.jpg) Healy withFulham in 2007 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | David Jonathan Healy[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1979-08-05)5 August 1979 (age 46)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Killyleagh,County Down, Northern Ireland[3] | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[4] | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Linfield (manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1995–1999 | Manchester United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1999–2001 | Manchester United | 1 | (0) |
| 2000 | →Port Vale (loan) | 16 | (3) |
| 2000–2001 | →Preston North End (loan) | 2 | (1) |
| 2001–2004 | Preston North End | 137 | (44) |
| 2003 | →Norwich City (loan) | 5 | (1) |
| 2003 | →Norwich City (loan) | 8 | (1) |
| 2004–2007 | Leeds United | 111 | (29) |
| 2007–2008 | Fulham | 30 | (4) |
| 2008–2011 | Sunderland | 13 | (1) |
| 2010 | →Ipswich Town (loan) | 12 | (1) |
| 2010–2011 | →Doncaster Rovers (loan) | 8 | (2) |
| 2011–2012 | Rangers | 19 | (4) |
| 2012–2013 | Bury | 16 | (1) |
| Total | 378 | (92) | |
| International career | |||
| 1993–1994 | Northern Ireland U15 | 10 | (6) |
| 1994–1995 | Northern Ireland U16 | 2 | (1) |
| 1995–1997 | Northern Ireland U18 | 5 | (2) |
| 1998–1999 | Northern Ireland U21 | 8 | (4) |
| 1999 | Northern Ireland B | 1 | (0) |
| 2000–2013 | Northern Ireland | 95 | (36) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2015– | Linfield | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
David Jonathan Healy (born 5 August 1979) is a Northern Irish footballmanager and former professionalfootballer who is in charge atNIFL Premiership clubLinfield. Astriker during his playing career, he is the men's all-time leading scorer forNorthern Ireland with36 goals.
He also held the record for the joint highest scoring tally during aUEFA European Championship qualifying campaign, with 13 goals. He shared this record withRobert Lewandowski, until it was surpassed byRomelu Lukaku.
Healy began his career as ayouth team player atManchester United in 1995, turning professional in 1999, but signed forPreston North End two years later after a short loan spell. He spent three years with Preston, maintaining a healthy goal-to-games ratio, beforetransferring toLeeds United in 2004. After three years at Leeds, he moved on toFulham for a season before settling atSunderland in 2008. He moved north to Scotland to play forRangers in January 2011. He helped the club to theSPL title in 2010–11 and also played in the2011League Cup final victory, before departing at the end of the 2011–12 season, when hiscontract expired. He joinedBury for a one-season spell in August 2012. In addition to these clubs, he has also played forPort Vale,Norwich City,Ipswich Town, andDoncaster Rovers on loan. Bury released him in May 2013, and he retired in November 2013 after failing to find a club. Before representing his country at a senior level, he also played for both theunder-21 team and theB team.
He began his management career with Linfield in October 2015 and led the club to aNIFL Premiership,Irish Cup andCounty Antrim Shield treble in 2016–17. The following season proved a disappointment before they secured the league title and theNorthern Ireland Football League Cup in 2018–19. They retained the Premiership trophy in 2019–20 and would win another Premiership and Irish Cup double in 2020–21. He then guided Linfield to a fourth consecutive league title in the 2021–22 season, though had to wait until the 2024–25 campaign for another league title.
Healy was born and raised in Killyleagh, Northern Ireland, and played for Crossgar, Lisburn Youth and Down Academy High School inDownpatrick.[3] He made eight appearances forManchester United's junior B team in the 1995–96 season and signed for the club as a trainee in June 1996. He made 28 league appearances for the B team in 1996–97 and finished the season as top scorer with 25 goals. He signed as a professional in November 1997 and scored a combined 20 league goals for the A and B teams in 1997–98. He made his debut for thereserve team in April 1998, coming on as asubstitute forOle Gunnar Solskjær in a 2–0 win overBirmingham City. In 1998–99, he remained a prolific scorer for theyouth team, scoring 11 goals in 11 appearances to finish as the team's top scorer for the season while also becoming a regular for the reserves. He only managed two goals in 12 league appearances. However, he was more productive in theManchester Senior Cup, scoring four in five, including opening the scoring in the final againstOldham Athletic, which United won 3–0.
