Dion Dublin (born 22 April 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 ...
, television presenter and
pundit. He is a club director of
Cambridge United
Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...
.
As a player he was a
centre-forward, notably playing in the
Premier League
The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
for
Manchester United
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
,
Coventry City and
Aston Villa. He also had spells in the
Scottish Premiership
The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...
with
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foot ...
, in the Conference with
Wycombe Wanderers, and in
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 ...
with
Cambridge United
Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...
,
Barnet,
Millwall,
Leicester City and
Norwich City. He was
capped four times for
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
.
Following his retirement from football, Dublin moved into the entertainment business. He is also an amateur
percussionist
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...
, and invented a percussion instrument called "The Dube". In 2011, he accompanied
Ocean Colour Scene in a gig at the
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...
,
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...
. In 2015, he joined the presenting team on the
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
daytime show ''
Homes Under the Hammer
''Homes Under the Hammer'' is a British factual renovation and auction television series that is screened on BBC One as part of the daytime schedule. The series has been running since 17 November 2003, and is currently presented by Martin Rober ...
'' and has appeared as a regular pundit for
BBC Sport
BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...
on ''
Football Focus
''Football Focus'' is a BBC television magazine programme launched in 1974, broadcast live on BBC One on Saturday lunchtimes during the football season. The programme, along with '' Final Score'', is a remnant from the former flagship sports show ...
'', ''
Match of the Day
''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a Association football, football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights during the Premier League season.
''Match of the Day'' is one of the BBC's longest-runn ...
'' and ''
Final Score''. He also occasionally provides co-commentary on live televised
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
games.
Club career
Norwich City
Dublin was born in
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...
. While at school he played for several Leicestershire youth teams, including Wigston Fields and Thurmaston Magpies. He then went on to begin his professional footballing career with Norwich City after leaving school in 1985, but never made a first-team appearance and was released by the club in 1988.
Cambridge United
In August 1988, Dublin joined Cambridge United on a free transfer, as a centre-forward, which had been his position at Norwich City. However, due to injuries he had to make a number of appearances at centre-half. His prolific goalscoring helped United to successive promotions. During the
1988–89 season, Dublin was then loaned out for short spells in the Conference with
Barnet and
Wycombe Wanderers. The
1989–90 season saw Cambridge promoted from the
Fourth Division via the
play-offs, when Dublin became the first ever scorer in a Wembley play-off final.
In the
1990–91 season, the club were champions of the
Third Division, and the club also reached the quarter-final of the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
in both seasons, with Dublin scoring at
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 ...
in 1991.
In the
1991–92 season, he played a big part in helping Cambridge to their highest ever finishing position in the football league, by finishing in fifth place in the last season of the old
Second Division, but when Cambridge failed to win promotion to the new Premier League via the
play-offs, Dublin was put up for sale. He has since spoken many times of his affection for Cambridge United.
Manchester United
Having scored against them in a League Cup tie the previous autumn, Manchester United manager
Alex Ferguson
Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former professional football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as the greatest manager of all time and ...
signed Dublin for £1 million on 7 August 1992, fighting off competition from
Chelsea and
Everton. Dublin was something of a surprise purchase for United, after Ferguson had tried to sign
Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer (born 13 August 1970) is an English Association football, football pundit and former professional player who played as a striker (association football), striker. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of all time and one of t ...
from
Southampton
Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
but lost out to
Blackburn Rovers.
He scored in United's fourth Premier League game of the
1992–93 season, a late winner in United's first Premier league victory as they beat Southampton 1–0 at
The Dell. However, on 2 September, he suffered a broken leg against
Crystal Palace in a 1–0 win at
Old Trafford, after a tackle by
Eric Young, and was out of action for six months. By the time he had recovered, however, United had signed
Eric Cantona and the Frenchman was firmly established as first choice strike partner to
Mark Hughes
Leslie Mark Hughes (born 1 November 1963) is a Welsh association football, football coach and former player who is the head coach of club Carlisle United F.C., Carlisle United.
