Aaron Adam Flahavan was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 goalkeeper who played for Portsmouth

Portsmouth F.C.

Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...

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Life and career

Flahavan played for the Southampton

Southampton F.C.

Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...

 youth team before turning professional with Portsmouth at age 18 in 1994. He had to wait until 1996 before making his first-team debut as he was understudy to Pompey legend Alan Knight

Alan Knight (footballer)

Alan Edward Knight MBE is a former English footballer and currently the manager of Conference South club Dorchester Town. He holds the record for the most appearances for a single club by a goalkeeper, having played 683 league games for Portsmouth between 1978 and 2000; this superseded Peter...

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In the late 1990s, Flahavan gradually began receiving increased playing time, and became the team's first-choice goalkeeper. Overall, he played 105 first-team matches for Portsmouth.

Flahavan twice had blackouts

Syncope (medicine)

Syncope , the medical term for fainting, is precisely defined as a transient loss of consciousness and postural tone characterized by rapid onset, short duration, and spontaneous recovery due to global cerebral hypoperfusion that most often results from hypotension.Many forms of syncope are...

 during matches; the first was attributed to a virus, and the second to a drop in his blood pressure

Blood pressure

Blood pressure is the pressure exerted by circulating blood upon the walls of blood vessels, and is one of the principal vital signs. When used without further specification, "blood pressure" usually refers to the arterial pressure of the systemic circulation. During each heartbeat, BP varies...

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Death

Flahavan died in a car accident near Bournemouth

Bournemouth

Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...

 in August 2001. An inquest heard that Flahavan died as a result of a fractured skull, and his blood alcohol level was nearly three times over the legal limit

Driving under the influence

Driving under the influence is the act of driving a motor vehicle with blood levels of alcohol in excess of a legal limit...

 when he lost control of his BMW sports car.

Following his death, Portsmouth and Southampton retired his number 1 jersey for the 2001–02 season as a mark of respect.

Family

Flahavan's younger brother Darryl

Darryl Flahavan

Darryl James Flahavan [fla-haa-van] is an English footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Bournemouth. He most recently played for Portsmouth...

 is also a goalkeeper, and has a son named Aaron in memory of his brother. His brother is currently playing for League 1 team AFC Bournemouth.

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