Niall David Stephen Canavan (born 11 April 1991) is a 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 plays as a defender for Barrow in the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...

. Born in England, he has represented the Republic of Ireland at youth level.

Career

Born in Bramley,

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, Canavan played with the Academy of

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. ...

until he was 12. Canavan signed his first professional contract in April 2009 for Scunthorpe United. He made his first team debut on 22 August 2009 in a 4–0 defeat at

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

, replacing Robert Jones on 28 minutes. Three days later he scored his first goal, in a 2–1

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 ...

win at Swansea City. He attended

St. Mary's Menston St Mary's Menston Catholic Voluntary Academy (formerly St Mary's Catholic High School) is an 11–18 mixed, Roman Catholic, secondary school and sixth form with academy status in Menston, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1964 and ...

. He is a first team regular playing in both League and Cup matches. He has most notably played against Manchester United and Manchester City twice. Canavan missed just one match in Scunthorpe's promotion winning season in 2013–14 and formed a defensive partnership with

David Mirfin David Matthew Mirfin (born 18 April 1985) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a centre back. Career Huddersfield Town Mirfin was born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. He graduated from the Huddersfield Town Academy in the ...

. As a consequence of this successful season, Canavan signed a new 2-year contract on 29 May 2014. On 15 February 2016, Canavan joined

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 ...

on an emergency loan, and at the end of the season he joined the club on a two-year contract. He was released by Rochdale at the end of the 2017–18 season, after which he joined Plymouth Argyle on a free transfer. He re-joined

in January 2021. He moved from Bradford to fellow League Two side Barrow in January 2022.

International career

Although born in Leeds, Canavan carries an Irish passport and was called up by the FAI to the U21 squad in March 2011. In March 2011 he made his debut appearance for the Irish national Under-21 team.

Personal life

In September 2019, it was revealed that Canavan had, earlier in the year, been diagnosed with

Type 1 diabetes Type 1 diabetes (T1D), formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is an autoimmune disease that originates when cells that make insulin (beta cells) are destroyed by the immune system. Insulin is a hormone required for the cells to use blood sugar ...

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

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Republic of Ireland profile
at Soccer Scene 1991 births Living people People from Guiseley Sportspeople from the City of Leeds Footballers from West Yorkshire English men's footballers Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football defenders Scunthorpe United F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players English Football League players People educated at St. Mary's Catholic High School, Menston People with type 1 diabetes Bradford City A.F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players {{England-footy-defender-1990s-stub