During his playing career he usually operated as a Forward (asso ...
. United won the league that season for the first time since 1967, but Dublin failed to make the 10 Premier League appearances required to automatically gain a title winner's medal. However, he was given a medal as a result of special dispensation from the Premier League.
In the
1993–94 season, Dublin regained his fitness, but his first team chances were restricted by the successful partnership of Cantona and Hughes. In December 1993, Ferguson agreed a deal with
Everton manager
Howard Kendall, that would have seen Dublin moving to
Goodison Park
Goodison Park is a Association football, football stadium in Walton, Liverpool, Walton, Liverpool, England, it was the home of Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton from 1892 until 2025. It is now the home of Everton F.C. (women), Everton's ...
, but a member of Everton's board of directors, apparently feeling that Dublin was not worth the money Kendall had offered United, intervened to prevent the transfer going through – this dispute sparked Kendall's resignation as manager. Dublin would remain a United player for another nine months, but never managed to claim a regular place in the first team.
He managed five league appearances that season, scoring once in a 3–2 home win over
Oldham Athletic in early April, his goal helping secure a vital victory in the title run-in during a spell when United started to drop points and
Blackburn Rovers were closing in on them. He also managed a further goal in the
Football League Cup
The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England.
Orga ...
second round first leg, as United were beaten 2–1 by
Stoke City at the
Victoria Ground. The goal against Oldham was the only competitive goal that Dublin scored for United at Old Trafford. He was left out of the
FA Cup winning team against Chelsea and failed to make enough appearances to merit another Premier League title winners medal.
In September 1994, he was sold to Coventry City for £2 million, which, at the time, was a record signing for Coventry City and one of the largest fees received by Manchester United.
Coventry City
In four years with Coventry, Dublin established himself as one of the Premier League's top
strikers and during the
1997–98 season won the first of his four full England caps. That season, he equalled the Coventry City record for most goals in a top division season, with 23 goals in all competitions as they finished 11th.
Following
Phil Neal's departure in 1995, the arrival of
Ron Atkinson
Ronald Frederick Atkinson (born 18 March 1939) is an English former football player and manager. Nicknamed "Big Ron", he was regarded as one of Britain's best-known football pundits in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Nicknamed "The Tank" during his ...
and
Gordon Strachan would see Dublin fit into an attacking team in the typical Atkinson mould. It included the likes of
Noel Whelan,
John Salako and
Darren Huckerby to add to the already attack minded
Peter Ndlovu. The addition of
Gary McAllister, following
UEFA Euro 1996, was expected to provide mid-table stability after two narrowly won relegation battles, but the team's defensive frailties often undermined Dublin's scoring at the other end. This culminated in possibly one of the greatest escapes in Premier League history in May 1997. Despite having won away to Liverpool (Dublin scoring in the dying seconds) and at home to Chelsea at the start of April, the ''Sky Blues'' could only manage two points from their following three games. City went into the final day second from bottom of the table, needing not only to beat
Tottenham
Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...
away from home, but also for results elsewhere in the league to go their way for them to escape relegation. They achieved the most unlikely of escapes; first-half goals from Dublin and
Paul Williams gave Coventry a 2–1 win at
White Hart Lane
White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...
, while
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...
lost at
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* W ...
and
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...
could only manage a draw at
Leeds
Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
. Coventry finished the season in 17th place, one point outside the relegation zone.
The following season, the Sky Blues improved at home and enjoyed a season of mid-table security. Dublin formed an impressive partnership with
Darren Huckerby which not only produced some memorable goals, but also propelled the Sky Blues to the FA Cup sixth round against
Sheffield United; a game they narrowly lost in a penalty shoot-out.
