Richard Dunne facts for kids
Dunne with the Republic of Ireland in 2013
|
||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Richard Patrick Dunne | |||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 21 September 1979 | |||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Tallaght, Dublin, Ireland | |||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.88 m | |||||||||||||||
| Playing position | Centre-back | |||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||
| –1994 | Home Farm | |||||||||||||||
| 1994–1996 | Everton | |||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† | |||||||||||||
| 1996–2000 | Everton | 60 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2000–2009 | Manchester City | 296 | (7) | |||||||||||||
| 2009–2013 | Aston Villa | 95 | (4) | |||||||||||||
| 2013–2015 | Queens Park Rangers | 64 | (1) | |||||||||||||
| Total | 515 | (12) | ||||||||||||||
| National team | ||||||||||||||||
| 1997–1999 | Republic of Ireland B | 2 | (1) | |||||||||||||
| 2000–2013 | Republic of Ireland | 80 | (8) | |||||||||||||
|
Honours
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
Richard Patrick Dunne (born 21 September 1979) is a former Irish professional footballer. He played as a centre-back, which is a defender who plays in the middle of the field. Richard Dunne made 431 appearances in the Premier League, including 253 games for Manchester City.
Dunne started his football journey at Everton. He then spent almost ten years playing for Manchester City. In 2009, he joined Aston Villa, and later signed with Queens Park Rangers in 2013. He also played for the Republic of Ireland from 2000 to 2014. With Ireland, he was part of the team for the 2002 FIFA World Cup and played in UEFA Euro 2012. Richard Dunne announced he was retiring from football in November 2015. Today, he works as a youth coach at Manchester City's academy and is a television pundit for TNT Sports.
Richard Dunne shares the Premier League record for being sent off (getting a red card) the most times – eight times. He also holds the Premier League record for scoring the most own goals, with ten.
Contents
Richard Dunne's Club Career
Playing for Everton
Richard Dunne started playing schoolboy football in Dublin for Home Farm. He joined Everton when he was 15 years old in the 1994–95 season. The next season, he began playing for Everton's reserve team. In early 1997, Dunne signed a professional contract for five years. He was part of the successful team that won the FA Youth Cup in 1998.
Dunne made his first team debut for Everton in 1997, when he was seventeen. Sometimes, he played in a different position than his usual centre-back role, like right-back.
Playing for Manchester City
In 2000, Manchester City signed Richard Dunne for £3.5 million. He joined his old manager, Joe Royle, there. Dunne quickly became a key player in the centre of defence. In his first season, City was relegated to the First Division. However, they quickly returned to the Premier League, winning the First Division championship in 2002.
After facing some challenges off the field in 2003, Dunne worked hard on his fitness. He returned to the first team and soon got called back to play for his country. Because of his strong performances, Dunne won Manchester City's Player of the Year award four times. He won it in 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, and 2007–08. This made him the first player to win the award so many times. In 2006, at age 26, Dunne became the club captain.
On 18 January 2007, his teammate Micah Richards said that Richard was one of the best players he had ever played with. In July 2008, Dunne signed a new four-year contract with Manchester City. He continued to play well during the 2008–09 season. He scored a goal on his 29th birthday in a 6–0 win against Portsmouth.
Playing for Aston Villa
After new defenders joined Manchester City, Richard Dunne moved to Aston Villa in August 2009. The fee for his transfer was £5 million, and he signed a four-year deal.
Dunne played his first game for Villa in a 1–0 win against Birmingham City. On 5 October 2009, he scored his first goal for Villa against his old club, Manchester City. He chose not to celebrate the goal out of respect for his former team. He scored again later that month in a 2–1 win against Chelsea. In 2010, he played for Aston Villa in the 2010 Football League Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, where they lost to Manchester United. He was also named in the PFA Team of the Year for the 2009–10 season.
In March 2011, Dunne faced a fine from Aston Villa. At the end of the 2010–11 season, he had played 35 games for Villa. In February 2012, Dunne broke his right collarbone during a match against Manchester City. He had surgery the next day. In May 2013, Aston Villa announced that Dunne would be leaving the club.
Playing for Queens Park Rangers
.jpg)
Richard Dunne joined Queens Park Rangers (QPR) on 15 July 2013. He signed on a free transfer, meaning no fee was paid. He played his first game for QPR in the League Cup. He scored his first goal for QPR against Burnley in February 2014. In his first season, he played 45 games and helped QPR get promoted back to the Premier League. They won the 2014 Football League Championship play-off final against Derby County.
Dunne holds the record for the most own goals in the Premier League. He scored his tenth own goal in a 3–2 loss against Liverpool in October 2014. QPR was relegated from the Premier League that season. Dunne played 24 games for them.
On 31 May 2015, Dunne's contract with QPR ended. He officially announced his retirement from football in November 2015. He now lives in Monte Carlo with his wife and two children.
Richard Dunne's International Career
Richard Dunne played for the Republic of Ireland national under-19 football team in 1997. He made his debut for the senior Republic of Ireland on 26 April 2000. His first international goal came two months later against Mexico. He helped his team come back from 2–0 down to draw 2–2. He also scored his first goal in a competitive international match in a 2–0 win against Estonia. This was during Ireland's successful qualification for the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
Dunne was part of the Irish squad for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. However, he did not play in any matches. He scored his fourth international goal in a friendly game against Turkey in 2003. During the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, Dunne played in most of the matches. He scored a goal against Cyprus in a 5–2 loss.
When Giovanni Trapattoni became Ireland manager for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification, Dunne became Ireland's main central defender. He played in all ten games, helping Ireland finish second in their group. He scored goals in both 1–1 draws with Bulgaria. He also played in both play-off matches against France. Ireland was knocked out controversially after Thierry Henry handled the ball before setting up a goal. Dunne was famously pictured looking upset on the pitch in Paris after the game.
On 6 September 2011, Dunne played a fantastic game against Russia in Moscow. He was named man of the match for his efforts. Many people, including former Ireland defender Paul McGrath, called it one of the best performances by an Irish central defender ever.
On 11 October 2011, Dunne scored his eighth international goal in a 2–1 win against Armenia. This win helped Ireland get a play-off spot for UEFA Euro 2012. After Ireland qualified for Euro 2012, Dunne said it was "the best experience I've probably had in football." He played in all three of Ireland's matches at Euro 2012.
On 2 June 2013, Dunne returned to the national team after a year. He played as a substitute in a 4–0 win against Georgia. He also played in a competitive game against Sweden in September 2013.
On 31 July 2014, Richard Dunne announced his retirement from international football.
Media Career
After retiring from playing football in 2015, Richard Dunne joined BT Sport. He became a pundit, which means he gives his expert opinions on football matches. He covers games from the Premier League, FA Cup, UEFA Champions League, and UEFA Europa League. People often praise him for his smart and clear comments.
Personal Life
Richard Dunne is related to other footballers. Theo Dunne is his uncle, and Gavin Molloy is his second cousin.
Honours
Everton
- FA Youth Cup: 1997–98
Manchester City
- Football League First Division: 2001–02
Aston Villa
- Football League Cup runner-up: 2009–10
Queens Park Rangers
- Football League Championship play-offs: 2014
Republic of Ireland
- UEFA European Under-18 Football Championship: 1998
- Nations Cup: 2011
Individual
- PFA Team of the Year: 2009–10 Premier League
- FAI Senior International Player of the Year: 2007, 2011
- Manchester City Player of the Year: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
See also
In Spanish: Richard Dunne para niños
