| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Michael John Caves[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 28 January 1949[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Weymouth, England | ||
| Date of death | 6 November 1984(1984-11-06) (aged 35)[2] | ||
| Place of death | Aleppo, Pennsylvania, United States | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[3] | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1966–1968 | Weymouth | ? | (?) |
| 1968–1971 | Torquay United | 114 | (17) |
| 1971–1974 | AFC Bournemouth | 99 | (17) |
| 1972 | →Plymouth Argyle (loan) | 8 | (4) |
| 1974–1977 | York City | 96 | (13) |
| 1976 | →Los Angeles Skyhawks (loan) | ? | (?) |
| 1977–1978 | AFC Bournemouth | 42 | (3) |
| 1977 | →Seattle Sounders (loan) | 22 | (12) |
| 1978–1980 | Seattle Sounders | 53 | (19) |
| 1979–1980 | Pittsburgh Spirit (indoor) | 27 | (24) |
| 1980 | Cleveland Cobras | ? | (?) |
| 1980–1981 | Hartford Hellions (indoor) | 38 | (24) |
| 1981–1983 | Pittsburgh Spirit (indoor) | 61 | (22) |
| Total | 560 | (155) | |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Michael John Cave (28 January 1949 – 6 November 1984) was an Englishfootballer who played as amidfielder.
Born inWeymouth, Dorset, Cave was studying engineering when he started his career innon-League football with hometown clubWeymouth in 1966.[3] He joinedTorquay United in July 1968,[1] soon settling into thePlainmoor side. Although not a regular goalscorer (17 goals in 114 league games), when he did score they tended to be memorable. In July 1971 a fee of £15,000 took him toAFC Bournemouth.[3] His first season atDean Court was a struggle, and in March 1972 he joinedPlymouth Argyle onloan.[3] However, he returned to Bournemouth and eventually played 99 league games, scoring 17 goals, before a £18,000 transfer toYork City in August 1974.[3] His first season was York's first ever in theSecond Division and they confounded expectations by surviving, although they wererelegated the following season (with Cave winning theClubman of the Year award). He spent the 1976 season on loan in theAmerican Soccer League, helping theLos Angeles Skyhawks win the ASL title.[4] In February 1977, after scoring 13 times in 96 league games for York, he returned to Bournemouth for a fee of £10,000.[3] He spent the summer of 1977 on loan toNorth American Soccer League sideSeattle Sounders, scoring 12 goals in 22 appearances, and joined Seattle permanently the following summer after playing the last of his 42 league games for Bournemouth, in which he had scored three times.[1][4] He spent the 1978 and 1979 seasons in Seattle. He then played the 1979–80 indoor season with thePittsburgh Spirit in theMajor Indoor Soccer League, scoring 24 goals in 27 games.[4] In 1980, he began the season with the Sounders, but played only one game before being released.[4] He finished the season with theCleveland Cobras of the ASL.[4] He then joined theHartford Hellions for the 1980–81 MISL season, in which he made 38 appearances and scored 24 goals, before finishing his career with two seasons back at the Pittsburgh Spirit.[4]
Cave died in his home inAleppo,Pennsylvania on 6 November 1984, aged 35, from accidentalcarbon monoxide poisoning (running his car in a garage).[2][3] At the time he was assistant coach of the Pittsburgh Spirit of the MISL.[2] He has since had the Player of the Year Award named after him in his honour at Bournemouth.[5]