 Garvan playing forCrystal Palace in July 2012 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Owen William Garvan[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1988-01-29)29 January 1988 (age 37)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Dublin, Ireland | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2] | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –2004 | Home Farm | ||
| 2004–2005 | Ipswich Town | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2005–2010 | Ipswich Town | 163 | (13) |
| 2010–2015 | Crystal Palace | 77 | (10) |
| 2014 | →Millwall (loan) | 13 | (0) |
| 2014 | →Bolton Wanderers (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 2015–2017 | Colchester United | 50 | (2) |
| 2017–2018 | St Patrick's Athletic | 19 | (0) |
| Total | 325 | (25) | |
| International career | |||
| Republic of Ireland U15 | |||
| Republic of Ireland U16 | |||
| 2004–2005 | Republic of Ireland U17 | ||
| 2005–2006 | Republic of Ireland U19 | ||
| 2007–2010 | Republic of Ireland U21 | 15 | (4) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Owen William Garvan (born 29 January 1988) is an Irish former professionalfootballer who played as amidfielder.
Garvan began his career in his native Ireland where he played forHome Farm as a schoolboy. He earned a move to England withIpswich Town in 2004, where he helped his side to theFA Youth Cup Final in 2005. He made his professional debut in the2005–06 season and went on to make 174 appearances for the club, scoring 15 goals. After falling out of favour under Ipswich managerRoy Keane, Garvan moved toCrystal Palace in 2010.
Garvan was a member of the Crystal Palace side that earned promotion to thePremier League in 2013 following a 1–0 win overWatford in theplay-off final. He made a handful of Premier League appearances, but was eventually loaned out toMillwall during the same season, and thenBolton Wanderers the following season. When his contract expired after five years with Palace where he had amassed 87 appearances and 11 goals, he joinedLeague One clubColchester United in August 2015. He played 53 times and scored twice for Colchester before leaving in April 2017. Garvan returned to his native country and joinedDublin-based sideSt Patrick's Athletic in July 2017. He spent one season there before leaving the club by mutual consent. Garvan announced his retirement from football in 2020 which was effectively backdated to 2018 meaning he had played his final match at the age of 30.
Garvan represented theRepublic of Ireland at under-15,under-17,under-19 andunder-21 levels. He scored four goals in 15 under-21 appearances between 2007 and 2010.[3]
Born inDublin,[2] Garvan grew up playing forHome Farm in a team coached by his father,Gerry Garvan. His side went undefeated for three years, and were notable for beating aCeltic youth side inGlasgow, a match in which four members of the side ended up joining Celtic.[4]Darren O'Dea,Diarmuid O'Carroll, Gareth Christie and Gareth Walsh were all offered contracts by Celtic, whileChris McCann moved to England to joinBurnley. Garvan also made a move, joiningIpswich Town along with teammatesShane Supple and Michael Synnott.
Garvan moved toIpswich Town in November 2004, where he immediately became a regular in the Ipswich youth teams, helping his side to the final of theFA Youth Cup in 2005. He missed the second leg of the final againstSouthampton after spending the match day in hospital with a viral infection.[5]
Following his success with the youth team, Garvan was handed his professional debut on 6 August 2005, starting in Ipswich's season opening 1–0 win overCardiff City atPortman Road.[6] He established himself as a first-team regular inJoe Royle's side, scoring his first goal for the club in a 2–2 draw with Southampton on 13 September.[7] He ended his first season with three goals in 33 games.[8]
In the2006–07 season, Garvan received the first professionalred card of his career after being sent off for a second bookable offence during a 2–0 home defeat byLeicester City on 10 February 2007.[9] He scored once in his 29 games for the club during the season,[10] scoring the opening goal in a 3–0 win overPlymouth Argyle on 31 March 2007.[11] He then made 45 appearances during the2007–08 season, where he scored three goals.[12]
Garvan continued to hold down a regular starting berth in the2008–09 season by making 39 appearances and scoring seven times.[13] However, under new Ipswich managerRoy Keane, Garvan found first-team appearances scarce, as he went on to make just 28 appearances in2009–10 following two seasons of regular first-team football under his previous manager and fellow countrymanJim Magilton.[14][15] He scored one goal during the campaign with the winner in Ipswich's 2–1FA Cup third round win atBlackpool on 2 January 2010.[16]
At the end of the 2009–10 season, Keane deemed Garvan surplus to requirements and placed him on the transfer list.[15] He had made 174 appearances for Ipswich in all competitions.[2]
After being subject to a £150,000 bid from Ipswich'sChampionship rivalsCrystal Palace in July 2010,[15] Garvan signed for the club for an undisclosed fee on 3 August 2010.[17] He made his debut four days later in Palace's 3–2 home win againstLeicester City.[18] He scored his first goal for his new side on 23 October in a 4–3 defeat atPreston North End.[19] He was sent off againstSheffield United on 20 November for a second bookable offence.[20] He ended the season with 28 appearances for Palace.[21]
Garvan made just 23 appearances during the2011–12 season,[22] but the2012–13 campaign proved to be much more successful for him. In addition to making 32 outings, he scored four times to help his side to theplay-offs and reach theWembleyfinal.[23] He played for 84 minutes in the play-off final against Watford on 27 May 2013. His side won 1–0 inextra time courtesy of aKevin Phillips penalty.[24] Immediately following Palace's play-off success, he and teammatePeter Ramage signed new two-year deals to remain with the club until 2015.[25]
On 18 August 2013, Garvan made his firstPremier League appearance when he started in Palace's 1–0 home defeat byTottenham Hotspur, playing 66 minutes before being replaced.[26] He made just one further league appearance that season as a substitute forJosé Campaña in his side's 2–1 defeat atStoke City on 24 August,[27] before scoring a late consolation goal in what would be his final game of the season for the club three days later in a 2–1 defeat toBristol City in theLeague Cup.[28]
