Norwich City Dublin was born in
Leicester. While at school he played for several Leicestershire youth teams, including Wigston Fields and Thurmaston Magpies. He then went on to begin his professional footballing career with Norwich City after leaving school in 1985, but never made a first-team appearance and was released by the club in 1988.
Cambridge United In August 1988, Dublin joined Cambridge United on a free transfer, as a centre-forward, which had been his position at Norwich City. However, due to injuries he had to make a number of appearances at centre-half. His prolific goalscoring helped United to successive promotions. During the
1988–89 season, Dublin was then loaned out for short spells in the Conference with
Barnet and
Wycombe Wanderers. The
1989–90 season saw Cambridge promoted from the
Fourth Division via the
play-offs, when Dublin became the first ever scorer in a Wembley play-off final. In the
1990–91 season, the club were champions of the
Third Division, and the club also reached the quarter-final of the
FA Cup in both seasons, with Dublin scoring at
Arsenal in 1991. In the
1991–92 season, he played a big part in helping Cambridge to their highest ever finishing position in the football league, by finishing in fifth place in the last season of the old
Second Division, but when Cambridge failed to win promotion to the new Premier League via the
play-offs, Dublin was put up for sale. He has since spoken many times of his affection for Cambridge United.
Manchester United Having scored against them in a League Cup tie the previous autumn, Manchester United manager
Alex Ferguson signed Dublin for £1 million on 7 August 1992, fighting off competition from
Chelsea and
Everton. Dublin was something of a surprise purchase for United, after Ferguson had tried to sign
Alan Shearer from
Southampton but lost out to
Blackburn Rovers. He scored in United's fourth Premier League game of the
1992–93 season, a late winner in United's first Premier league victory as they beat Southampton 1–0 at
The Dell. However, on 2 September, he suffered a broken leg against
Crystal Palace in a 1–0 win at
Old Trafford, after a tackle by
Eric Young, and was out of action for six months. By the time he had recovered, however, United had signed
Eric Cantona and the Frenchman was firmly established as first choice strike partner to
Mark Hughes. United won the league that season for the first time since 1967, but Dublin failed to make the 10 Premier League appearances required to automatically gain a title winner's medal. However, he was given a medal as a result of special dispensation from the Premier League. In the
1993–94 season, Dublin regained his fitness, but his first team chances were restricted by the successful partnership of Cantona and Hughes. In December 1993, Ferguson agreed a deal with
Everton manager
Howard Kendall, that would have seen Dublin moving to
Goodison Park, but a member of Everton's board of directors, apparently feeling that Dublin was not worth the money Kendall had offered United, intervened to prevent the transfer going through – this dispute sparked Kendall's resignation as manager. Dublin would remain a United player for another nine months, but never managed to claim a regular place in the first team. He managed five league appearances that season, scoring once in a 3–2 home win over
Oldham Athletic in early April, his goal helping secure a vital victory in the title run-in during a spell when United started to drop points and
Blackburn Rovers were closing in on them. He also managed a further goal in the
Football League Cup second round first leg, as United were beaten 2–1 by
Stoke City at the
Victoria Ground. The goal against Oldham was the only competitive goal that Dublin scored for United at Old Trafford. He was left out of the
FA Cup winning team against Chelsea and failed to make enough appearances to merit another Premier League title winners medal. In September 1994, he was sold to Coventry City for £2 million, which, at the time, was a record signing for Coventry City and one of the largest fees received by Manchester United.
Coventry City In four years with Coventry, Dublin established himself as one of the Premier League's top
strikers and during the
1997–98 season won the first of his four full England caps. That season, he equalled the Coventry City record for most goals in a top division season, with 23 goals in all competitions as they finished 11th. Following
Phil Neal's departure in 1995, the arrival of
Ron Atkinson and
Gordon Strachan would see Dublin fit into an attacking team in the typical Atkinson mould. It included the likes of
Noel Whelan,
John Salako and
Darren Huckerby to add to the already attack minded
Peter Ndlovu. The addition of
Gary McAllister, following
UEFA Euro 1996, was expected to provide mid-table stability after two narrowly won relegation battles, but the team's defensive frailties often undermined Dublin's scoring at the other end. This culminated in possibly one of the greatest escapes in Premier League history in May 1997. Despite having won away to Liverpool (Dublin scoring in the dying seconds) and at home to Chelsea at the start of April, the
Sky Blues could only manage two points from their following three games. City went into the final day second from bottom of the table, needing not only to beat
Tottenham away from home, but also for results elsewhere in the league to go their way for them to escape relegation. They achieved the most unlikely of escapes; first-half goals from Dublin and
Paul Williams gave Coventry a 2–1 win at
White Hart Lane, while
Sunderland lost at
Wimbledon and
Middlesbrough could only manage a draw at
Leeds. Coventry finished the season in 17th place, one point outside the relegation zone. The following season, the Sky Blues improved at home and enjoyed a season of mid-table security. Dublin formed an impressive partnership with
Darren Huckerby which not only produced some memorable goals, but also propelled the Sky Blues to the FA Cup sixth round against
Sheffield United; a game they narrowly lost in a penalty shoot-out. On 8 November 1997, Dublin scored one of the most bizarre goals in Premier League history. Early in the match against
Newcastle, goalkeeper
Shay Given collected a cross from the right and placed the ball in front of him. The ball was still in play, and Dublin, who had attempted to meet the cross and was now behind Given, reappeared and calmly slotted the ball into the empty goal. This led to the joke: ''"Shay Given, the only Irishman who doesn't know where Dublin is."'' The match ended 2-2, with Dublin also scoring City's second goal in the second half. The 1997–98 season also saw Dublin share elite status as the Premier League's top scorer with
Blackburn Rovers'
Chris Sutton and
Liverpool's
Michael Owen – each Englishman scoring 18 league goals. During this season, Blackburn manager
Roy Hodgson tabled a bid which Dublin rejected. He remained at
Highfield Road and contributed to Coventry's best finish to date in the Premiership (11th).