Healy made his first appearances for the Manchester United first-team in pre-season ahead of the 1999–2000 campaign, coming on forAndy Cole in a 9–0 win overOmagh Town on 3 August 1999, before coming on forNicky Butt in a 2–0 win overWigan Athletic the next day. He made his competitive senior debut for United on 13 October 1999, coming on forDanny Higginbotham in the 66th minute of a 3–0 away defeat toAston Villa in theLeague Cup. He remained a regular in the reserves that season, playing 13 times and scoring eight goals before being sent on loan toPort Vale in February 2000. He managed just three goals in 16 games forBrian Horton's side, who wererelegated to Division Two.
In 2000–01, Healy was included in the Manchester United squad for their Champions League second group stage match againstPanathinaikos on 21 November 2000. However, he did not come off the bench. A week later, he made his second appearance for the club away toSunderland, again in the League Cup; with the score at 1–1 early in extra time, Healy came on forLuke Chadwick, and hit the crossbar, but Sunderland were able to find a winner from a latepenalty.[5] He made hisPremier League debut on 23 December 2000 in a 2–0 victory againstIpswich Town atOld Trafford; he came on as substitute in the 60th minute, and with 10 minutes remaining, he hit the post denying him a debut goal.[6] This was his final appearance for United as he signed forFirst Division clubPreston 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.[7] 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-yearcontract.[8][9][10]
Healy made his debut for Preston againstSheffield United on 30 December 2000; he scored after just four minutes in the 3−2 loss atBramall Lane.[7] In the remainder of the2000–01 season, Healy made 26 appearances for Preston and scored 10 goals. He was a virtual ever-present inthe 2001–02 season, appearing in 44 league games and scoring 10 goals. In the2002–03 season he was less successful afterCraig Brown replaced the departedDavid Moyes.[11] By the end of January 2003 he had made only 23 league appearances but scored five goals. Healy joinedNigel Worthington'sNorwich 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 pastSheffield Wednesday[12] andWimbledon.[13] Having attempted to sign him from Man United two years previously, Norwich attempted to sign Healy permanently from Preston but were denied by Brown.[11] He found his scoring form again in2003–04, and netted 15 times in 42 matches for Preston. He was given theclub's Player of the Year award for this feat.
Aiming for a move away fromDeepdale, Healy got his wish in October 2004, as he was signed byLeeds United for a £650,000 fee.[11] In his first season at Leeds he was the club's joint top scorer alongsideBrian Deane with seven goals, despite only joining Leeds halfway through the season.[14] During his time atElland 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 toManchester City.[11] He again finished as joint top scorer in the2005–06 season, both he andRob Hulse on 14 goals. Leeds reached theplay-off finals this season but lost inthe final 3–0 toWatford. During the management ofKevin Blackwell, Healy found himself regularly being played out of position at Leeds, mainly as a right-winger, with Leeds rotating Hulse,Cresswell andBlake up front. Healy then finished the following2006–07 season as Leeds' top scorer with ten goals. With Leeds relegated intoLeague One, he left the club at the end of the campaign.
