Gerry Garvan is a former Irish

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 ...

and coach who played as a midfielder for several clubs, during the 1960s and 1970s, in the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally use ...

, including Drumcondra, Shelbourne and

Athlone Town Athlone Town Association Football Club () is an Irish football club from Athlone who are playing in the League of Ireland. The club is the oldest in the League as it was founded in 1887. First elected to the League of Ireland in 1922, they pl ...

Club career

On 19 November 1967, while playing for Shelbourne against Bohemians at

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park ( Irish: ''Páirc Cnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., who have played there since the early 20th century. Affectionately known ...

, Garvan helped Jimmy O'Connor score the fastest hat-trick in top division domestic football history. Garvan provided the cross which allowed O'Connor to head home his third goal in the space of 2 minutes and 13 seconds. He also had a hand in both other goals that created world history to this day.

Family

When Garvan married his wife Mary Martin, he married into a notable Irish footballing family. His father-in-law,

Con Martin Cornelius Joseph Martin (20 March 1923 – 24 February 2013) was an Irish footballer. Martin initially played Gaelic football for the Dublin county team before switching codes and embarking on a successful soccer career, playing for, among oth ...

, was an international during the 1940s and 1950s and captained both Ireland teams – the FAI XI and the IFA XI. Garvan subsequently worked as an insurance broker and formed a company, Martin & Garvan Insurances Ltd. His brother-in-law Mick Martin played for both the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

and

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

while his son,

Owen Garvan Owen William Garvan (born 29 January 1988) is an Irish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Garvan began his career in his native Ireland where he played for Home Farm as a schoolboy. He earned a move to England with Ipsw ...

, currently plays for Crystal Palace F.C.

Coaching career

As a coach Garvan found success with the junior teams of Home Farm in the Dublin and District Schoolboy League. Under Garvan, the U-14 team, which featured his own son, Owen, went unbeaten for three years between 1999 and 2002. Along the way they won the Schoolboys FAI Cup twice. In 2002, Garvan took his Home Farm U-14 team to play a Celtic youth team in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

and

Darren O'Dea Darren O'Dea (born 4 February 1987) is an Irish retired professional football player, who is currently the coach of Celtic B team. O'Dea has played as a centre back for clubs in Scotland, England, Canada, Ukraine and India, and represented t ...

scored twice as Home Farm won 2–0. O'Dea, Diarmuid O'Carroll, Gary Walsh and Gareth Christie were already being tracked by Celtic youth development officer, Tommy Burns, and all four were subsequently offered contracts. Three further members of Garvan's team – goalkeeper Shane Supple, defender Michael Synnott and midfielder

– were recruited by

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn professio ...

. Another member of the team Chris McCann signed for

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garvan, Gerry Living people Businesspeople from County Dublin Association footballers from County Dublin Republic of Ireland association footballers League of Ireland players Shelbourne F.C. players Athlone Town A.F.C. players Home Farm F.C. coaches Drumcondra F.C. players Association football midfielders Year of birth missing (living people) Republic of Ireland football managers