Darryl James Flahavan [fla-hay-van] (born 28 November 1978) is an English association football coach and former player who played as a goalkeeper. He is currently the goalkeeper coach at EFL Championship club Plymouth Argyle.

Darryl Flahavan
Flahavan in 2013
Personal information
Full name Darryl James Flahavan[1]
Date of birth (1978-11-28) 28 November 1978 (age 46)
Place of birth Southampton, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[2]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
Plymouth Argyle (goalkeeping coach)
Youth career
Southampton
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–1998 Southampton 0 (0)
1998–2000 Woking 43 (0)
2000–2008 Southend United 294 (0)
2008–2010 Crystal Palace 2 (0)
2009Leeds United (loan) 0 (0)
2009Oldham Athletic (loan) 7 (0)
2010Oldham Athletic (loan) 11 (0)
2010–2011 Portsmouth 0 (0)
2011–2015 AFC Bournemouth 46 (0)
2015–2016 Crawley Town 13 (0)
Total 417 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He has spent most of his career in the Football League, winning the PFA League One player of the year and was named in the League One Team of the Year in 2005–06; he was also named Southend United supporters' player of the year in 2002–03 and Players' Player of the year in 2003–04 and again in 2005–06.

Club career

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Southampton

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Flahavan began his career at Southampton. He was named as an unused substitute several times in the Premier League, but did not make a first team appearance, being behind Paul Jones, Dave Beasant and Maik Taylor in the pecking order.[3] He left Saints on a free transfer in 1998, and went on to make his name with Conference side Woking.

Southend United

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He was signed by Southend in October 2000. Flahavan played for Southend during two spells and in total made 356 appearances for the club helping them from League Two into the Championship in back-to-back seasons. Flahavan was seen as one of the main reasons behind the club's rise through the divisions. Flahavan put in a man of the match display against Manchester United in the League Cup on 7 November 2006, making a string of saves from Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney.[4] Southend won the game 1–0 with a Freddy Eastwood free kick. Southend were eventually knocked out the competition in the quarter-finals to Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane 1–0 where again Flahavan produced another man of the match display.

Crystal Palace

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Flahavan signed for Championship side Crystal Palace in early July 2008 on a Bosman ruling free transfer, signing a three-year contract to compete for the first team shirt with Julián Speroni. He rejected Southend's offer of a one-year deal. Flahavan made his debut in Palace's 2–1 League Cup win over Hereford United in August 2008. Flahavan also played in the next round against Leeds United, but Palace lost the game 4–0. Flahavan's only league appearance of that season came against Cardiff City and despite saving a penalty, Palace lost the game 2–1. The following season saw Flahavan remain at the club despite speculation linking him with a move away, and he made a first home league appearance for the Eagles in the 0–2 home defeat to Newcastle United, with Speroni ruled out through injury. This proved to be his last appearance for the Eagles.

Loan to Leeds United

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On 26 March 2009, he joined Leeds United on loan until the end of the 2008–09 season, although due to an early injury he did not feature for Leeds United, who also had goalkeepers Casper Ankergren, David Lucas and Alan Martin already at the club.

Loan to Oldham Athletic

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Oldham Athletic signed Flahavan on a month emergency loan in November 2009. Flahavan made his Oldham debut in the FA Cup loss against his former club Leeds United. His loan was later extended until the end of the season, he picked up the Latics' player of the month in April 2010 and went on to play 20 games for the club.

Portsmouth

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On 8 August 2010, Flahavan started training with Portsmouth ahead of a possible move to the club his older brother Aaron played for. On 27 August, Portsmouth signed Flahavan on a one-month deal. He was given the number 37 jersey.[5] Flahavan signed a new one-month deal at Fratton Park on 23 September[6] and then did so again on 26 October.[7] He later extended his contract until the end of the season. Flahavan did not play a single match in the 2010–11 season, as Jamie Ashdown played the full 90 minutes in all 50 of Portsmouth's matches. He left upon the expiration of his contract in June.

AFC Bournemouth

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On 28 June 2011, Flahavan signed a one-year deal with AFC Bournemouth with a further one-year extension in the club's favour.[8] Flahavan looked forward to working with Lee Bradbury and goalkeeping coach Neil Moss, and was expected to provide competition for Shwan Jalal.[9] He signed a new one-year contract in January 2012.[10] Flahavan played in all but two of Bournemouth's 46 league games in the 2011–12 season. The following season Flahavan picked up a shoulder injury in pre-season which ruled him out of the 2012–13 season.

In May 2013, Flahavan signed a new one-year deal under manager Eddie Howe.[11]

In May 2015, Flahavan left Bournemouth in order to pursue regular first-team football.

