016. Peers scored two brilliant diving headers on his Pats debut, scoring the first two goals in a 5–0 pre-season friendly win over Bluebell United at John Hyland Park on 24 January 2017. He made his competitive Pats debut seven days later as Pats beat Bray Wanderers 4–0 in the Leinster Senior Cup at the

Carlisle Grounds The Carlisle Grounds is a football stadium in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland. Situated directly behind the Bray D.A.R.T. station, it is home to Bray Wanderers A.F.C. History The Carlisle Grounds can claim to be the Football Association of ...

, with Peers coming off injured in the 45th minute while 3–0 up at the time. Peers signed for

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882. History Early history In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...

of the

NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and colloquially as the Irish League or Irish Premiership, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northe ...

in January 2019. He signed for

Warrenpoint Town F.C. Warrenpoint Town Football Club is a semi professional Northern Irish football club playing in the NIFL Championship. The club's home ground is Milltown, Warrenpoint. History The club was formed in 1987, and for the first 23 years of its exis ...

in August 202

where he spent two seasons before retiring. In December 2022, Peers was announced as first-team coach at

International career

Peers, a former youth international was selected by

Pat Fenlon Patrick Fenlon (born 15 March 1969) is an Irish football coach and former player. Fenlon played as a midfielder for St Patrick's Athletic, Bohemians, Linfield, Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne. As a manager he won five League of Ireland tit ...

for the

Republic of Ireland national under-23 football team The Republic of Ireland national under-23 football team, is the national under-23 football team of the Republic of Ireland. It is organised by the Football Association of Ireland. The current Republic of Ireland Under-23 team is restricted to ...

in 2007 and on his only appearance scored the opening goal against Slovakia. In 2010, he was selected for the

League of Ireland XI The League of Ireland XI, more recently referred to as the ''Airtricity League XI'' for sponsorship reasons, is the representative team of the League of Ireland, the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland. For much of its ...

for the opening game at the

Aviva Stadium Aviva Stadium (also known as Lansdowne Road) is a sports stadium located in Dublin, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,700 spectators (all seated). It is built on the site of the former Lansdowne Road Stadium, which was demolished in 2007, and r ...

Honours

;Sligo Rovers *

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally us ...

(1):

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

(3):

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

(1):

Setanta Sports Cup The Setanta Sports Cup was a club football competition featuring teams from both football associations on the island of Ireland. Inaugurated in 2005, it was a cross-border competition between clubs in the League of Ireland from the Republic of I ...

(1):

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

;Glentoran *

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Samuel Gelston's Whiskey Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland. Ina ...

(1): 2019-20 ;

Career statistics

''Professional appearances – correct as of 7 January 2020.''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Peers, Gavin 1985 births Living people Sligo Rovers F.C. players St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players Derry City F.C. players Glentoran F.C. players League of Ireland players NIFL Premiership players League of Ireland XI players Mansfield Town F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Republic of Ireland under-23 international footballers Republic of Ireland youth international footballers English Football League players Association football defenders Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland expatriate association footballers Expatriate footballers in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Warrenpoint Town F.C. players