| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | David John Ian Dunn | ||
| Date of birth | 27 December 1979 | ||
| Place of birth | Great Harwood, England | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) [1] | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Blackburn Rovers | ||
| Number | 8 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1997–1998 | Blackburn Rovers | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1998–2003 | Blackburn Rovers | 135 | (30) |
| 2003–2007 | Birmingham City | 58 | (7) |
| 2007– | Blackburn Rovers | 115 | (13) |
| National team | |||
| 1998 | England U18 | 3 | (0) |
| 1998–2002 | England U21 | 20 | (3) |
| 2002 | England | 1 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13:48, 11 December 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
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David John Ian Dunn (born 27 December 1979 in Great Harwood, Lancashire) is an English footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Premier League club Blackburn Rovers.
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Dunn joined Blackburn Rovers as a trainee at the beginning of 1997 and made his debut during a goalless draw with Everton on September 26, 1998. Dunn came off the bench after 70 minutes, but was taken off again on 81 minutes, due to the sending off of a Blackburn player. Whilst Dunn was a trainee at Blackburn he cleaned former Rovers keeper Christian McCrone's boots.
Dunn's first goal came in a 3–1 victory against Aston Villa on February 26, 1999, but the team was subsequently relegated in this, his first full season.
His best season in a Blackburn shirt would appear to be 2000–01, when he played a big role in helping the club to automatic promotion from Division One. That year saw Blackburn entertain local team Rochdale in the League Cup where Dunn scored a hat-trick from the penalty spot, reported by Sky Sports as a World's First. He reached double figures in terms of goals in 2000, and continued his good form in 2001–02 when the club won the League Cup.
Dunn starred in Rovers return to the Premier League, putting in a string of impressive performances, notably in the 7–1 battering of West Ham United and the thrilling 3–3 draw at Arsenal, where he managed to score two goals, one a last minute equalizer.
Dunn was at one time dubbed "the New Gazza", a testament to his flair and technical ability. A string of fine performances in 2001 put Dunn in contention for a call-up to the England squad, but he did not win his first cap until September 2002, when he replaced Kieron Dyer. He impressed against Portugal but has not been given another chance on the big stage since.
Dunn began the 2002–03 season in dazzling form but a loss of form and being made to play on the right wing did not help his cause and he fell out with then-Blackburn manager Graeme Souness. Subsequently, Dunn was ready to move on to another club in the summer of 2003.
Blackburn initially rejected offers from a number of clubs, but Birmingham's revised bid of £5.5 million was accepted, and Dunn moved to the West Midlands in time for the start of the 2003–04 season.
After signing a four-year contract, Dunn's Birmingham career started brightly with a debut goal in the 1–0 victory over Tottenham on 16 August 2003.
A niggling hamstring sustained in February 2004 meant that Dunn spent much of the second half of that season on the sidelines. The beginning of 2004–05 again saw Dunn quickly re-establishing himself in the heart of the Birmingham midfield and chipping in with some vital goals. A recurrence of Dunn's hamstring problems in November 2004 limited him to just a handful of performances for the remainder of 2004–05 and kept him out of the side until midway through 2005–06.
Ultimately, Birmingham were relegated from the Premier League with Dunn still not returning to fitness.
In October 2006, Dunn was linked with a return to Blackburn in the upcoming transfer window. However, both Dunn and Rovers manager Mark Hughes denied this.
In January 2007, Dunn looked set to return to Lancashire in a transfer to Bolton after manager Sam Allardyce negotiated a fee for the midfielder, but on January 17, it was revealed that Dunn had turned his back on Bolton, having already passed his medical, in favour of a return to hometown club Blackburn for an undisclosed fee on a three-and-a-half-year deal believed to be £2.2 million.
