David Healy (footballer)

Manchester United Healy was born and raised in Killyleagh, Northern Ireland, and played for Crossgar, Lisburn Youth and Down Academy High School in Downpatrick. He made his Premier League debut on 23 December 2000 in a 2–0 victory against Ipswich Town at Old Trafford; he came on as substitute in the 60th minute, and with 10 minutes remaining, he hit the post denying him a debut goal. This was his final appearance for United as he signed for First Division club Preston North End six days later, initially on loan to allow him to play against Sheffield United on 30 December; Healy scored the opening goal as Preston took a 2–0 lead, only to end up losing 3–2. A permanent move was completed on 3 January 2001, as Preston paid Manchester United a fee of £1.5 million, before Healy signed a four-and-a-half-year contract. Preston North End Healy made his debut for Preston against Sheffield United on 30 December 2000; he scored after just four minutes in the 3−2 loss at Bramall Lane. By the end of January 2003 he had made only 23 league appearances but scored five goals. Healy joined Nigel Worthington's Norwich City on a month's loan at the end of January. In the end, he stayed for the remainder of the season. However, in 13 appearances for the "Canaries" he scored only scored past Sheffield Wednesday and Wimbledon. Having attempted to sign him from Man United two years previously, Norwich attempted to sign Healy permanently from Preston but were denied by Brown. During his time at Elland Road he was linked with dozens of moves to other clubs, the most notable rumour reported in the press being a potential £3 million move to Manchester City. He scored his first goal for Fulham in a pre-season friendly against South China in the Asia Trophy, with a low diving header. He scored fifty seconds into his league debut for the club following a mistake from Arsenal keeper Jens Lehmann. He also found the net in his second game against Bolton Wanderers, in a 2–1 win at Craven Cottage. However, he only scored two further top-flight goals in the season (past Reading and Sunderland), as well as two cup goals past Bolton and Bristol Rovers. Following the sacking of Sanchez, new manager Roy Hodgson preferred a strike partnership of the American pairing of Brian McBride and Eddie Johnson, leaving Healy on the bench. In July 2008, Healy caused controversy when he adopted the posture of a flute player (similar to a previous incident involving Paul Gascoigne) in response to a question posed by Celtic fans chanting, "Where were you on the Twelfth?" during a pre-season friendly match against Celtic at Craven Cottage. Healy subsequently apologised profusely for any offence he may have caused and signed many autographs for Celtic fans after the game. He remained out of favour with Roy Hodgson, who regarded his signings Andy Johnson and Bobby Zamora ahead of Healy in the pecking order. Despite this sum he would never start a league game for the "Black Cats". Healy made his debut for Sunderland four days later in the League Cup and marked by scoring the winning goal in extra time against Nottingham Forest. Having scored in his Leeds, Fulham, Sunderland, Doncaster and Northern Ireland debuts, he also marked his first Rangers appearance with a goal, coming off the bench to add the final goal of a 6–0 win over Motherwell on 12 February. Upon the expiry of his contract he signed a new one-year deal with the club, tying him to the Ibrox club until the end of the 2011–12 season. On 2 January 2012, Healy scored his second goal for the club, again against Motherwell, with the opener of a 3–0 win. His third goal for the club came the following week, when he scored the first of a 4–0 victory over Arbroath in the Scottish Cup. He netted his third league goal of the season for the "Gers" in a 4–0 win over Hibernian on 28 January, and got his fourth goal in a 4–1 victory over Dunfermline Athletic on 11 February. He left Ibrox at the end of the 2011–12 season following the expiration of his contract. Bury He signed a one-year deal with League One side Bury in August 2012. He had previously been linked with a return to Preston North End, but manager Graham Westley rejected the chance to re-sign the striker after finding that Preston fans still resented Healy for the manner of his departure eight years ago. He made a scoring debut for the "Shakers" on 25 August, converting a penalty in a 2–2 draw with Coventry City at the Ricoh Arena. He was limited to one goal in his 19 games in the 2012–13 campaign as Bury were relegated into League Two. He was one of 16 players released at the end of the season. Unable to find a club after his release and struggling with persistent ankle injuries, Healy announced his retirement from football on 3 December 2013. On 31 July 2014, Healy played for Glenavon in a 5–0 loss in a pre-season friendly against his former club Leeds United. The match was part of Glenavon's 125th anniversary celebrations. ==International career==

