Patrick Joseph Gavin (6 June 1929 – 8 April 2006) was a

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, rugb ...

who played for

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 ...

and

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

, mainly as a

left 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 s ...

. He also appeared in two international matches, for The League of Ireland, and for Ireland B.

Club career

Dundalk

Coming from a family engaged with

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by ki ...

, as a junior Gavin initially played for Naomh Mhuire, and then for a 1947 cup winning Wolfe Tones team, and in the same year for

Louth GAA The Louth County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) ( ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael, Coiste Chontae an Lú) or Louth GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Louth. The co ...

Minors and soon for the senior side. After his first senior game in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

he was signed up by Dundalk F.C. and into the world of

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

. Initially he played in the reserves, making his full debut against

Transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...

on 9 April 1949.

Doncaster Rovers

Peter Doherty signed him for

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club

in October 1949. There was a large

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

contingent at the club at that time including

Harry Gregg Henry Gregg, (27 October 1932 – 16 February 2020), was a Northern Irish professional footballer and manager. A goalkeeper, he played for Manchester United during the reign of Sir Matt Busby, with a total of 247 appearances for the club. He w ...

who he shared digs with, and whom became a long-term friend. It wasn't until 15 February 1954 that Gavin broke into the first 11 following an injury to Len Graham, making his debut in a 0–1 home defeat by Bury. He played six more league games that season, and seventeen the following season often as a replacement for Graham at left back, but also filling in at half back. In 1955–56, he was again second in line behind Graham, only playing twelve games, however he did score his only Doncaster goal in that season. It was during a home game against Lincoln City on 27 December, the day after playing them away at

Sincil Bank Sincil Bank Stadium, known for sponsorship reasons as LNER Stadium, is a football stadium in Lincoln, England which has been the home of Lincoln City since 1895. Previously, Lincoln City had played at the nearby John O'Gaunts ground since th ...

, and Rovers were winning 1–0 when a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penal ...

was awarded. The regular penalty taker,

Bobby Herbert Robert Herbert (21 November 1925 – 31 December 2006) was a Scottish footballer who played as a wing half in the English and Scottish Football Leagues. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Herbert started off with Blantyre Victoria before moving to ...

, wasn't playing so Gavin took it and scored in front of the 18,323 Belle Vue crowd. The following season he played 38 League games, filling in for the injured

Morgan Hunt Morgan Marshall Hunt (5 March 1931 – February 2012) was a Welsh footballer who played as a half-back. He played for Doncaster Rovers and later managed the club's ladies team. Career Hunt played for Askern Welfare, before joining Peter Doh ...

at right half, and then similarly in the left half position, scoring four times, three of those from the penalty spot. In 1957–58 he played mainly at left half in 35 League matches scoring no goals, not helped by

Tommy Cavanagh Thomas Henry Cavanagh (29 June 1928 – 14 March 2007) was an English football player and coach. As a player, he was an inside-forward at six professional clubs, most notably Huddersfield Town, Doncaster Rovers and was player manager at Chelten ...

having the penalty taker role, and it being a poor season for Doncaster who ended up at the bottom of the league, and relegated. The next season, in the newly formed

Division Three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the fo ...

, Rovers ended up third to the bottom and relegated again. He played 38 League games that season. Gavin's final season at Doncaster was in

Division Four The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

. He only played 9 times, his last appearance being a 0–2 home defeat against

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 Bor ...

on 6 February 1960 in front of 3,740 fans. Before retiring to

amateur football Amateur sports are sports in which participants engage largely or entirely without remuneration. The distinction is made between amateur sporting participants and professional sporting participants, who are paid for the time they spend competing ...

at the end of the season, he had made 156 League and

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...

appearances for the club, scoring 5 goals. On leaving Rovers, he continued playing football as an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, self-taught, user-generated, DIY, and hobbyist. History ...

for Doncaster United until an ankle injury ended his playing career.

International career

In 1953, Gavin was in a League of Ireland team, marking

Tom Finney Sir Thomas Finney (5 April 1922 – 14 February 2014) was an English international footballer who played from 1946 to 1960 as a winger or centre forward for Preston North End and England. He is widely acknowledged to have been one of the spo ...

, that lost 0–2 against an English Football League side in front of 40,000 at

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 ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

. Gavin appeared in the very first Irish B team in an international friendly against

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

B on 20 October 1957, which was drawn 1–1.

Personal life

Despite having completed his coaching course at Lillisall in 1956, Gavin did not pursue coaching after his playing career ended. In 1958 he married Maureen Massarella, niece of Ronnie Massarella OBE,

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...

magnate and manager of the British Show Jumping Team. On retiring from playing professional football, Gavin was invited to manage Yeovil Town but instead he opted to work in his father in law's business, managing a depot in Chesterfield. Later, he managed and developed a couple of grocery stores in

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

until his retirement at the age of 68.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gavin, Paddy 1929 births 2006 deaths People from Drogheda Association football fullbacks Association footballers from County Louth Republic of Ireland association footballers Dundalk F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Republic of Ireland B international footballers League of Ireland players English Football League players Gaelic footballers who switched code