Don Givens

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Donal "Don" Givens (born 9th August 1949 in Limerick, Ireland) is a football player and coach, and the current Republic of Ireland U21 team manager.

1 Club Career
2 International Career
3 Coaching Career
4 Managerial stats
5 External links

[edit] Club Career

A centre forward, Givens started his career at Manchester United where he played just 5 games before moving to Luton Town. He played for Q.P.R. for many years, before his career took him to Birmingham City, AFC Bournemouth, Sheffield United and Neuchatel Xamax.

[edit] International Career

Givens made 56 appearances for the senior team between 1969 and 1982, scoring 19 goals, including a record four goal haul against Turkey, and becoming his country's leading goalscorer for a period.

[edit] Coaching Career

When Givens stopped playing he became coach at Neuchatel, before joining the youth setup at Arsenal in 1997 under Irish team-mate Liam Brady. He remained in the post for three years, overseeing an FA Premier Academy League U18 win in his first season, before being appointed Republic of Ireland Under 21 manager in 2000.

In 2002, he briefly became caretaker manager of the senior squad in between Mick McCarthy's sacking and Brian Kerr's appointment, managing the team for a goalless draw against Greece.

Givens is currently preparing his team for the 2009 UEFA Championship qualifying group competition against Portugal, England, Bulgaria and Montenegro.