Healy reunited with former Northern Ireland bossLawrie Sanchez atFulham in July 2007 for a reported fee of around £1.5 million.[15] He scored his first goal for Fulham in a pre-seasonfriendly againstSouth China in theAsia Trophy, with a low divingheader. He scored fifty seconds into his league debut for the club following a mistake fromArsenal keeperJens Lehmann. He also found the net in his second game againstBolton Wanderers, in a 2–1 win atCraven Cottage. However, he only scored two further top-flight goals in the season (pastReading and Sunderland), as well as two cup goals past Bolton andBristol Rovers. Following the sacking of Sanchez, newmanagerRoy Hodgson preferred astrike partnership of the American pairing ofBrian McBride andEddie Johnson, leaving Healy on the bench.[16]
In July 2008, Healy caused controversy when he adopted the posture of a flute player (similar to a previous incident involvingPaul Gascoigne) in response to a question posed by Celtic fans chanting, "Where were you onthe Twelfth?" during a pre-season friendly match againstCeltic atCraven Cottage. Healy subsequently apologised profusely for any offence he may have caused and signed many autographs for Celtic fans after the game.[17] He remained out of favour with Roy Hodgson, who regarded his signingsAndy Johnson andBobby Zamora ahead of Healy in the pecking order.[11]
In August 2008, Healy joinedSunderland on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee, believed to be worth £1.2 million.[18] 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 againstNottingham Forest.[19] Healy also scored in theFA Cup againstBlackburn Rovers.[20] Healy scored his firstPremier League goal for the club in a 2–0 home win againstStoke City on 7 February 2009.[21] He managed to score in every competition that Sunderland were entered into in his first season with the club. He was sent out on loan toIpswich Town during the winter 2010transfer window along with teammateDaryl Murphy.[22] He made his debut againstMiddlesbrough on 6 February 2010, helping Ipswich to earn a point by setting up Murphy to score with across.[23] He scored his first goal for Ipswich on 24 February 2010, in a 1–1 draw withScunthorpe United, salvaging a point and ending his goal drought by scoring for the first time in over a year.[24] Healy joinedDoncaster Rovers on loan in November 2010, to fill the void left by the injuredBilly Sharp.[25] He marked his Doncaster debut with a goal, finding the net in a 2–1 win overMillwall on 6 November.[26] Doncaster extended Healy's loan spell into a second month.[27]
In January 2011, Healy signed forRangers on a six-month deal, intending to sign a longer contract.[28] 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 overMotherwell on 12 February.[29] Upon the expiry of his contract he signed a new one-year deal with the club, tying him to theIbrox club until the end of the2011–12 season.[30] On 2 January 2012, Healy scored his second goal for the club, again against Motherwell, with the opener of a 3–0 win.[31] His third goal for the club came the following week, when he scored the first of a 4–0 victory overArbroath in theScottish Cup.[32] He netted his third league goal of the season for the "Gers" in a 4–0 win overHibernian on 28 January,[33] and got his fourth goal in a 4–1 victory overDunfermline Athletic on 11 February.[34] He left Ibrox at the end of the 2011–12 season following the expiration of his contract.
He signed a one-year deal with League One sideBury in August 2012.[35] He had previously been linked with a return to Preston North End,[36] but managerGraham 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.[37] He made a scoring debut for the "Shakers" on 25 August, converting a penalty in a 2–2 draw withCoventry City at theRicoh Arena.[38] He was limited to one goal in his 19 games in the2012–13 campaign as Bury were relegated intoLeague Two. He was one of 16 players released at the end of the season.[39] Unable to find a club after his release and struggling with persistent ankle injuries, Healy announced his retirement from football on 3 December 2013.[40]
On 31 July 2014, Healy played forGlenavon in a 5–0 loss in a pre-season friendly against his former clubLeeds United.[41] The match was part of Glenavon's 125th anniversary celebrations.[42]
He made his debut forNorthern Ireland on 23 February 2000, putting a brace pastLuxembourg.[43] 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 aWorld Cup qualifying game againstMalta, and he scored his first competitive goal for his country a month later againstDenmark.
