Richard Dunne facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Richard Dunne

Dunne with the Republic of Ireland in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Richard Patrick Dunne
Date of birth	(1979-09-21) 21 September 1979 (age 45)
Place of birth	Tallaght, Dublin, Ireland
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s)	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	(8)
2009–2013	Aston Villa	95	(4)
2013–2015	Queens Park Rangers	64	(1)
Total		515	(12)
International career
1997–1999	Republic of Ireland B	2	(1)
2000–2013	Republic of Ireland	80	(8)
Medal record Representing  Republic of Ireland Men's association football UEFA European Under-18 Championship Gold 1998 Cyprus
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Richard Patrick Dunne (born 21 September 1979) is an Irish former professional footballer. He played as a centre-back, which is a defender in the middle of the field. Richard also works as a television expert for TNT Sports.

He played in 431 Premier League games. A big part of this was 253 games for Manchester City. Richard started his career at Everton. He then spent almost ten years at Manchester City. Later, he joined Aston Villa in 2009. In July 2013, he moved to Queens Park Rangers.

Richard also played for the Republic of Ireland from 2000 to 2014. He was part of the team for the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He also played in UEFA Euro 2012. Richard announced he was retiring from football in November 2015. This happened after he left Queens Park Rangers. He now works as a youth coach at Manchester City's academy.

Richard Dunne shares a Premier League record. He was sent off eight times, just like Patrick Vieira and Duncan Ferguson. He also holds the Premier League record for scoring ten own goals. An own goal is when a player accidentally scores into their own team's net.

Richard Dunne's Football Journey

Starting at Everton

Richard Dunne played schoolboy football in Dublin for Home Farm. He joined Everton when he was 15 years old in 1994. The next season, he started playing for Everton's reserve team. In 1997, Richard signed a five-year professional contract. He was part of the successful 1998 FA Youth Cup team. Other players in that team included Tony Hibbert and Leon Osman.

Richard made his first team debut in 1997. He was only seventeen years old. Sometimes, he played in a different position, at right-back.

Time at Manchester City

Dunne captaining Manchester City in 2008 against Manchester United in a local derby.

In 2000, Manchester City signed Richard Dunne. They paid £3.5 million for him. He joined his old manager, Joe Royle, there. Richard quickly became a key player in the center of defense.

In his first season, City was moved down to the First Division. A new manager, Kevin Keegan, took over. Manchester City quickly returned to the Premier League. They won the First Division championship in the 2001–02 season. Richard faced some challenges in 2003. But he worked hard to get back into the first team. Soon after, he was called up to play for his country again.

Richard played very well consistently. He won Manchester City's Player of the Year award four times. He won it in the 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, and 2007–08 seasons. This made him the first player to win this award so many times. In 2006, when he was 26, Richard became the team captain.

On 18 January 2007, his teammate Micah Richards said that Richard was one of the best players he had ever played with. He even compared him to famous defenders like John Terry and Rio Ferdinand.

On 4 July 2008, Richard signed a new four-year contract. This meant he would stay at Manchester City until 2012.

Richard continued to play well during the 2008–09 season. He started 47 games in all competitions. He scored a goal on his 29th birthday. This was in a 6–0 win against Portsmouth on 21 September 2008. He also received his eighth Premier League red card in January 2009. This equaled a record held by Patrick Vieira and Duncan Ferguson.

Moving to Aston Villa

In August 2009, Richard Dunne moved to Aston Villa. The fee for the transfer was £5 million. He signed a four-year deal with the club.

Richard made his first appearance for Villa in a 1–0 win. This was against Birmingham City. On 5 October 2009, he scored his first goal for Villa. It was against his old club, Manchester City, in a 1–1 draw. He showed respect by not celebrating his goal. He scored his second goal later that month against Chelsea.

On 28 February 2010, he played for Aston Villa in the 2010 Football League Cup Final. They lost to Manchester United at Wembley Stadium. Richard was chosen for the PFA Team of the Year for the 2009–10 season. This means he was one of the best players in the league that year.

