Sean Thomas Devine (born 6 September 1972) is a retired 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 striker.

Biography

He began his career with

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

. Having spent time on loan with

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...

in 1992, he spent two years with

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

and one with Fisher Athletic before moving to Cyprus to play for

Anorthosis Famagusta Anorthosis Famagusta (), commonly known as Anorthosis in English or Anorthosi in Greek, is a Cypriot football club, part of the Famagusta multi-sport club founded in 1911 in Varosha, Famagusta.

in the summer of 1995. Four months later, he returned to England and signed for

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 ...

. Devine was Barnet's top scorer for three seasons and in 1996 he was offered a trial at Premiership club

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

. However, the high-profile transfer was cancelled after he was struck down by groin and hernia problems which kept him out of action for eight months. Devine had scored 16 goals before Christmas that season and he returned to fitness only after a rehabilitation spell at Lilleshall during the summer of 1997. Devine continued to score goals for Barnet and managed to break the club's league goalscoring record but an alleged fall-out with Bees Manager

John Still John Still (c. 1543 – 26 February 1607/1608) was Master of two Cambridge colleges and then, from 1593, Bishop of Bath and Wells. He enjoyed considerable fame as an English preacher and disputant. He was formerly reputed to be the author of an ...

brought an end to his future at Underhill. In April 1999, after a successful loan spell at the club, Devine signed for

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 ...

for a fee of £200,000. He scored eight goals in 12 league appearances that season that made a major contributing factor to Wycombe's last day escape from relegation in the 1998–99 season. Devine also set a Wycombe club record for most goals in a single season by scoring 23 goals during the 1999–2000 campaign. However, a knee injury caused him to miss the whole of the 2000–01 season and after that he was unable to regain his old goalscoring form at the club. Devine stayed for two more years and went on to become Wycombe's all-time record

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

goalscorer, a record he had now achieved for two clubs. During the 2002–03 season, Devine began to fall out of favour with Wycombe manager

Lawrie Sanchez Lawrence Sanchez (born 22 October 1959) is a football manager and former international footballer for Northern Ireland. The defining moment of his playing career came in the 1988 FA Cup final, when he scored the winning goal for Wimbledon aga ...

and this led to the player requesting a transfer away from the club. Sanchez felt that Devine was no longer the same player since his injury and accepted a £70,000 offer from

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third level of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

, with the deal being concluded in January 2003. In January 2005, Devine captained his Exeter side in an

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 ...

third round match against

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 ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

, in which the non-league side secured a famous 0-0 result. After that season, Devine left England and signed for the

New Zealand Knights New Zealand Knights Football Club (formed from the Football Kingz Football Club in 2004) were the only professional association football club in New Zealand before they became defunct. Based in Auckland, New Zealand, they played in the A-League ...

making just seven appearances before club was dissolved in January 2007. Devine also played as an Irish B international in a team that included

Robbie Keane Robert David Keane (born 8 July 1980) is an Irish professional football coach and former player who played as a striker and is currently the head coach of Ferencváros. Keane served as captain of the Republic of Ireland from March 2006 until h ...

and

Damien Duff Damien Anthony Duff (born 2 March 1979) is an Irish professional manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player. He is the manager of League of Ireland club Shelbourne F.C., Shelbourne. He began his pro ...

in February 1998.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Devine, Sean 1972 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Lewisham Men's association football forwards English men's footballers Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's B international footballers Millwall F.C. players Woking F.C. players Bromley F.C. players Fisher Athletic F.C. players Anorthosis Famagusta FC players Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players New Zealand Knights FC players Metro FC (New Zealand) players English Football League players A-League Men players Cypriot First Division players Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Expatriate men's association footballers in New Zealand