David Healy

Manchester United

Healy was born and raised in Killyleagh, Northern Ireland, and played for Crossgar, Lisburn Youth and Down Academy High School in Downpatrick. He made eight appearances for Manchester United's junior B team in the 1995–96 season and signed for the club as a trainee in June 1996. He made 28 league appearances for the B team in 1996–97 and finished the season as top scorer with 25 goals. He signed as a professional in November 1997 and scored a combined 20 league goals for the A and B teams in 1997–98. He made his debut for the reserve team in April 1998, coming on as a substitute for Ole Gunnar Solskjær in a 2–0 win over Birmingham City. In 1998–99, he remained a prolific scorer for the youth team, scoring 11 goals in 11 appearances to finish as the team's top scorer for the season while also becoming a regular for the reserves. He only managed two goals in 12 league appearances. However, he was more productive in the Manchester Senior Cup, scoring four in five, including opening the scoring in the final against Oldham Athletic, which United won 3–0. Healy made his first appearances for the Manchester United first-team in pre-season ahead of the 1999–2000 campaign, coming on for Andy Cole in a 9–0 win over Omagh Town on 3 August 1999, before coming on for Nicky Butt in a 2–0 win over Wigan Athletic the next day. He made his competitive senior debut for United on 13 October 1999, coming on for Danny Higginbotham in the 66th minute of a 3–0 away defeat…

He made his debut for Northern Ireland on 23 February 2000, putting a brace past Luxembourg. He was still only 20 years old; having made his début for Manchester United the previous October, he had just joined Port Vale on loan. His competitive international début came in September 2000, in a World Cup qualifying game against Malta, and he scored his first competitive goal for his country a month later against Denmark. On 6 June 2004, in a friendly game away to Trinidad and Tobago (his 35th international), he scored his 13th and 14th goals for Northern Ireland, thus equalling and overtaking Colin Clarke's record for the country. In September of that year, Healy was controversially sent off in Northern Ireland's 2–2 draw with Wales. After celebrating his goal to put Northern Ireland 2–0 up, he gestured towards the fans and the referee sent him off. Healy later explained that he was celebrating towards his family, and that was how he always celebrated when scoring for his then-club, Preston North End. On 7 September 2005, at Windsor Park, Healy secured a famous victory for his country against England in a World Cup qualifier when he scored the only goal of the game. This was his nation's first win over the English since 1972. He achieved his 50th cap and 20th international goal against Finland in August 2006, also playing as captain. A month later, on 6 September 2006, Healy became the first man since Colin Clarke to score a hat-trick for Northern Ireland and the first since…

Linfield

Healy was appointed manager of NIFL Premiership side Linfield in October 2015, the club he had supported all his life. He steered the "Blues" to a second-place finish in 2015–16, eight points behind Crusaders. On 7 February 2017, he won his first managerial honour as Linfield beat Crusaders 3–1 in the County Antrim Shield. On 25 February, he was given a six-game general ban after being dismissed from the touchline for the third time of the season. Despite this setback, the "Blues" went on to win the league title in 2016–17, and ended the campaign with a treble after beating Coleraine 3–0 in the final of the Irish Cup. He went on to add the Charity Shield to Linfield's honours with a 3–1 victory over Coleraine at The Oval. They went on to lose to Celtic in the second round of qualification for the UEFA Champions League in the 2017–18 season, and had a disappointing campaign domestically as they finished fourth in the league and exited both cup competitions at the quarter-finals. On 16 February 2019, Healy won his fifth domestic honour with Linfield as they won the Northern Irish League Cup final with a 1–0 over Ballymena United. Healy won his second league title as a manager during the 2018–19 campaign, with Linfield finishing seven points ahead of second-placed Ballymena United and Healy also being named Manager of the Year. He also added the League Cup to his collection, as Linfield defeated Ballymena United 1–0 in the final. Linfield also reached the 2019…

Healy is married to Emma and they have three children: daughters Taylor and Tallulah, and son Jude. He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours for services to football. He was named BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year in 2005 and 2007. Healy endorsed Alex Easton for the 2024 United Kingdom general election in North Down.