Jason Joseph Gavin (born 14 March 1980) is an Irish 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 from 1996 to 2012. Gavin notably played

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 ...

football in England for

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

, before playing for

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

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 ...

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. The ...

and

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

. He later returned to his native country of Ireland where he played for

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

Drogheda United Drogheda United Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Dhroichead Átha Aontaithe) is a semi-professional Irish association football club based in Drogheda, County Louth playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They play their home matches ...

and

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 ...

. In 2010, he emigrated to Australia and played for the

Stirling Lions Stirling Macedonia Football Club (formerly West Perth Macedonia, Stirling Lions) is an Australian football club based in Perth, Western Australia, who are competing in 2023 in the National Premier Leagues Western Australia. History Early his ...

Career

Born in

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 ...

, Gavin played as a junior with Crumlin United, before he moved to English club

, where he made his professional début in the

Tyne–Tees derby The Tyne–Tees derby is a term used by some for a football match between Newcastle United and Middlesbrough. There is a distance of 42 miles between both teams. The fixture had increased importance in the late 1990s and early 2000s, as the onl ...

against

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 ...

, playing the full 90 minutes of a 1–1 draw, and starting the following week against

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 ...

. In 2001, he signed a contract extension to 2005, with new manager

Steve McClaren Stephen McClaren (born 3 May 1961) is an English former professional footballer and coach who currently serves as an assistant coach for Premier League club Manchester United, in his second spell at the club. McClaren began his coaching care ...

saying he wanted him to be pushing for a first-team place with Mark Hudson. During his time at Middlesbrough, he had loan spells at

, and

. In 2003 he signed for

for a "small fee", with hopes of more first-team opportunities to be selected for the Irish national team again. Gavin signed for

at the start of the 2005 season and made his league debut on the opening day of the season on 18 March 2005. Gavin signed for

in the summer of 2005 where he played for three years. On 23 April 2006, he helped Drogheda keep a clean-sheet in the final of the

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 ...

against

Cork City Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the island of Ireland. It is located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster. Following an extension to the city' ...

. For his overall performances that month, he was awarded the

League of Ireland Player of the Month The League of Ireland Player of the Month is awarded monthly to the best player in the League of Ireland. The winners are selected by Soccer Writers' Ireland, commonly known as the SWI (formerly known as Soccer Writers' Association of Ireland). Win ...

. Drogheda and Gavin would win the

2007 League of Ireland Premier Division The 2007 League of Ireland Premier Division was the 23rd season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The division was made up of 12 teams. Drogheda United were champions for the first time while St Patrick's Athletic finished as runners-up ...

following a 2–1 win against Cork City. In February 2008, he had a training ground bust-up with Drogheda manager

Paul Doolin Paul Doolin (born 26 March 1963, in Dublin) is an Irish former footballer and manager. Who mostly recently managed NIFL Premiership side Portadown. Career He played for Bohemians, scoring on his debut on 13 September 1981. In April 1983 he pl ...

, but soon committed his future to the club after the two settled their differences. However, by July, Gavin was training on his own. Later that month, he signed for

, and helped his new club keep a clean sheet on his début against Cork City. In the UEFA Cup qualifying round fixture against Swedish club

Elfsborg Idrottsföreningen Elfsborg, more commonly known as IF Elfsborg or simply Elfsborg (), is a professional football club based in Borås, Sweden, and is affiliated to the Västergötlands Fotbollförbund. They play in the Allsvenskan and have spe ...

, he scored the first European goal of his career, scoring the equaliser in the 88th minute of an eventual 2–1 win, which helped St Patrick's through to the next round. Gavin left St Pat's in 2010, with both parties cancelling his contract by mutual consent. Gavin finished his career whilst playing for Australian side

International

As a member of the Irish Under-19 team, he won the European Under-18 Championships in 1998 in Cyprus under Brian Kerr. He also played at the

FIFA World Youth Championship The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when ...

finals in Nigeria in 1999 as well as at U17 level. He was called up to the senior Ireland squad by

Mick McCarthy Michael Joseph McCarthy (born 7 February 1959) is a professional football manager, pundit, and former player. He was last in charge of EFL Championship club Cardiff City. McCarthy began his playing career at Barnsley in 1977, and he later had ...

in 2000, but was ultimately not capped at that level.

Honours

Drogheda United *

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Premier Division ( ga, Príomhroinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is the top level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland f ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Sources

*''Irish Football Handbook'' by Dave Galvin & Gerry Desmond ()

References

External links

*
Drogheda United profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gavin, Jason 1980 births Living people Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Crumlin United F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Drogheda United F.C. players St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players League of Ireland players Men's association football defenders Association footballers from Dublin (city)