James Gerard Dunne (born 19 October 1997) is an Irish 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 plays as a centre back for

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

club Queens Park Rangers. Dunne played locally in Ireland before joining the youth set-up 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 ...

in 2007. After transferring to Burnley in 2016, he spent time on loan at

Barrow Barrow may refer to: Places England * Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria ** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area ** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency) * Barrow, Cheshire * Barrow, Gloucestershire * Barro ...

(where he made his senior debut in August 2017) and Accrington Stanley (where he made his Football League debut in January 2018).

Club career

Born in

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

, Dunne began his career with St Kevin's Boys before joining the

Manchester United Academy Manchester United Football Club Under-21s is the most senior of Manchester United's youth teams and the club's former reserve team. They play in the Premier League 2, the highest tier of the Professional Development League. The team is effectiv ...

in Belfast at the age of 10. In July 2016, Dunne signed a two-year contract (with a further year's option in the club's favour) with

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 July 2017, he moved to National League side

on a six-month loan. He made his senior debut on 5 August 2017. In early January 2018, the club confirmed Dunne's loan would not be extended and he would return to parent club Burnley. Later that month he joined

EFL 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 ...

club Accrington Stanley on loan for the remainder of the season. He made his Football League debut on 6 January 2018. On 21 August 2018, Dunne joined

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

side Heart of Midlothian (Hearts) on a 6 month loan deal. His loan ended in January 2019. A few days later he moved on loan to

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

. In September 2019 he moved on loan to

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...

. On 17 September 2020, Dunne made his senior debut for Burnley in the 2nd round of the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

, in a 1–1 draw against Sheffield United which Burnley eventually won on penalties. He scored on his

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 ...

debut on 20 September 2020, in a 4–2 defeat away at Leicester City. On 13 July 2021, Dunne joined Queens Park Rangers for an undisclosed fee, agreeing a three-year deal.

International career

In March 2018, Dunne received a call-up to the Republic of Ireland under-21 side for the first time, making his debut on 22 March 2018 in a 3–1 friendly win over

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, replacing

Corey Whelan Corey Whelan (born 10 December 1997) is a professional association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football), defender for club Carlisle United F.C., Carlisle United. Born in England, he has represented the Republic of ...

as a substitute late in the game. On 6 November 2018, Dunne was named in the provisional senior

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

squad for the first time for the

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

on 15 November and the

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

match against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

on 19 November 2018. He was omitted from the final squad, and was linked with a call-up to the Northern Ireland team, whom he qualifies through the grandparent rule. He was called-up again by the Republic of Ireland in March 2019.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

Sunderland *

EFL 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 ...

runner-up: 2018–19

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunne, Jimmy 1997 births Living people Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Manchester United F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Fleetwood Town F.C. players National League (English football) players English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Men's association football defenders Premier League players St. Kevin's Boys F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Association footballers from County Louth Sportspeople from Dundalk