Michael Kavanagh (31 December 1927 – 29 November 2016) was an Irish professional footballer who played as an outside left or inside forward in the Football League for Brighton & Hove Albion.[1]
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Michael Kavanagh [1] | ||
Date of birth | (1927-12-31)31 December 1927[1] | ||
Place of birth | Dublin, Ireland | ||
Date of death | 29 November 2016(2016-11-29) (aged 88)[1] | ||
Place of death | Rustington, England | ||
Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)[2] | ||
Position(s) | Outside left, inside forward | ||
Youth career | |||
Stella Maris | |||
Johnville | |||
Bohemians | |||
1944–1946 | Hull City | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1946–1948 | Clonliffe Celtic | ||
1948–1950 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 26 | (7) |
Teams managed | |||
195?–1960 | Littlehampton Town | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Kavanagh was born in 1927 in Dublin,[1] and attended St Laurence O'Toole School, where Gaelic games were played but association football was not. He began his youthful football career with Stella Maris, Johnville and Bohemians, and as a 16-year-old, went to England for what proved a lengthy and ultimately unsuccessful trial with Hull City.[2][3]
He returned to Dublin junior football, but another English trial in early 1948 led to a contract with Brighton & Hove Albion. He made his debut in November of that year, made 12 Football League Third Division South appearances in the 1948–49 season, and a further 14 in 1949–50.[2] While playing for the reserve team at the start of the following season, Kavanagh suffered a knee ligament injury that forced him into retirement and was to cause him problems for the rest of his life.[3]
He then worked as a capstan operator for a local engineering firm, and in his spare time coached Sussex County League team Littlehampton Town for eight years.[2][3] Kavanagh died in Rustington, West Sussex, in 2016 at the age of 88.[1]
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