Aston Villa Dublin was controversially excluded from the England
1998 FIFA World Cup squad, despite being the Premier League's joint top-scorer in the 1997–98 season. However, his exploits at club level were still attracting attention from other clubs, and in November 1998, the 29-year-old chose to move to Aston Villa for £5.75 million. In his first four games for the club, he would score seven goals, including a memorable hat-trick against Southampton in only his second game for Villa. As a result, he is one of only six players to score in the first four consecutive games for a Premier League club. In December 1999, while playing for Aston Villa against
Sheffield Wednesday, he sustained a life-threatening broken neck, as a result of which he permanently has a
titanium plate holding three neck
vertebrae together. Just days before suffering this injury, it was reported in the
News of the World that Dublin would soon be sold by Aston Villa for a fee of around £6 million as the club looked to finance a fall in its share value as a result of manager
John Gregory's heavy expenditure on players. However, the injury did not end Dublin's career and he was back in action three months later. In April 2000, a week after returning to the team, he helped Aston Villa reach their first FA Cup final in 43 years, which they lost 1–0 against
Chelsea, scoring a
penalty in the semi-final shoot-out against
Bolton Wanderers. Faced with competition for a first-team place by new signings
Juan Pablo Ángel and
Peter Crouch, Dublin spent several weeks on loan at
First Division Millwall towards the end of the 2001–02 season. In his time there, he scored two goals, against
Stockport County and
Grimsby Town in five league matches to help them into the
play-offs, where despite Dublin's goal in the first leg of the semi-final, against
Villa's arch rivals Birmingham City, Millwall lost 2–1 on aggregate. Following Millwall's elimination from the play-offs, Dublin returned to Aston Villa in time for their final game of the season, against Chelsea at
Stamford Bridge. He replaced
Darius Vassell in the 84th minute and scored Villa's third goal in a 3–1 win. Dublin once again found himself a first-choice striker at the start of the 2002–03 season, partnering Vassell up front. In March 2003, he was sent off at
Villa Park for a headbutt on
Robbie Savage in the
Birmingham derby match, which ended 2–0 to Birmingham City.
Leicester City When his contract expired in the summer of 2004, he was given a
free transfer. He was signed by Leicester City, who had been relegated from the Premier League to the
Championship. In his first season with the club, he scored only four goals in 38 competitive matches. During the
2005–06 season, Dublin lost his place as the team's main striker, but continued to appear as a defender. His contract at Leicester City was terminated by mutual consent on 30 January 2006.
Celtic He was snapped up quickly by then Celtic manager
Gordon Strachan, to cover for the loss of
Chris Sutton, on a contract until the end of the season. At Celtic, Dublin achieved double success, with
Scottish League Cup and
Scottish Premier League winner's medals. On 19 March 2006, Dublin came on as a substitute and scored the final goal as Celtic defeated
Dunfermline 3–0 to win the
Scottish League Cup final, and also played enough matches with Celtic to merit a title medal. In the league, he made three league starts and eight substitute appearances for Celtic, scoring once against
Kilmarnock on 9 April 2006 in a 4–1 win at
Rugby Park. Despite one or two decent performances for the Parkhead outfit, Dublin was released by Strachan in May 2006.
Return to Norwich City in the
FA Cup game with
Tamworth. On 20 September 2006, Norwich City announced that Dublin had joined them until the end of
the 2006–07 season. It marked a return, almost 20 years after leaving, for Dublin to the club where he began his career. He made his debut on 23 September 2006 when he came on as substitute against
Plymouth Argyle. He scored his first competitive goal in Norwich City colours in a 3–3 draw against
Queens Park Rangers on 14 October 2006 at
Loftus Road.
Steve Wilson cited Dublin as the main inspiration behind
Norwich's 4–1 FA Cup 3rd Round win at
Tamworth, in which the striker scored two goals and set up numerous chances for other teammates. Dublin was an important figure in Norwich securing safety from relegation to League One and the supporters recognised his contribution by voting him in second place in the
Norwich City player of the year award, and on 23 May 2007 he ended speculation about his future by signing a new one-year contract at Norwich, keeping him at the club until the end of the 2007–08 season. On 2 September 2007, while working as a pundit on a match between Aston Villa and
Chelsea, Dublin said that this season would be his last as a professional footballer, citing the fact that his "bones have started to talk to him" as the reason, meaning that he did not think his body can handle another season. , 4 May 2008 In the spring of 2008, Dublin was approached by
Jimmy Quinn, then manager of Cambridge United (now in the Conference National), about joining his old club for the 2008–09 season. However, the player would not change his mind about retiring. He was voted the club's
Player of the Year and awarded the
Barry Butler trophy on 26 April 2008 in his final season as a footballer, at his penultimate game, and on his final appearance at
Carrow Road. Dublin played his final game on 4 May 2008, featuring in Norwich's 4–1 loss to Sheffield Wednesday in front of 36,208 fans at
Hillsborough – the highest
Championship attendance that season. When he was taken off in the 66th minute, Dublin received a standing ovation from both sets of supporters and players, and referee
Mark Clattenburg. ==International career==