Micky Kavanagh

Michael Kavanagh (31 December 1927 – 29 November 2016) was an Irish professional footballer who played as an outside left or inside forward in the Football League for Brighton & Hove Albion.^[1]

Micky Kavanagh

Personal information
Full name	Michael Kavanagh[1]
Date of birth	(1927-12-31)31 December 1927[1]
Place of birth	Dublin, Ireland
Date of death	29 November 2016(2016-11-29) (aged 88)[1]
Place of death	Rustington, England
Height	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)[2]
Position(s)	Outside left, inside forward
Youth career
	Stella Maris
	Johnville
	Bohemians
1944–1946	Hull City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1946–1948	Clonliffe Celtic
1948–1950	Brighton & Hove Albion	26	(7)
Managerial career
195?–1960	Littlehampton Town
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Life and career

Kavanagh was born in 1927 in Dublin,^[1] and attended St Laurence O'Toole School, where Gaelic games were played but association football was not. He began his youthful football career with Stella Maris, Johnville and Bohemians, and as a 16-year-old, went to England for what proved a lengthy and ultimately unsuccessful trial with Hull City.^[2][3]

He returned to Dublin junior football, but another English trial in early 1948 led to a contract with Brighton & Hove Albion. He made his debut in November of that year, made 12 Football League Third Division South appearances in the 1948–49 season, and a further 14 in 1949–50.^[2] While playing for the reserve team at the start of the following season, Kavanagh suffered a knee ligament injury that forced him into retirement and was to cause him problems for the rest of his life.^[3]

He then worked as a capstan operator for a local engineering firm, and in his spare time coached Sussex County League team Littlehampton Town for eight years.^[2][3] Kavanagh died in Rustington, West Sussex, in 2016 at the age of 88.^[1]