27 Facts About Richard Dunne

1.

Richard Patrick Dunne was born on 21 September 1979 and is an Irish former professional footballer and current television pundit for BT Sport, who played as a centre-back.

2.

Richard Dunne made 431 Premier League appearances, including 253 for Manchester City.

3.

Richard Dunne later spent nearly a decade at Manchester City before joining Aston Villa in 2009.

4.

Richard Dunne has played internationally for the Republic of Ireland from 2000 until 2014.

5.

Richard Dunne holds the Premier League record of scoring ten own goals.

6.

The next season, he started to play for Everton reserves and in early 1997, Richard Dunne signed a 5-year professional contract.

7.

Richard Dunne was part of the successful 1998 FA Youth Cup squad along with Tony Hibbert and Leon Osman.

8.

Richard Dunne made his debut under then manager Joe Royle in 1997, at the age of seventeen.

9.

Richard Dunne had various partners in the centre of defence in his first season at the club and for a few games he played in a three-man defence with Andy Morrison and Steve Howey.

10.

However, Richard Dunne returned to the first team following an intensive fitness programme, and within a few months gained an international recall.

11.

I've played with John Terry and Rio Ferdinand in the England squad but Richard Dunne is right up there with them.

12.

On 4 July 2008, Richard Dunne signed a new four-year contract with Manchester City to keep him at the club until 2012.

13.

Richard Dunne was applauded by Manchester City fans for his respect in refusing to celebrate his goal.

14.

On 11 December 2010, Richard Dunne was dropped from the team and replaced by Carlos Cuellar.

15.

Richard Dunne travelled to the NFL team the Cleveland Browns in order to attain specialised medical care for his injury, who at the time were owned by then-chairman of Aston Villa, Randy Lerner.

16.

Richard Dunne joined Queens Park Rangers on 15 July 2013, on a free transfer.

17.

Richard Dunne made his first QPR appearance against Exeter City in the League Cup.

18.

Richard Dunne scored his first goal for Rangers against Burnley on 1 February 2014.

19.

On 31 May 2015, Richard Dunne's contract expired and, along with five other players he was released by the club.

20.

Richard Dunne played for the Republic of Ireland national under-19 football team in the 1997 UEFA European Under-18 Football Championship finals in Iceland.

21.

Richard Dunne was part of the Irish squad that played at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but the centre-half pairing of Gary Breen and Steve Staunton was favoured by Mick McCarthy, meaning Richard Dunne did not even make an appearance as a substitute.

22.

Richard Dunne did score his fourth international goal in a friendly against Turkey just prior to the end of the campaign.

23.

Richard Dunne only missed three of the twelve matches, due to suspension and injury rather than form.

24.

Richard Dunne was famously pictured sitting distraught on the pitch in Paris as Thierry Henry, who assisted William Gallas' winning goal after controlling the ball with his hand, consoled Richard Dunne.

25.

On 6 September 2011, Richard Dunne started and played the full 90 minutes in the goalless draw against Russia in Moscow.

26.

Richard Dunne gave perhaps the best performance of his career, winning the man of the match award as he almost single-handedly stopped a Russian team which totally dominated midfield and created wave after wave of attacks.

27.

Richard Dunne has been praised for his insightful and opinionated style of punditry.