Michael Kavanagh (31 December 1927 – 29 November 2016) was an Irish professional footballer who played as an outside left or inside forward in the Football League for Brighton & Hove Albion.[1]

Micky Kavanagh
Personal information
Full name Michael Kavanagh [1]
Date of birth (1927-12-31)31 December 1927[1]
Place of birth Dublin, Ireland
Date of death 29 November 2016(2016-11-29) (aged 88)[1]
Place of death Rustington, England
Height 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)[2]
Position(s) Outside left, inside forward
Youth career
Stella Maris
Johnville
Bohemians
1944–1946 Hull City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1946–1948 Clonliffe Celtic
1948–1950 Brighton & Hove Albion 26 (7)
Managerial career
195?–1960 Littlehampton Town
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Life and career

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Kavanagh was born in 1927 in Dublin,[1] and attended St Laurence O'Toole School, where Gaelic games were played but association football was not. He began his youthful football career with Stella Maris, Johnville and Bohemians, and as a 16-year-old, went to England for what proved a lengthy and ultimately unsuccessful trial with Hull City.[2][3]

He returned to Dublin junior football, but another English trial in early 1948 led to a contract with Brighton & Hove Albion. He made his debut in November of that year, made 12 Football League Third Division South appearances in the 1948–49 season, and a further 14 in 1949–50.[2] While playing for the reserve team at the start of the following season, Kavanagh suffered a knee ligament injury that forced him into retirement and was to cause him problems for the rest of his life.[3]

He then worked as a capstan operator for a local engineering firm, and in his spare time coached Sussex County League team Littlehampton Town for eight years.[2][3] Kavanagh died in Rustington, West Sussex, in 2016 at the age of 88.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Micky Kavanagh". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d Carder, Tim; Harris, Roger (1997). Albion A–Z: A Who's Who of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. Hove: Goldstone Books. pp. 130–131. ISBN 978-0-9521337-1-1.
  3. ^ a b c "Just 26 games, but Micky loved his days with Albion". The Argus. Brighton. 27 March 2001. Retrieved 25 September 2018.