Richard played 35 games for Villa in the 2010–11 season. In February 2012, Richard broke his right collarbone. This happened during a game against his former club, Manchester City. He had surgery the next day. In May 2013, Aston Villa announced that Richard would leave the club for free.

Playing for Queens Park Rangers

Dunne (left) marking Eden Hazard whilst playing for Queens Park Rangers.

Richard Dunne joined Queens Park Rangers (QPR) on 15 July 2013. He joined them for free. He played his first game for QPR in the League Cup. He scored his first goal for QPR against Burnley on 1 February 2014.

In his first season at QPR, he played 45 games and scored one goal. He helped the team get promoted back to the Premier League. This happened after they won the 2014 Football League Championship play-off final against Derby County.

Richard 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 on 19 October 2014. In that game, QPR scored two own goals, which helped Liverpool win.

QPR was moved down from the Premier League that season. Richard played 24 games for them. On 31 May 2015, Richard's contract with QPR ended. He announced his retirement from football in November 2015. He now lives in Monte Carlo with his wife and two children.

International Career for Ireland

Richard Dunne after a famous performance for Ireland against Russia in Moscow. Dunne's contributions helped seal eventual qualification for UEFA Euro 2012.

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. This was in a friendly game against Greece. His first international goal came just two months later against Mexico. He helped his team come back from 2–0 down to draw 2–2.

He was chosen for the Irish squad that played in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. However, he did not play in any games. Richard scored his fourth international goal in a friendly game against Turkey in 2003.

Giovanni Trapattoni became Ireland's manager for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification. He made Richard Dunne the first-choice central defender. Richard played in all ten games. He helped Ireland finish second and qualify for a play-off. He also scored goals in two 1–1 draws against Bulgaria. He was named man of the match in the away game in Sofia.

He played in both games against France in the play-off. Ireland was knocked out 2–1 on aggregate. Richard was famously seen sitting sadly on the pitch in Paris after the game.

On 6 September 2011, Richard played a full 90 minutes in a 0–0 draw against Russia in Moscow. Many people said this was one of the best performances of his career. He almost single-handedly stopped the Russian team. Former Ireland defender Paul McGrath said it was the best performance he had ever seen from an Irish central defender.

On 11 October 2011, Richard scored his eighth goal for Ireland. This was in a 2–1 win against Armenia. This win helped Ireland get a play-off spot for UEFA Euro 2012. After the team qualified for UEFA Euro 2012, Richard said it was "the best experience I've probably had in football." He played in all three of Ireland's games at UEFA Euro 2012.

Dunne in action for Ireland in September 2013.

On 2 June 2013, Richard returned to the national team after a year. He played as a substitute against Georgia in a 4–0 win. On 31 July 2014, Richard Dunne announced his retirement from international football.

Life After Football

After retiring from playing in 2015, Richard joined BT Sport. He became a pundit, which means he gives his expert opinions on football games. He covers the Premier League, FA Cup, UEFA Champions League, and UEFA Europa League. People have praised Richard for his smart and strong opinions as a pundit.

Personal Life

Richard Dunne is related to other footballers. Theo Dunne is his uncle, and Gavin Molloy is his second cousin.

Career Statistics

Club Appearances

International Goals

Scores and results list Republic of Ireland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Dunne goal.

List of international goals scored by Richard Dunne

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	4 June 2000	Soldier Field, Chicago, United States	Mexico		2–2	2000 U.S. Cup
2	11 October 2000	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	Estonia		2–0	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
3	6 June 2001	Lilleküla Stadium, Tallinn, Estonia	Estonia		2–0	2002 FIFA World Cup qualification
4	9 September 2003	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	Turkey		2–2	Friendly
5	7 October 2006	Neo GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus	Cyprus		2–5	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
6	28 March 2009	Croke Park, Dublin	Bulgaria		1–1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
7	6 June 2009	Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria	Bulgaria		1–1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
8	11 October 2011	Aviva Stadium, Dublin	Armenia		2–1	UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying

Awards and Achievements

Aston Villa

• Football League Cup runner-up: 2009–10 (This means they reached the final but did not win)

Republic of Ireland

• Nations Cup: 2011 (They won this tournament)

See also

In Spanish: Richard Dunne para niños