David Linighan is an English former professional football player. He played as a centre-back.

Career

Born in Hartlepool

Hartlepool

Hartlepool is a town and port in North East England.It was founded in the 7th century AD, around the Northumbrian monastery of Hartlepool Abbey. The village grew during the Middle Ages and developed a harbour which served as the official port of the County Palatine of Durham. A railway link from...

, County Durham

County Durham

County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...

, Linighan began his career at Hartlepool

Hartlepool United F.C.

Hartlepool United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Hartlepool that currently play in League One. The team won promotion to League One in the 2006–07 season...

 in 1982 as a 17-year-old. He remained at Victoria Park for four years, making close to 100 league appearances for the club.

After a brief spell at Derby County

Derby County F.C.

Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...

 in 1986, he joined Shrewsbury Town

Shrewsbury Town F.C.

Shrewsbury Town Football Club is an English Association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, who play in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. The club was formed in 1886 and has played in all the bottom three divisions in various guises since being elected into the Football...

 for a £30,000 fee. In two years with the Shrews, Linighan made 65 league appearances, scoring one goal.

Linighan joined Ipswich Town

Ipswich Town F.C.

Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02....

 in 1988 for £300,000, and it was at Portman Road

Portman Road

Portman Road is an association football stadium in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. It has been the home ground of Ipswich Town F.C. since 1884. The stadium has also hosted a number of England youth international matches, and one senior England friendly international match, against Croatia in 2003...

 that he would spend the majority of his career. In eight years, he made 277 league appearances, netting twelve goals.

In 1995, Linighan was signed by Sam Allardyce

Sam Allardyce

Samuel "Sam" Allardyce , nicknamed "Big Sam", is an English football manager and former professional player. In June 2011 he was appointed as manager of West Ham United....

 to join up with his Blackpool

Blackpool F.C.

Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...

 team. He played under three managers during his three years at Bloomfield Road

Bloomfield Road

Bloomfield Road is an all-seater football stadium in the English town of Blackpool, Lancashire. It has been the permanent home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901 and is named after the road on which the stadium's main entrance used to stand. The stadium has been in a process of redevelopment since 2000...

, the others being Gary Megson

Gary Megson

Gary John Megson is an English former football player and is currently manager of Sheffield Wednesday.He has previously managed Norwich City, Blackpool, Stockport County, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, Nottingham Forest, Leicester City and Bolton Wanderers...

 and Nigel Worthington

Nigel Worthington

Nigel Worthington is a former Northern Ireland international footballer and manager.He was manager of the Northern Ireland national team from 2007 until after their final Euro 2012 qualifying campaign match against Italy in October 2011.As a player, he was a left full back and occasional left...

, scoring five goals in a century of league appearances.

Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 club Dunfermline Athletic

Dunfermline Athletic F.C.

Dunfermline Athletic Football Club are a Scottish football team based in Dunfermline, Fife, commonly known as just Dunfermline. They currently compete in the Scottish Premier League....

 came in for the defender's services in 1998, and he moved north of the border for what proved to be just one game. During his time with the Pars, he was loaned to Mansfield Town

Mansfield Town F.C.

Mansfield Town Football Club is an English football club from the former mining town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. The club was formed in 1897 as Mansfield Wesleyans and changed its name to Mansfield Wesley in 1906 before settling on Mansfield Town in 1910...

, whom he would join on a permanent basis in 1999.

In 2000, Linighan moved into non-league football with Southport

Southport F.C.

Southport Football Club are an English football club, based in Southport, Merseyside. They are currently in the Conference National, and play their home matches at Haig Avenue, which has a capacity of 6,008...

 and Chester City

Chester City F.C.

Chester City Football Club was an English football team from Chester. The club was founded as Chester F.C., and joined the Football League in 1931, spending most of their time in the lower divisions. They changed their name to Chester City in 1983. Chester won their first league title in 2004, the...

, before a short spell with Hyde United in 2002 where he made eleven appearances, before retiring.

Personal life

Linighan is one of three footballing brothers, the other two being Andy

Andy Linighan

Andrew "Andy" Linighan is a former English football player.Linighan was born in Hartlepool into a footballing family – his brothers David and Brian were also professional footballers. He first played for his local side, Hartlepool United, before spells at Leeds United , Oldham Athletic and...

 and Brian

Brian Linighan

Brian Linighan is a former English football defender. He started his career at Sheffield Wednesday, making just one appearance on January 11, 1994 and was sold to Bury in 1998. After that, he played for non-league sides Gainsborough Trinity, Worksop Town and Whitby Town...

.

External links

• Independent site profile (wrong date of birth is listed)