On 6 June 2004, in a friendly game away toTrinidad and Tobago (his 35th international), he scored his 13th and 14th goals for Northern Ireland, thus equalling and overtakingColin Clarke's record for the country.[44] In September of that year, Healy was controversiallysent off in Northern Ireland's 2–2 draw withWales. After celebrating his goal to put Northern Ireland 2–0 up, he gestured towards the fans and thereferee sent him off.[45] 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.[46]
On 7 September 2005, atWindsor Park, Healy secured a famous victory for his country againstEngland 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.[11]
He achieved his 50th cap and 20th international goal againstFinland in August 2006, also playing ascaptain.[11] A month later, on 6 September 2006, Healy became the first man since Colin Clarke to score ahat-trick for Northern Ireland and the first sinceGeorge Best to do so in Belfast. His three goals gave Northern Ireland a historic 3–2 victory overSpain.[11] Healy followed this feat with the winner againstLatvia on 11 October 2006.[47] In the following international game, againstLiechtenstein, he scored a second hat-trick, thus becoming the first player ever to score two hat-tricks for Northern Ireland.[48]
He scored both of Northern Ireland's goals in a 2–1 win againstSweden on 28 March 2007,[49] and two more against Liechtenstein on 22 August, followed by a penalty away toIceland on 12 September. On 17 November 2007, when he scored against Denmark, it was his 13th goal in theUEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group F tournament (in eleven games). This made him the highest-ever goalscorer in a qualifying campaign for theUEFA European Championship. The previous record of twelve goals in ten games had been set byDavor Šuker ofCroatia in 1996. As a result, Healy was presented with the award byMichel 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."[50]
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."[51] Despite finding a new club, Healy was left out of the Northern Ireland squad for the2014 FIFA World Cupqualifiers in 2012 by new managerMichael O'Neill.[52] On 14 November 2012, he marked his return to international duty with an equalising goal from the bench againstAzerbaijan – it was his first international goal in four years.[53]
He won a total of 95 senior caps, making him Northern Ireland's fourth mostcapped outfield player and fourth overall in the nation's all-time appearances chart behindSteven Davis (140), goalkeeperPat Jennings (119), Aaron Hughes (112) andJonny Evans (107). His 36 international goals make him the nation's all-time leading goalscorer by a considerable distance.
Healy was appointed manager ofNIFL Premiership sideLinfield in October 2015, the club he had supported all his life.[57][58] He steered the "Blues" to a second-place finish in2015–16, eight points behindCrusaders. On 7 February 2017, he won his first managerial honour as Linfield beat Crusaders 3–1 in theCounty Antrim Shield.[59] On 25 February, he was given a six-game general ban after being dismissed from thetouchline for the third time of the season.[60] Despite this setback, the "Blues" went on to win the league title in2016–17, and ended the campaign with a treble after beatingColeraine 3–0 in the final of theIrish Cup.[61] He went on to add theCharity Shield to Linfield's honours with a 3–1 victory over Coleraine atThe Oval.[62] They went on to lose toCeltic in thesecond round of qualification for theUEFA Champions League in the2017–18 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 theNorthern Irish League Cup final with a 1–0 over Ballymena United.[63]
Healy won his second league title as a manager during the2018–19 campaign, with Linfield finishing seven points ahead of second-placed Ballymena United and Healy also being named Manager of the Year.[64] He also added theLeague Cup to his collection, as Linfield defeated Ballymena United 1–0 in the final.[65] Linfield also reached the 2019 County Antrim Shield final, losing out 4–3 to Crusaders.[66] 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".[67]
The2019–20 season was ended early due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Northern Ireland, and Linfield were crowned champions after finishing ahead of Coleraine on points per game.[68] Healy said that it was unfortunate that they were unable to secure the title on thepitch but was pleased that they were "rightly crowned champions".[69]
Linfield retained the league title in the2020–21 campaign and on 21 May, Healy won his second Irish Cup when his Linfield side defeatedLarne 2–1.[70] He was linked with a move to Irish clubDundalk and stated that "I certainly don't want outstay my welcome [at Linfield]".[71][72] Healy was also named as the NI Football Awards manager of the year for the third time.[73]