After falling of favour with managerIan Holloway at Crystal Palace, Garvan failed to make an appearance for the first team for the remainder of the2013–14 season. With Holloway leaving Palace by mutual consent in October 2013 and joiningMillwall in January 2014, Garvan remained out of contention underTony Pulis, before being allowed to leave to join Millwall on an emergency loan deal on 28 February 2014.[29]
Garvan made his Millwall debut atThe Den on 1 March in their 1–0 defeat byBrighton & Hove Albion.[30] He made 13 league appearances for the club as they battled against relegation toLeague One, surviving by four points.[31]
Having made what would be his final appearance for his parent club in the League Cup on 26 August 2014, Garvan was once again loaned out to a Championship club, joiningBolton Wanderers for three months on 10 September.[32] He made his debut on 13 September in a 0–0 home draw withSheffield Wednesday,[33] and went on to make three appearances.[34]
After being released at the end of his Crystal Palace contract, Garvan spent the summer of 2015 training with a number of teams, including his former employer Ipswich Town,Southend United andMotherwell in search of a new club. On 27 August 2015, Garvan signed a short-term deal with League One sideColchester United until January.[35] He made his debut two days later as a half-time substitute forJoe Edwards as Colchester drew 2–2 withScunthorpe United at theColchester Community Stadium.[36]
Just one month after signing his short-term deal with the Essex side, on 25 September, Garvan agreed a contract extension that would keep him with the U's until the summer of 2017.[37] He scored his first goal for Colchester on 24 October during their 4–4 home draw withWalsall, his first league goal since the 2012–13 season.[38] Garvan was handed the clubcaptaincy by managerKevin Keen on 19 February 2016 fromChris Porter "for the foreseeable future" and to "take a little of the responsibility off him [Porter]".[39] He ended the season with one goal in 35 appearances for the U's.[40]
Garvan was replaced byLuke Prosser as captain by new managerJohn McGreal in August 2016 ahead of the2016–17 season.[41] Injury impeded his start to the new season. After initially recovering from injury in late August, he suffered a recurrence during training that continued to keep him out of action.[42] He made his first appearance of the season on 22 November, providing an assist forTom Eastman's goal in Colchester's 3–0 win atCheltenham Town.[43] He scored in his second game of the season on 26 November during Colchester's 4–0 home win overCrewe Alexandra.[44]
After amassing 53 appearances, Garvan left Colchester by mutual consent on 11 April 2017 as his contract was cancelled citing personal reasons.[45]
On 2 July 2017, it was announced that Garvan had returned home to his nativeDublin, signing forPremier Division clubSt Patrick's Athletic, alongsideKillian Brennan.[46] He made his debut in a friendly three days later in a 1–0 win overScottish Premiership sideHeart of Midlothian atRichmond Park.[47] Four days later, Garvan made his league debut for St Pats in a 1–0 defeat toCork City, but was sent off after an incident in the tunnel at half time.[48] On 5 June 2018, Garvan left St Pats by mutual consent.[49] On 6 April 2020, Garvan announced that he had retired in 2018 after leaving St Pats because he was disheartened by the industry.[50]
Garvan has represented theRepublic of Ireland at under-15, under-16,under-17,under-19 andunder-21 levels. He won theFAI Under-21 International Player of the Year award in 2008.[51] He was included inGiovanni Trapattoni's first Republic of Ireland squad in 2008.[3]
Garvan comes from a notable Irish footballing family. His fatherGerry was a player in theLeague of Ireland and coached Owen during his days withHome Farm in Dublin. Garvan's uncleMick Martin made 51 appearances for Ireland between 1971 and 1983 and played forManchester United.
Garvan's grandfatherCon Martin was also an Irish international footballer who had the notable distinction of having been capped in every position for the team, including asgoalkeeper. However, he turned down a move to Manchester United becauseMatt Busby wanted Martin to play in goal. Martin made over 190 league appearances forAston Villa between 1948 and 1956. Another uncle, Con Martin Jr, was also a League of Ireland player.[4]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Ipswich Town | 2005–06[8] | Championship | 31 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 33 | 3 | |
| 2006–07[10] | Championship | 27 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 29 | 1 | ||
| 2007–08[12] | Championship | 43 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | 45 | 3 | ||
| 2008–09[13] | Championship | 37 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 39 | 7 | ||
| 2009–10[14] | Championship | 25 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | 28 | 1 | ||
| Total | 163 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 174 | 15 | ||
| Crystal Palace | 2010–11[21] | Championship | 26 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 28 | 3 | |
| 2011–12[22] | Championship | 22 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 23 | 3 | ||
| 2012–13[23] | Championship | 27 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3[a] | 0 | 32 | 4 | |
| 2013–14[31] | Premier League | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | 3 | 1 | ||
| 2014–15[34] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | 77 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 87 | 11 | ||
| Millwall (loan) | 2013–14[31] | Championship | 13 | 0 | — | — | — | 13 | 0 | |||
| Bolton Wanderers (loan) | 2014–15[34] | Championship | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 3 | 0 | |||
| Colchester United | 2015–16[40] | League One | 32 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[b] | 0 | 35 | 1 |
| 2016–17[52] | League Two | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 1 | |
| Total | 50 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 53 | 2 | ||
| St Patrick's Athletic | 2017[53] | LOI Premier Division | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2018[53] | LOI Premier Division | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[c] | 0 | 11 | 0 | |
| Total | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 325 | 25 | 12 | 1 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 351 | 28 | ||
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Colchester Unitedcaptain 2016 | Succeeded by |