Owen Garvan

Owen Garvan

Personal information
Full name	Owen Garvan
Date of birth	29 January 1988 (1988-01-29) (age 23)
Place of birth	Dublin, Ireland
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Crystal Palace
Number	10
Youth career
1999–2004	Home Farm
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2004–2010	Ipswich Town	163	(13)
2010–	Crystal Palace	30	(4)
National team‡
2007–2009	Republic of Ireland U21	16	(5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:35, 27 August 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22:09, 10 August 2010 (UTC)

Owen Garvan (born 29 January 1988 in Dublin, Republic of Ireland) is an Irish footballer who currently plays for Crystal Palace and the Republic of Ireland U21s. He previously played for the Irish schoolboy team Home Farm, before moving to England to join Ipswich Town. Garvan plays as a central midfielder and has been compared to Steven Gerrard.^[1]

Family

Garvan comes from a notable Irish footballing family. His maternal grandfather, Con Martin, was an international during the 1940s and 1950s and captained both Ireland teams – the FAI XI and the IFA XI. His uncle, Mick Martin, also played for both the Republic of Ireland and Manchester United. Another uncle Con Martin Jr. and his own father, Gerry Garvan, both played in the League of Ireland.^[2]

Playing career

Home Farm

Garvan was a member of the Home Farm U-14s team that played in the Dublin and District Schoolboy League. The team, which was coached by his father Gerry, went unbeaten for three years between 1999 and 2002. Along the way they won the Schoolboys FAI Cup twice. ^{[3] [4]} Garvan is just one of several players in the team who have since gone on to bigger things. Darren O'Dea, Diarmuid O'Carroll, Gary Walsh and Gareth Christie were all offered contracts by Celtic, while goalkeeper Shane Supple and defender Michael Synnott, like Garvan, were recruited by Ipswich Town. Another member of the team Chris McCann signed for Burnley.^[5]

Ipswich Town

Garvan turned down offers from Celtic, Fulham and Nottingham Forest before joining Ipswich Town in November 2004. He subsequently became a regular in the Town team that won the FA Youth Cup in 2005. However he missed the second leg of final against Southampton after being rushed to hospital with a virus on the eve of the game. He made his senior debut for Town against Cardiff City on August 6, 2005 and during his debut season with the senior team, 2005–06, he made 31 league appearances and scored 3 goals. During the 2006–07 season he made a further 27 league appearances and scored 1 further goal.^[6][7][8] During the 2007–08 season, Garvan formed a good partnership with Tommy Miller and scored three goals. However he eventually fell out of the side under Roy Keane's management, and became a fringe player.

Crystal Palace

Garvan moved to Crystal Palace in August 2010 for £250,000. He scored his first goal for Crystal Palace in a 4–3 defeat at Preston North End on 23 October 2010.^[9]

Irish international

Garvan made his debut for the Republic of Ireland U21s on September 7, 2007 in a 2–0 defeat against Portugal U21 at Turner's Cross. This game was a European Under-21 Championship qualifier ^[10] He has previously represented the Republic at U15, U17 and U19 levels. Since his U21 debut he has also played in a friendly against Sweden U21 on October 12, 2007, which the Republic won 3–2, and in another qualifier against England U21 on October 16, 2007 which ended in 3–0 defeat. He was also included by Giovanni Trapattoni in his first senior squad as the Republic manager.

Club statistics

Season	Club	Division	League			FA Cup			League Cup			Play-Offs			Total			Discipline
			Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists
2005–06	Ipswich Town	Championship	32	3	2	1	0	0	1	0	0	–	–	–	34	3	2	6	0
2006–07		Championship	27	1	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	–	–	–	29	1	3	5	1
2007–08		Championship	43	2	8	1	0	0	1	1	0	–	–	–	45	3	8	3	0
2008–09		Championship	37	7	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	–	–	–	39	7	1	7	0
2009–10		Championship	25	0	5	2	1	0	1	0	0	–	–	–	28	1	5	2	0
Total			163	13	19	7	1	0	5	1	0	–	–	–	175	15	19	23	1
2010–11	Crystal Palace	Championship	26	3	2	1	0	0	1	0	0	–	–	–	28	3	2	3	1
2010–11		Championship	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	–	–	–	4	1	0	0	0
Total			30	4	2	1	0	0	1	0	0	–	–	–	32	4	2	3	1
Career total			193	17	21	9	1	0	5	1	0	–	–	–	207	19	21	26	2

Honours

Ipswich Town

• FA Youth Cup
  • Winners 2005: 1

References

1. ^ www.ipswich.vitalfootball.co.uk
2. ^ ww.fai.ie
3. ^ www.a2zsoccer.com
4. ^ www.a2zsoccer.com
5. ^ www.independent.ie
6. ^ www.itfc.premiumtv.co.uk
7. ^ www.itfc.premiumtv.co.uk
8. ^ Pride of Anglia
9. ^ http://www.southlondonpress.co.uk/Sport.cfm?id=25566&headline=Exclusive:%20Brighton%20agree%20fee%20for%20Palace's%20Garvan
10. ^ www.fai.ie

External links

• Owen Garvan career stats at Soccerbase

Persondata
Name	Garvan, Owen
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	29 January 1988
Place of birth	Dublin, Ireland
Date of death
Place of death