On 8 November 1997, Dublin scored one of the most bizarre goals in Premier League history. Early in the match against
Newcastle, goalkeeper
Shay Given
Séamus John James Given (born 20 April 1976) is an Irish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Widely regarded as one of the greatest Irish goalkeepers of all time ...
collected a cross from the right and placed the ball in front of him. The ball was still in play, and Dublin, who had attempted to meet the cross and was now behind Given, reappeared and calmly slotted the ball into the empty goal. This led to the joke: ''"Shay Given, the only Irishman who doesn't know where Dublin is."'' The match ended 2-2, with Dublin also scoring City's second goal in the second half.
The 1997–98 season also saw Dublin share elite status as the Premier League's top scorer with
Blackburn Rovers'
Chris Sutton and
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
's
Michael Owen
Michael James Owen (born 14 December 1979) is an English former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker for Liverpool F.C., Liverpool, Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid, Newcastle United ...
– each Englishman scoring 18 league goals. During this season, Blackburn manager
Roy Hodgson tabled a bid which Dublin rejected. He remained at
Highfield Road and contributed to Coventry's best finish to date in the Premiership (11th).
Aston Villa
Dublin was controversially excluded from the England
1998 FIFA World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...
squad, despite being the Premier League's joint top-scorer in the 1997–98 season. However, his exploits at club level were still attracting attention from other clubs, and in November 1998, the 29-year-old chose to move to Aston Villa for £5.75 million. In his first four games for the club, he would score seven goals, including a memorable hat-trick against Southampton in only his second game for Villa. As a result, he is one of only six players to score in the first four consecutive games for a Premier League club.
In December 1999, while playing for Aston Villa against
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system.
Formed in 1867 as an off ...
, he sustained a life-threatening broken neck, as a result of which he permanently has a
titanium
Titanium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion in ...
plate holding three neck
vertebrae
Each vertebra (: vertebrae) is an irregular bone with a complex structure composed of bone and some hyaline cartilage, that make up the vertebral column or spine, of vertebrates. The proportions of the vertebrae differ according to their spinal ...
together. Just days before suffering this injury, it was reported in the ''
News of the World
The ''News of the World'' was a weekly national "Tabloid journalism#Red tops, red top" Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published every Sunday in the United Kingdom from 1843 to 2011. It was at one time the world's highest-selling ...
'' that Dublin would soon be sold by Aston Villa for a fee of around £6 million as the club looked to finance a fall in its share value as a result of manager
John Gregory's heavy expenditure on players.
However, the injury did not end Dublin's career and he was back in action three months later.
In April 2000, a week after returning to the team, he helped Aston Villa reach their first FA Cup final in 43 years, which they lost 1–0 against
Chelsea, scoring a
penalty in the semi-final shoot-out against
Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...
.
Faced with competition for a first-team place by new signings
Juan Pablo Ángel and
Peter Crouch
Peter James Crouch (born 30 January 1981) is an English former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. He was Cap (sport), capped 42 times by the England national football t ...
, Dublin spent several weeks on loan at
First Division Millwall towards the end of the 2001–02 season. In his time there, he scored two goals, against
Stockport County and
Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system.
Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...
in five league matches to help them into the
play-offs, where despite Dublin's goal in the first leg of the semi-final, against
Villa's arch rivals Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...
, Millwall lost 2–1 on aggregate.
Following Millwall's elimination from the play-offs, Dublin returned to Aston Villa in time for their final game of the season, against Chelsea at
Stamford Bridge. He replaced
Darius Vassell in the 84th minute and scored Villa's third goal in a 3–1 win.
Dublin once again found himself a first-choice striker at the start of the 2002–03 season, partnering Vassell up front. In March 2003, he was sent off at
Villa Park
Villa Park is a association football, football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, with a seating capacity of 42,918. It has been the home of Premier League club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witt ...
for a headbutt on
Robbie Savage in the
Birmingham derby match, which ended 2–0 to Birmingham City.
Leicester City
When his contract expired in the summer of 2004, he was given a
free transfer. He was signed by Leicester City, who had been relegated from the Premier League to the
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this sys ...
.