Crawley Town

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After his release, Flahavan signed for Crawley Town on a short-term deal.[12] He kept a clean sheet in a 1–0 victory over York City on Halloween.[13] He left Crawley in January 2016.[14]

Coaching career

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On 13 June 2016, Flahavan retired from playing when he was appointed the goalkeeper coach of Leeds United as part of the backroom staff to new head coach Garry Monk.[15] Flahavan had a loan spell at Leeds during his playing days and was a former teammate of Monk during his Southampton days.

On 21 June 2017, Flahavan followed Monk to Middlesbrough after Monk resigned as Leeds manager[16] Flahavan was appointed goalkeeping coach of EFL Championship club Birmingham City when Monk took over as manager on 4 March 2018.[17]

On 12 August 2020, he joined Sheffield Wednesday as their goalkeeper coach.[18] He left the club on 9 November 2020, when Garry Monk left the club.

On 25 June 2021, he joined Wigan Athletic as the goalkeeping coach.[19]

On 9 October 2023, Gary White, head coach of Chinese Taipei, mentioned in an interview that Flahavan has been appointed as the new goalkeeper coach of the national team. In his first game, Chinese Taipei took a brilliant 4-0 win against Timor Leste.[20]

On 18 January 2024, he joined Plymouth Argyle as first team goalkeeping coach.[21]

Personal life

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Flahavan was born in Southampton.[1] Flahavan's older brother Aaron was also a professional football goalkeeper. He played for Portsmouth before dying in a car crash in 2001. Darryl has a son named Aaron in memory of his brother.[22]

Honours

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Southend United

Individual

References

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  1. ^ a b "Darryl Flahavan". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  2. ^ "Darryl Flahavan". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  3. ^ Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (2003). In That Number – A post-war chronicle of Southampton FC. Hagiology Publishing. p. 612. ISBN 0-9534474-3-X.
  4. ^ Perrett, Neil (22 July 2013). "Ronaldo finally gets the better of Flahavan". Bournemouth Daily Echo. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  5. ^ "Darryl Flahavan Signs". Portsmouth FC. 27 August 2010. Archived from the original on 30 August 2010. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
  6. ^ "Flahavan pens new deal". Football.co.uk. 23 September 2010. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
  7. ^ "Flahavan pens new Pompey deal". Telegraph.co.uk. 26 October 2010. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
  8. ^ "Darryl Flahavan signs". AFC Bournemouth. 28 June 2011. Archived from the original on 1 July 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  9. ^ "Cherries land Flahavan". Sky Sports. 28 June 2011. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  10. ^ "Flahavan pens new Cherries deal". 13 January 2012. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  11. ^ Fitzgerald, Max (1 May 2013). "Flahavan delighted by contract offer". AFC Bournemouth. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  12. ^ "BBC Sport – Darryl Flahavan: Crawley Town sign goalkeeper on short-term deal". Bbc.co.uk. 16 October 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  13. ^ "Match Report – Crawley 1 – 0 York City | 31 Oct 2015". Skysports.com. 31 October 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  14. ^ "Darryl Flahavan: Goalkeeper leaves Crawley Town". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  15. ^ "Duo join backroom staff". Leeds United F.C. 13 June 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  16. ^ "Middlesbrough FC's New First Team Staff To Join Up With Boro Boss Garry Monk". Retrieved 22 June 2017.[permanent dead link]
  17. ^ "Birmingham City appoint Garry Monk as manager". Birmingham City F.C. 4 March 2018. Archived from the original on 28 December 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  18. ^ "FOwls bolster first team coaching staff". Sheffield Wednesday F.C. 12 August 2020. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  19. ^ "Latics confirm new additions to back room staff". Wigan Athletic F.C. 25 June 2021. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  20. ^ "中華男足以近乎全本土陣容應戰世界盃資格賽 懷特:打開大門給其他球員機會". GoGoal. 9 October 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  21. ^ "Darryl Flahavan joins as Goalkeeping Coach". Plymouth Argyle F.C. 18 January 2024. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
  22. ^ "Darryl Flahavan: Factfile". Portsmouth News. 23 September 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2015.[dead link]
  23. ^ "Blackpool 2–0 Southend". BBC Sport. 21 March 2004. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  24. ^ "Southend 0–2 Wrexham". BBC Sport. 10 April 2005. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  25. ^ "PFA's Official Fan's Player of the Year Previous Winners". GiveMeFootball.com. Professional Footballers' Association. Archived from the original on 15 December 2007. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  26. ^ "Gerrard named player of the year". BBC Sport. 23 April 2006. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
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