He made his debut for Northern Ireland on 23 February 2000, putting a brace past Luxembourg. He was still only 20 years old; having made his début for Manchester United the previous October, he had just joined Port Vale on loan. His competitive international début came in September 2000, in a World Cup qualifying game against Malta, and he scored his first competitive goal for his country a month later against Denmark. On 6 June 2004, in a friendly game away to Trinidad and Tobago (his 35th international), he scored his 13th and 14th goals for Northern Ireland, thus equalling and overtaking Colin Clarke's record for the country. In September of that year, Healy was controversially sent off in Northern Ireland's 2–2 draw with Wales. After celebrating his goal to put Northern Ireland 2–0 up, he gestured towards the fans and the referee sent him off. Healy later explained that he was celebrating towards his family, and that was how he always celebrated when scoring for his then-club, Preston North End. On 7 September 2005, at Windsor Park, Healy secured a famous victory for his country against England in a World Cup qualifier when he scored the only goal of the game. This was his nation's first win over the English since 1972. In the following international game, against Liechtenstein, he scored a second hat-trick, thus becoming the first player ever to score two hat-tricks for Northern Ireland. He scored both of Northern Ireland's goals in a 2–1 win against Sweden on 28 March 2007, and two more against Liechtenstein on 22 August, followed by a penalty away to Iceland on 12 September. On 17 November 2007, when he scored against Denmark, it was his 13th goal in the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group F tournament (in eleven games). This made him the highest-ever goalscorer in a qualifying campaign for the UEFA European Championship. The previous record of twelve goals in ten games had been set by Davor Šuker of Croatia in 1996. As a result, Healy was presented with the award by Michel Platini, who quoted: "David Healy's record goes down in history and he beat a world-class striker in Davor Suker to do so. The outstanding performance of David in the qualifying competition of the European Championship and his goal tally of 13 goals is a new record and deserves to be recognised. I am sure that this record will last for some time to come and will be hard to beat. This is why I will be presenting him with a special award to celebrate his fantastic achievement." In October 2008, Healy received several death threats after he welcomed an international goal he had scored by saying 'the famine is over'. The goal had come after an uncharacteristic drought at the time. Healy's comments were interpreted by some Scottish and Irish Catholics as a reference to Rangers fans' chant – "'the famine is over, why don't you go home?" Healy claimed to be oblivious that he had offended anyone, saying, "I'm so disappointed and upset that anyone could even try and make this link. And when told about this I was totally bemused." Despite finding a new club, Healy was left out of the Northern Ireland squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in 2012 by new manager Michael O'Neill. On 14 November 2012, he marked his return to international duty with an equalising goal from the bench against Azerbaijan – it was his first international goal in four years. He won a total of 95 senior caps, making him Northern Ireland's fourth most capped outfield player and fourth overall in the nation's all-time appearances chart behind Steven Davis (140), goalkeeper Pat Jennings (119), Aaron Hughes (112) and Jonny Evans (107). His 36 international goals make him the nation's all-time leading goalscorer by a considerable distance. ==Management career==

Linfield launching the IFA Safeguarding Children App in April 2014 Healy was appointed manager of NIFL Premiership side Linfield in October 2015, the club he had supported all his life. He steered the "Blues" to a second-place finish in 2015–16, eight points behind Crusaders. On 7 February 2017, he won his first managerial honour as Linfield beat Crusaders 3–1 in the County Antrim Shield. On 25 February, he was given a six-game general ban after being dismissed from the touchline for the third time of the season. Despite this setback, the "Blues" went on to win the league title in 2016–17, and ended the campaign with a treble after beating Coleraine 3–0 in the final of the Irish Cup. He went on to add the Charity Shield to Linfield's honours with a 3–1 victory over Coleraine at The Oval. They went on to lose to Celtic in the second round of qualification for the UEFA Champions League in the 2017–18 season, and had a disappointing campaign domestically as they finished fourth in the league and exited both cup competitions at the quarter-finals. On 16 February 2019, Healy won his fifth domestic honour with Linfield as they won the Northern Irish League Cup final with a 1–0 over Ballymena United. Healy won his second league title as a manager during the 2018–19 campaign, with Linfield finishing seven points ahead of second-placed Ballymena United and Healy also being named Manager of the Year. He also added the League Cup to his collection, as Linfield defeated Ballymena United 1–0 in the final. Linfield also reached the 2019 County Antrim Shield final, losing out 4–3 to Crusaders. He stated that he was looking to strengthen the first-team in the summer, saying that "we're not just going to be bringing in players for the sake of making up the numbers, we're going to be bringing in players who will be challenging for a starting berth". The 2019–20 season was ended early due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland, and Linfield were crowned champions after finishing ahead of Coleraine on points per game. Healy said that it was unfortunate that they were unable to secure the title on the pitch but was pleased that they were "rightly crowned champions". Linfield retained the league title in the 2020–21 campaign and on 21 May, Healy won his second Irish Cup when his Linfield side defeated Larne 2–1. He was linked with a move to Irish club Dundalk and stated that "I certainly don't want outstay my welcome [at Linfield]". Healy was also named as the NI Football Awards manager of the year for the third time. Despite securing a fourth consecutive title at the end of the 2021–22 season, Healy stated that he had "never quite won the supporters over" and that online abuse was starting to affect his family. He was named as Manager of the Year for the fourth time at the annual Northern Ireland Football Awards. Linfield won the 2022–23 edition of the Northern Ireland Football League Cup, beating Coleraine 2–0 in the final. They finished second in the Premiership at the end of the 2022–23 season, six points behind Larne. Linfield won the Northern Ireland Football League Cup by beating Portadown 3–1. The NIFL Premiership title again when to Larne, however, as Linfield finished five points behind them in second place. They also finished as runners-up in the Irish Cup following a 3–1 loss to Cliftonville after extra-time. Healy vowed to use the defeat as motivation for future success. Healy signed Kieran Offord and Callumn Morrison in January 2025. He won his sixth league title as Linfield manager in the 2024–25 campaign, becoming the first team to secure the title before the league split into top and bottom for the final five games of the season. Linfield offered him a contract extension ahead of an approach from Scottish Premiership club Dundee. Linfield ended the 2025–26 season in fourth place. They won the League Cup after defeating Glentoran in the final. ==Personal life==

Healy is married to Emma and they have three children: daughters Taylor and Tallulah, and son Jude. He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours for services to football. He was named BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year in 2005 and 2007. Healy endorsed Alex Easton for the 2024 United Kingdom general election in North Down. ==Career statistics==

Club International Managerial ==Honours==

As a player Rangers • Scottish Premier League: 2010–11 • Scottish League Cup: 2010–11 Individual • Belfast Telegraph BBC Award: 2000 • Preston North End Player of the Year: 2003–04 • BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year: 2005, 2007 As a manager Linfield • NIFL Premiership: 2016–17, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2024–25 • Irish Cup: 2016–17, 2020–21; runners-up: 2023–24 • Northern Ireland Football League Cup: 2018–19, 2022–23, 2023–24, 2025–26 • County Antrim Shield: 2016–17 • Charity Shield: 2017 Individual • Northern Ireland Manager of the Year: 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22 ==References==