In his first season with the club, he scored only four goals in 38 competitive matches. During the
2005–06 season, Dublin lost his place as the team's main striker, but continued to appear as a defender. His contract at Leicester City was terminated by mutual consent on 30 January 2006.
Celtic
He was snapped up quickly by then Celtic manager
Gordon Strachan, to cover for the loss of
Chris Sutton, on a contract until the end of the season. At Celtic, Dublin achieved double success, with
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...
and
Scottish Premier League
The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...
winner's medals. On 19 March 2006, Dublin came on as a substitute and scored the final goal as Celtic defeated
Dunfermline
Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries.
The earliest ...
3–0 to win the
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...
final, and also played enough matches with Celtic to merit a title medal. In the league, he made three league starts and eight substitute appearances for Celtic, scoring once against
Kilmarnock on 9 April 2006 in a 4–1 win at
Rugby Park
Rugby Park, also known as The BBSP Stadium Rugby Park for sponsorship reasons, is a association football, football stadium which is the home of Scottish Premiership club Kilmarnock F.C. and is situated in the Scotland, Scottish town of Kilmarnoc ...
. Despite one or two decent performances for the Parkhead outfit, Dublin was released by Strachan in May 2006.
Return to Norwich City
On 20 September 2006, Norwich City announced that Dublin had joined them until the end of
the 2006–07 season. It marked a return, almost 20 years after leaving, for Dublin to the club where he began his career. He made his debut on 23 September 2006 when he came on as substitute against
Plymouth Argyle. He scored his first competitive goal in Norwich City colours in a 3–3 draw against
Queens Park Rangers on 14 October 2006 at
Loftus Road
Loftus Road, currently known as MATRADE Loftus Road Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Shepherd's Bush, West London, Greater London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers F.C., Queens Park Rangers Football Club, w ...
.
Steve Wilson cited Dublin as the main inspiration behind
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...
's 4–1 FA Cup 3rd Round win at
Tamworth, in which the striker scored two goals and set up numerous chances for other teammates.
Dublin was an important figure in Norwich securing safety from relegation to League One and the supporters recognised his contribution by voting him in second place in the
Norwich City player of the year award, and on 23 May 2007 he ended speculation about his future by signing a new one-year contract at Norwich, keeping him at the club until the end of the 2007–08 season. On 2 September 2007, while working as a pundit on a match between Aston Villa and
Chelsea, Dublin said that this season would be his last as a professional footballer, citing the fact that his "bones have started to talk to him" as the reason, meaning that he did not think his body can handle another season.

In the spring of 2008, Dublin was approached by
Jimmy Quinn, then manager of Cambridge United (now in the Conference National), about joining his old club for the 2008–09 season. However, the player would not change his mind about retiring. He was voted the club's
Player of the Year and awarded the
Barry Butler trophy on 26 April 2008 in his final season as a footballer, at his penultimate game, and on his final appearance at
Carrow Road
Carrow Road is a association football, football stadium in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship club Norwich City F.C., Norwich City. The stadium is east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum.
...
. Dublin played his final game on 4 May 2008, featuring in Norwich's 4–1 loss to Sheffield Wednesday in front of 36,208 fans at
Hillsborough – the highest
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this sys ...
attendance that season.
When he was taken off in the 66th minute, Dublin received a standing ovation from both sets of supporters and players, and referee
Mark Clattenburg
Mark Clattenburg (born 13 March 1975) is an English former professional Association football, football Referee (association football), referee.
Clattenburg is a former member of the Premier League and the Durham County Football Association an ...
.
International career
The 28-year-old earned his first
cap
A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...
for
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
on 11 February 1998, playing the whole 90 minutes in the 2–0
friendly defeat to
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...
. In the run-up to the
1998 FIFA World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...
, Dublin played in the
King Hassan II International Cup Tournament in May, starting in the 1–0 win against
Morocco
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
, and coming off the bench in 0–0 draw with
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
, a game England lost on
penalties. Despite showing good form and versatility throughout the
season
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...