Despite securing a fourth consecutive title at the end of the2021–22 season, Healy stated that he had "never quite won the supporters over" and that online abuse was starting to affect his family.[74][75] He was named as Manager of the Year for the fourth time at the annual Northern Ireland Football Awards.[76]
Linfield won the 2022–23 edition of the Northern Ireland Football League Cup, beating Coleraine 2–0 in the final.[77] They finished second in the Premiership at the end of the2022–23 season, six points behind Larne.[78] Linfield won the Northern Ireland Football League Cup by beatingPortadown 3–1.[79] The NIFL Premiership title again when to Larne, however, as Linfield finished five points behind them in second place.[80] They also finished as runners-up in the Irish Cup following a 3–1 loss toCliftonville after extra-time.[81] Healy vowed to use the defeat as motivation for future success.[82]
Healy signedKieran Offord andCallumn Morrison in January 2025.[83] He won his sixth league title as Linfield manager in the2024–25 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.[84] Linfield offered him a contract extension ahead of an approach fromScottish Premiership clubDundee.[85]
Healy is married to Emma and they have three children: daughters Taylor and Tallulah, and son Jude.[86] He was appointedMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the2008 Birthday Honours for services to football.[87] He was namedBBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year in 2005 and 2007.[88]
Healy endorsedAlex Easton for the2024 United Kingdom general election inNorth Down.[89]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Manchester United | 1999–2000[90] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2000–01[91] | Premier League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Port Vale (loan) | 1999–2000[90] | First Division | 16 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 3 |
| Preston North End | 2000–01[91] | First Division | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2000–01[91] | First Division | 21 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3[a] | 1 | 25 | 9 | |
| 2001–02[92] | First Division | 44 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 10 | |
| 2002–03[93] | First Division | 22 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 5 | |
| 2003–04[94] | First Division | 38 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 15 | |
| 2004–05[95] | Championship | 11 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 5 | |
| Total | 137 | 44 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 156 | 45 | ||
| Norwich City (loan) | 2002–03[93] | First Division | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 2 |
| Leeds United | 2004–05[95] | Championship | 28 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 7 |
| 2005–06[96] | Championship | 42 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 48 | 14 | |
| 2006–07[97] | Championship | 41 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 10 | |
| Total | 111 | 29 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 121 | 31 | ||
| Fulham | 2007–08[98] | Premier League | 30 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 6 |
| Sunderland | 2008–09[99] | Premier League | 10 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 3 |
| 2009–10[100] | Premier League | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | |
| Total | 13 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 3 | ||
| Ipswich Town (loan) | 2009–10[100] | Championship | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 |
| Doncaster Rovers (loan) | 2010–11[101] | Championship | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
| Rangers | 2010–11[101] | SPL | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[b] | 0 | 10 | 1 |
| 2011–12[102] | SPL | 11 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 4 | |
| Total | 19 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 24 | 5 | ||
| Bury | 2012–13[103] | League One | 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[c] | 0 | 19 | 1 |
| Career total | 377 | 91 | 21 | 5 | 21 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 428 | 99 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Ireland | 2000 | 7 | 5 |
| 2001 | 8 | 3 | |
| 2002 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2003 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2004 | 10 | 8 | |
| 2005 | 9 | 3 | |
| 2006 | 6 | 5 | |
| 2007 | 8 | 9 | |
| 2008 | 8 | 2 | |
| 2009 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2010 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2011 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2012 | 3 | 1 | |
| 2013 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 95 | 36 |
| Team | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Win % | |||
| Linfield | 14 October 2015 | present | 519 | 327 | 85 | 107 | 1,054 | 478 | +576 | 63.01 |
| Total | 519 | 327 | 85 | 107 | 1,054 | 478 | +576 | 63.01 | ||
Rangers
Individual
Linfield
Individual
