Niall Canavan

Niall Canavan

Personal information
Full name	Niall David Stephen Canavan
Date of birth	11 April 1991
Place of birth	Bramley, Leeds, England
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	Barrow
Number	6
Youth career
	Bradford City
2004–2009	Scunthorpe United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2009–2016	Scunthorpe United	154	(15)
2011	→ Shrewsbury Town (loan)	3	(0)
2016	→ Rochdale (loan)	11	(1)
2016–2018	Rochdale	28	(2)
2018–2021	Plymouth Argyle	78	(5)
2021–2022	Bradford City	33	(1)
2022–	Barrow	84	(4)
International career‡
2011–2012	Republic of Ireland U21	7	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 00:14, 4 December 2023 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:00, 31 January 2022 (UTC)

Niall David Stephen Canavan (born 11 April 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Barrow in the English Football League. Born in England, he has represented the Republic of Ireland at youth level.

Career

Born in Bramley, West Yorkshire, Canavan played with the Academy of Bradford City until he was 12.

Canavan signed his first professional contract in April 2009 for Scunthorpe United. He made his first team debut on 22 August 2009 in a 4–0 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday, replacing Robert Jones on 28 minutes. Three days later he scored his first goal, in a 2–1 League Cup win at Swansea City. He attended St. Mary's Menston. He is a first team regular playing in both League and Cup matches. He has most notably played against Manchester United and Manchester City twice.

Canavan missed just one match in Scunthorpe's promotion winning season in 2013–14 and formed a defensive partnership with David Mirfin. As a consequence of this successful season, Canavan signed a new 2-year contract on 29 May 2014.

On 15 February 2016, Canavan joined Rochdale on an emergency loan, and at the end of the season he joined the club on a two-year contract.

He was released by Rochdale at the end of the 2017–18 season, after which he joined Plymouth Argyle on a free transfer.

He re-joined Bradford City in January 2021.

He moved from Bradford to fellow League Two side Barrow in January 2022.

International career

Although born in Leeds, Canavan carries an Irish passport and was called up by the FAI to the U21 squad in March 2011. In March 2011 he made his debut appearance for the Irish national Under-21 team.

Personal life

In September 2019, it was revealed that Canavan had, earlier in the year, been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

Career statistics

Club

As of 2 December 2023

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Scunthorpe United	2009–10	Championship	7	1	0	0	3	1	0	0	10	2
	2010–11	Championship	8	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	10	0
	2011–12	League One	12	1	2	0	1	0	0	0	15	1
	2012–13	League One	40	6	0	0	1	0	1	0	42	6
	2013–14	League Two	45	4	1	0	1	0	1	0	48	4
	2014–15	League One	32	3	1	0	2	0	1	0	36	3
	2015–16	League One	10	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	12	0
	Total		154	15	6	0	10	1	3	0	173	16
Shrewsbury Town (loan)	2010–11	League Two	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	4	0
Rochdale (loan)	2015–16	League One	11	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	1
Rochdale	2016–17	League One	25	2	3	0	2	0	3	0	33	2
	2017–18	League One	3	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	5	0
	Total		28	2	3	0	4	0	4	0	39	2
Plymouth Argyle	2018–19	League One	33	2	2	0	1	0	2	0	38	2
	2019–20	League Two	33	2	2	0	2	0	2	0	39	2
	2020–21	League One	12	1	1	0	0	0	2	0	15	1
	Total		78	5	5	0	3	0	6	0	92	5
Bradford City	2020–21	League Two	16	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	16	0
	2021–22	League Two	17	1	2	0	1	0	0	0	20	1
	Total		33	1	2	0	1	0	0	0	36	1
Barrow	2021–22	League Two	18	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	18	0
	2022–23	League Two	46	2	1	0	2	0	1	0	50	2
	2023–24	League Two	20	2	2	0	1	0	2	0	25	2
Total			84	4	3	0	3	0	3	0	93	4
Career total			389	28	19	0	21	1	18	0	448	29