About David Healy (footballer)
David Jonathan Healy (born 5 August 1979) is a Northern Irish football manager and former professional footballer who is in charge at NIFL Premiership club Linfield. A striker during his playing career, he is the men's all-time leading scorer for Northern Ireland with 36 goals. He also held the record for the joint highest scoring tally during a UEFA European Championship qualifying campaign, with 13 goals. He shared this record with Robert Lewandowski, until it was surpassed by Romelu Lukaku. Healy began his career as a youth team player at Manchester United in 1995, turning professional in 1999, but signed for Preston North End two years later after a short loan spell. He spent three years with Preston, maintaining a healthy goal-to-games ratio, before transferring to Leeds United in 2004. After three years at Leeds, he moved on to Fulham for a season before settling at Sunderland in 2008. He moved north to Scotland to play for Rangers in January 2011. He helped the club to the SPL title in 2010–11 and also played in the 2011 League Cup final victory, before departing at the end of the 2011–12 season, when his contract expired. He joined Bury for a one-season spell in August 2012. In addition to these clubs, he has also played for Port Vale, Norwich City, Ipswich Town, and Doncaster Rovers on loan. Bury released him in May 2013, and he retired in November 2013 after failing to find a club. Before representing his country at a senior level, he also played for both the under-21 team and the B team. He began his management career with Linfield in October 2015 and led the club to a NIFL Premiership, Irish Cup and County Antrim Shield treble in 2016–17. The following season proved a disappointment before they secured the league title and the Northern Ireland Football League Cup in 2018–19. They retained the Premiership trophy in 2019–20 and would win another Premiership and Irish Cup double in 2020–21. He then guided Linfield to a fourth consecutive league title in the 2021–22 season, though had to wait until the 2024–25 campaign for another league title. However, he was more productive in the Manchester Senior Cup, scoring four in five, including opening the scoring in the final against Oldham Athletic, which United won 3–0.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.