David Thomas Gipp (born 13 July 1969) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

for

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

Career

Gipp started his career as an apprentice at

and was a regular goalscorer for the reserve side. He made his first team debut in April 1987 in a 1–1 draw with

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

, coming on as a substitute and almost scoring with his first touch. He only made a further four league appearances before he was released in July 1989. He later joined

Football Conference The National League of English Football Clubs is a professional Association football, football league in England that consists of 72 teams, divided equally between the National League (division), National League North and National League South ...

side

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) *Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; anc ...

who were managed by

Barry Fry Barry Francis Fry (born 7 April 1945) is an English former football player and manager. An inside forward, Fry scored a goal for England Schoolboys in front of nearly 100,000 supporters at Wembley and was seen as the best player in the team. H ...

, but failed to break into the starting lineup on a regular basis, only making thirteen league appearances and scoring three times as the side finished as runners-up. During the 1989–90 season he was loaned out to divisional rivals Fisher Athletic and

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...

, and also a short period at Chelmsford City. In August 1990, Southern League Premier Division side

Wealdstone Wealdstone () is a district located in the centre of the London Borough of Harrow, England. It is located just north of Harrow, London, Harrow town centre and is south of Harrow Weald, west of Belmont, Harrow, Belmont and Kenton, London, Kenton, ...

broke their transfer record with a £15,000 bid to sign Gipp. He later played for a number of non-league teams across the southern counties before retiring. His final game was for

Whitehawk Whitehawk is a suburb in the east of Brighton, England, south of Bevendean and north of Brighton Marina. The area is a large, modern housing estate built in a downland dry valley historically known as Whitehawk Bottom. The estate was originall ...

on 24 August 2004, when he scored in a 3–1 win against Southwick.Whitehawk v Sidlesham, match day programme, 26 February 2005.

Personal life

After his professional football career finished he became an East End independent market trader. He lived in

Barkingside Barkingside is an area in Ilford, in the London Borough of Redbridge. It includes the major road junction of Fullwell Cross, which also gives its name to the locality near that roundabout. The area is situated 10.6 miles (17km) north east of Ch ...

with his wife Tracey and three children, Jack and Megan and Billy. Gipp is an

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

supporter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gipp, David 1969 births Footballers from the London Borough of Newham People from Forest Gate English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Fisher Athletic F.C. players Wealdstone F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players Chesham United F.C. players Southwick F.C. players Whitehawk F.C. players Harrow Borough F.C. players Braintree Town F.C. players Aveley F.C. players St Albans City F.C. players Worthing F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Living people