David Meyler

David Meyler

Meyler playing for Sunderland in 2010
Personal information
Full name	David John Meyler[1]
Date of birth	(1989-05-29) 29 May 1989
Place of birth	Cork, Ireland
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[2]
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Hull City
Number	7
Youth career
	Cork City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2008	Cork City	2	(0)
2008–2013	Sunderland	25	(0)
2012–2013	→ Hull City (loan)	10	(3)
2013–	Hull City	35	(4)
National team‡
2009–2011	Republic of Ireland U21	9	(0)
2012–	Republic of Ireland	4	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:59, 1 February 2014 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 03:39, 12 June 2013 (UTC)

David John Meyler (born 29 May 1989) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League side Hull City. He is the son of hurling manager John Meyler. He grew up in Rochestown Rise in Cork and, like his father, played hurling, Gaelic football and soccer from an early age.

Club career

Cork City

He progressed through the youth team of Cork City and signed a professional contract in 2008. He made ten appearances for Cork in the League of Ireland at the age of nineteen. He made his debut in a cup game against Cobh Ramblers.

Sunderland

He joined Sunderland on 25 July 2008 for an undisclosed fee believed to be around £250,000 which has risen close to £500,000 after appearances and his first Ireland Senior Call Up. He became their third summer signing and followed the footsteps of former Cork City teammate Roy O'Donovan to make a switch to Stadium of Light.^[3] However, it was not until a year and a half after joining Sunderland, that Meyler made his first professional appearance for the club, starting against Blackburn Rovers on 28 December 2009. In his third appearance for Sunderland, at Portsmouth on 9 February 2010 Meyler received a straight red card just minutes after coming on as a second half substitute. Meyler suffered serious cruciate ligament damage against Manchester United on 2 May 2010, leaving him sidelined for 12 months.^[4] However, he made a quicker recovery than expected, making his comeback for Sunderland's Reserves against Liverpool Reserves, on 2 November 2010. Manager Steve Bruce insisted Meyler would not be rushed back to first team action.^[5] Surprisingly, he returned in an away match at Fulham, featuring for 52 minutes in a 0–0 draw. On 5 January 2011, Meyler pulled up suddenly and was stretchered off in Sunderland's away match at Aston Villa. It was revealed after the game by Steve Bruce that Meyler suffered cruciate ligament damage to the same knee as before. It was later announced by Sunderland that Meyler had a scan on the knee and had torn his medial ligament. This ruled Meyler out for another 10 weeks at least rather than 6 months which was first feared. Meyler returned to the Sunderland bench for their defeat at Birmingham City on 16 April 2011.

Meyler continued to be eased back to fitness by Sunderland in the 2011–12 season, playing in several reserve fixures before making a cameo substitute appearance in the 2–2 draw with West Brom on 1 October 2011. Meyler also came on as a late substitute against Aston Villa and Manchester United. Meyler's first appearance under Martin O'Neill came as a 63rd minute substitute in the 4–1 win at Wigan on 3 January 2012. Meyler made his first start of the season at Stoke on 4 February, and was involved in controversy when Robert Huth received a straight red card for a challenge on the Irishman. Sunderland went on to win 1–0, and Stoke manager Tony Pulis was unhappy with Meyler's reaction: "I think Robert commits himself them pulls out, and I don't think he actually touches Meyler, or whatever his name is, and I'm really disappointed at the player's reaction... I don't think Robert actually touches the lad, and the way he goes down and rolls around, for me he's done it for one reason and that was to get him sent off."^[6] Meyler did not start another game for the rest of the season, although he frequently appeared as a substitute. Making 10 appearances from the bench including some massive wins for the club.

Hull City

On 8 November 2012, Meyler was reunited with former manager Steve Bruce as he went out on loan to Hull City until 1 January 2013.^[7] He made his debut from the bench as a second-half substitute for Jay Simpson in the away match at Cardiff City on 10 November 2012.^[8] He scored his first goal for the club on 8 December 2012 when he opened the scoring in the 1–2 win against Watford at Vicarage Road.^[9] He scored again in the following game on 15 December, completing a 2–0 win at home to Huddersfield.^[10]

On 8 January 2013, Meyler was signed by Hull permanently on a three-and-a-half-year contract for an undisclosed fee.^[11] On 1 December 2013, Meyler scored his first Premier league goal against Liverpool in a 3–1 home win.^[12]

International career

Meyler made his international debut in Cork for the Republic of Ireland U21 team against Germany in February 2009.^[13] He had been selected for the Republic of Ireland senior squad when his first knee injury struck, forcing him to withdraw.

On 1 September 2012, Meyler was called up to the Republic of Ireland senior squad. He had been called up to the squad as a replacement for Darron Gibson who took a break from international football following Ireland's disappointing Euro 2012 campaign.^[14] He made his senior international debut in a 4–1 win over Oman at Craven Cottage on 11 September 2012.^[15]

Career statistics

Meyler playing for Hull City in 2013

As of 1 February 2014.

Honours

Hull City

• Football League Championship runner-up: 2012–13

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to David Meyler.

• David Meyler career stats at Soccerbase
• David Meyler's Premier League profile