He managed to play a small part in the remainder of the 2006–07 season and managed to earn a free kick against Sheffield United which led to Rovers scoring a last minute winner.[2]
On 3 February 2007, he played his first Premiership match since his return to Blackburn Rovers against Sheffield United. At the end of this campaign he managed to feature in 16 games in all competitions in total, including appearing in 11 Premier League matches.[3]
Dunn was a regular for Rovers in the 2007–08 season, in which he made 31 league appearances and scored once, against Arsenal. In total during this eventful campaign for Dunn he appeared in 38 games in all competitions and scored one goal against Arsenal in the league.[4] He was appointed vice-captain by new manager Paul Ince for the 2008–09 season,[5] but the player managed only 17 appearances in all competitions, scoring once,[6] in a season disrupted by niggling injuries.[7] Despite missing the first two games of the 2009–10 season Dunn returned in the League Cup clash against Gillingham and scored on his return in a 3–1 win in the second round making Rovers progress to the third round of the tournament.
He then hit top form for Rovers, scoring first goals in the Premier League including strikes against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Aston Villa, Arsenal, Bolton Wanderers and a memorable equaliser against local East Lancashire rivals Burnley at Ewood Park. Dunn made his 260th appearance for Blackburn Rovers in a home fixture with Chelsea at Ewood Park in a 1–1 draw on 21 March 2010, playing for 56 minutes before being replaced by Australian international Brett Emerton. He scored twice against Birmingham City on 24 March 2010 in a 2–1 victory at Ewood Park, one in front of the Darwen End in the 5th minute with him shooting with his left foot right in the corner of the goal and the other goal came on 67 minutes with a well timed header from a corner taken by winger El Hadji Diouf from the left by line, and he celebrated in front of the Walkersteel Blackburn End with all the Rovers supporters, and received a yellow card for going into the crowd. On 28 March, Dunn scored the winning goal from the penalty spot against rivals Burnley at Turf Moor.
On 26 January 2010, with Dunn's contract expiring at Rovers, he signed a new long-term two-and-a-half year contract to keep him with his boyhood club until at least July 2012.[8] He then scored his ninth Premier League goal of the season against Arsenal in the 2–1 win at Ewood Park. Over the course of the 2009–10 season, Dunn scored in both games against Burnley and Arsenal, the latter of which being his 50th goal for his hometown club. Dunn scored his first goal of the 2010/2011 season against Wolves with a close range header. On 2 February 2011, in the match against Tottenham Hotspur at Ewood Park, Dunny made his 100th premier league appearance since returning to the club for a second spell which ended in a disappointing 1-0 defeat. On 5 February 2011, he came on for Brett Emerton in the 60th minute with Rovers down 3-2 against Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium, he netted a penalty kick in the 81st minute but couldn't prevent them from losing 4-3 after full time.
Dunn has represented England at international level making 22 appearances scoring three goals for the England Under-21's between 1999 and 2002.
In 2001, Dunn was called up to the England squad, but he did not win his first cap until September 2002, when he replaced Kieron Dyer against Portugal.
| Club | Season | League | Cup[9] | Europe | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Blackburn Rovers | 1998–99 | 14 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 1 |
| 1999–00 | 22 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 3 | |
| 2000–01 | 42 | 12 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 18 | |
| 2001–02 | 29 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 8 | |
| 2002–03 | 28 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 36 | 8 | |
| Birmingham City | 2003–04 | 21 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 2 |
| 2004–05 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 | |
| 2005–06 | 15 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 3 | |
| 2006–07 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | |
| Total | 58 | 7 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 69 | 8 | |
| Blackburn Rovers | 2006–07 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| 2007–08 | 31 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 38 | 1 | |
| 2008–09 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 1 | |
| 2009–10 | 23 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 34 | 10 | |
| 2010–11 | 27 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 2 | |
| 2011–12 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| Blackburn Total | 246 | 32 | 44 | 9 | 10 | 0 | 300 | 30 | |
| Career Total | 304 | 39 | 55 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 369 | 68 | |
Dunn has a daughter, Mia, with his ex-fiancee, Emmerdale actress Sammy Winward,[10] and a son, Isaac with his current wife Hayley.[5]
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