, including finishing joint top scorer in the
Premier League
The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
with 18 goals,
Glenn Hoddle included Les Ferdinand ahead of Dublin in his
22-man squad for the tournament in France. On 18 November, he started in the 2–0 friendly win against the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
at Wembley Stadium. This turned out to be Dublin's last cap for his country.
He won four caps for England but did not score any goals.
Career statistics
Club
International
Television career
Since retiring from football, Dublin has worked in the media as a pundit for
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...
. As well as appearing on ''
Ford Super Sunday'' with
Richard Keys, Dublin has commentated on a number of games including the
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
games with
Martin Tyler
Martin Tyler (born 14 September 1945) is an English Association football, football commentator. He worked as a commentator for Sky Sports from 1990 to 2023, covering the Premier League and UEFA Champions League, as well as other domestic and inte ...
. He has also been a member of the panel on
BBC Radio 5 Live
BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, Talk show, discussion, interviews and phone-ins, and is on air 24 hours a day. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadca ...
's ''Fighting Talk''. He has also co-presented ''
606'' on BBC Radio 5 Live, Match of the Day 2 and was also a regular on
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
's ''
Late Kick Off'' in the East region. He joined
Lucy Alexander and
Martin Roberts on ''
Homes Under the Hammer
''Homes Under the Hammer'' is a British factual renovation and auction television series that is screened on BBC One as part of the daytime schedule. The series has been running since 17 November 2003, and is currently presented by Martin Rober ...
'' in 2015.
Also for the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
, he has appeared as a regular pundit for
BBC Sport
BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...
namely on ''
Football Focus
''Football Focus'' is a BBC television magazine programme launched in 1974, broadcast live on BBC One on Saturday lunchtimes during the football season. The programme, along with '' Final Score'', is a remnant from the former flagship sports show ...
'', ''
Match of the Day
''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a Association football, football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights during the Premier League season.
''Match of the Day'' is one of the BBC's longest-runn ...
'' or ''
Final Score''. He also occasionally provides co-commentary on live televised
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
games.
In August 2021 it was announced that Dublin would be a competitor on BBC's ''
Celebrity MasterChef''. He reached the final.
Personal life
Away from football, during his spell with Norwich,
he invented a percussion instrument called The Dube,
a form of
cajón. In 2011, he accompanied
Ocean Colour Scene during a gig at the
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...
.
In July 2021, Dublin was appointed as a club director at former club
Cambridge United
Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...
.
Honours
Cambridge United
*
Football League Third Division
The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 Football League, 1920–21 and again from 1958–59 Football League, 1958 until 1991–92 Football League, 1992. When the FA Premier League ...
:
1990–91[
Manchester United
*]Premier League
The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
: 1992–93
* FA Charity Shield: 1994
The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations.
In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
Aston Villa
*UEFA Intertoto Cup
The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...
: 2001
The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
Celtic
*Scottish Premier League
The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...
: 2005–06
*Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...
: 2005–06
Individual
* Premier League Golden Boot: 1997–98[
* Premier League Player of the Month: January 1998, November 1998][
* Coventry City Hall of Fame]
References
External links
Career information at ex-canaries.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dublin, Dion
1969 births
Living people
Men's association football central defenders
Men's association football forwards
Men's association football utility players
Aston Villa F.C. players
BBC television presenters
Barnet F.C. players
Black British sportsmen
Cambridge United F.C. directors and chairmen
Cambridge United F.C. players
Celtic F.C. players
Coventry City F.C. players
England men's international footballers
English association football commentators
English Football League players
English men's footballers
English people of Nigerian descent
Sportspeople of Nigerian descent
English television presenters
First Division/Premier League top scorers
Footballers from Leicester
Leicester City F.C. players
Manchester United F.C. players
Millwall F.C. players
Norwich City F.C. players
Premier League players
Scottish Premier League players
Television personalities from Leicestershire