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Don Givens

Don Givens

Daniel Joseph Givens, born Limerick, Republlic of Ireland, August 9, 1949. Don Givens was on the books of Manchester United, Luton Town, Queens Park Rangers, Birmingham City, Bournemouth, and Sheffield United before he finished his career with Swiss National League A Neuchatel Xamax in 1987.

Don Givens learnt his trade with Matt Busby´s Manchester United. At the age of 16, he signed with The Reds as an apprentice in September 1965 and turned professional in December the following year. A promising and talented young striker, he debuted for Manchester United on his 20th birthday when he came on for fellow countryman Tony Dunne in a hard-earned 2-2 First Division draw against recently promoted Crystal Palace in front of an attendance of close to 50,000 spectators at Selhurst Park on the 9th of August 1969 and made his home debut as a second-half replacement for long serving central defender Bill Foulkes in a 2-0 top-flight defeat to Everton four days later. With his first team opportunities generally limited to substitute appearances, he would ultimately leave Old Trafford for Tony Hunt´s Luton Town who signed him for a transfer fee of £15,000 in April 1970. Then, after notching up 19 Football League goals from 83 outings for The Hatters under legendary Kenilworth Road manager Alec Stock, the gifted goal poacher joined forces with ambitious Queens Park Rangers with whom he helped win promotion to League Division One in the 1972-73 campaign.

Continuously excelling, Givens carried on scoring vital goals for Queens Park Rangers in the First Division and the extremely mobile attacker played an important and instrumental role in the Loftus Road side that finished runners-up to eventual Football League Champions Liverpool in 1975-76. Under the firm and sound leadership of previous Leyton Orient and Chelsea head coach Dave Sexton, he would enjoy a highly productive season in front of goal and his first goals of the term came after finding the back of the net twice during an entertaining 2-2 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux Grounds on the 26th of August. The Shannonsider then notched the opening goal in a 1-1 draw at home to West Ham United four days later and netted another opener in a 5-0 home triumph against Everton on the 11th of October before hitting the winner in a 1-0 victory over bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United on home soil on the 25th of the same month. On the 1st of November, he scored in a 1-1 draw with Coventry City at Highfield Road and also found the target in a 1-1 draw against Ipswich Town at Portman Road a fortnight later. He continued his good scoring form during the second half of the season, netting six more times and becoming the club´s top scorer with 13 goals in total.

Don Givens remained a regular scorer at Queens Park Rangers over the next two seasons, scoring 14 First Division goals in 78 games. Unfortunately, Loftus Road manager Frank Sibley had been struggling to fill the shoes of predecessor Sexton and the West London outfit were in serious decline, both on and off the football field. Following 76 goals in 242 Football League appearances for Queens Park Rangers, Givens signed with Birmingham City on a free transfer in the summer of 1978 and was a member of the St Andrew´s team which clinched promotion to Division One two years later. While a Birmingham player, he was shipped out on loan to AFC Bournemouth where he would score four goals in five Fourth Division appearances for The Cherries during the second half of the 1979-80 season. The Irishman proceeded to notch 10 Football League goals from 59 appearances for The Blues before he was sold to Third Division Sheffield United for a fee of £20,000 at the back end of the 1980-81 campaign, but his stay at Bramall Lane was to be very short as he made a move to Neuchatel Xamax in the summer of 1981. During his time at Neuchatel, he hit 34 goals in 149 National League outings for Xamax and won the Swiss Championship with the club in the 1986-87 season.

An archetypal take-no-prisoners centre forward, Don Givens accumulated 19 hits in 56 senior appearances for the Republic of Ireland during an international career spanning almost 12 years. He was given his senior debut for his native country in a 2-0 World Cup Qualifier defeat to Denmark at Idraetsparken in Copenhagen on the 27th of May 1969 and scored his first goal for his nation in a 2-1 World Cup Qualifier loss to Hungary at Dalymount Park on the 8th of June the same year. Arguably, the highlight of his international career arrived when he registered a hat-trick in a 3-0 European Championship Qualifier win over the Soviet Union in front of a crowd of nearly 35,000 people at Dalymount Park on the 30th of October 1974. He netted his last goal for the Republic of Ireland in a 2-0 friendly victory against Switzerland at Lansdowne Park on the 30th of April 1980 and made his final appearance for The Boys in Green in a 3-2 World Cup Qualifier win over France in Dublin on the 14th of October 1981. Don Givens Playing Career: Manchester United, Luton Town, Queens Park Rangers, Birmingham City, AFC Bournemouth, Sheffield United, Neuchatel Xamax.