Born in
Huyton,
Merseyside, Dunbavin attended
Christ the King Catholic High School in
Southport before being offered a two-year scholarship deal at Liverpool in June 1996. He went on to sign a professional two-year deal in 1998 but ultimately went on to make no appearances for his boyhood club, leaving the club for
Division Three side
Shrewsbury Town on 17 January 2000 on a free transfer. On 30 June 2004, Dunbavin left Shrewsbury following the expiration of his contract. Prior to the expiration of his contract, Dunbavin had spent time on trial in January with Scottish
second-tier side
Raith Rovers and
Second Division club
Wrexham, with no move to either club eventually materialising. He made 101 appearances in all-competitions for Shrewsbury. On 12 July 2004, Dunbavin joined
Conference National side
Halifax Town, then managed by
Chris Wilder. He signed an additional one-year contract with the club in April 2005 before being sent out on loan to fellow Conference outfit, and the now-defunct
Scarborough in November 2005. Following his release from Halifax at the end of the 2005–06 season, Dunbavin joined newly promoted
Football League Two club
Accrington Stanley on 1 July 2006. In August 2009, Dunbavin received a suspended sentence, for his part in a brawl for which his friend Steven Gerrard had previously been arrested. The move came after Dunbavin's falling out with then-manager
James Beattie which resulted in him being dropped in favour of young loanee
Marcus Bettinelli. He remained with Chesterfield until the end of the season, with Chesterfield going on to be promoted back to
League One at the first time of asking as well as finishing runners-up to
Peterborough United in the
Football League Trophy. Following his return to Accrington at the end of the season, Dunbavin had the final year of his contract terminated by mutual consent on 5 July 2014. He made 161 appearances in all-competitions during his 8-year stay with the Lancashire club. Despite receiving offers elsewhere following his departure from Stanley, and speculated interest from newly promoted Chesterfield, the club at which he had spent half a season on loan prior to his release, Accrington would go on to be Dunbavin's last club as a player. He returned to Liverpool's academy on a part-time basis in 2014, coaching the academy's under-6 to under-16 teams before becoming a full-time coach at the club in October 2016. ==Career statistics==