David Howland

David Howland (born 17 September 1986) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He scored 17 goals in 171 league a cup appearances in an eleven-year career in professional and semi-professional football in England and Northern Ireland.

David Howland
Personal information
Full name David Howland[1]
Date of birth (1986-09-17) 17 September 1986[1]
Place of birth Ballynahinch,[2] Northern Ireland
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[1]
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
2002–2004 Birmingham City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2008 Birmingham City 0 (0)
2008 → Port Vale (loan) 17 (1)
2008–2010 Port Vale 45 (2)
2010–2016 Glentoran 95 (12)
Total 157 (15)
National team
2006–2008 Northern Ireland U21 4 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

A Northern Ireland under-21 international, he started his career at Birmingham City. In January 2008, he was loaned out to Port Vale, and joined the club on a permanent basis at the end of the season. He was released by Port Vale in the summer of 2010, at which point he signed with Glentoran. He helped the club to win the Irish Cup in 2013, before he retired due to injury in August 2016.

Club career

Birmingham City

Howland was born in Ballynahinch, County Down, and joined Birmingham City's Academy in 2002. He signed his first one-year professional contract in 2005, which was renewed for a further year.[3] He was allocated a first-team squad number for the first time during the 2006–07 season, and signed a further year's contract before the 2007–08 season.[4] A central midfielder, he played regularly for Birmingham's reserve team but did not make an appearance for the first team.

He was an unused substitute in the League Cup fourth round tie against Blackburn Rovers in September 2007 in unusual circumstances. Birmingham had selected the 15-year-old Jordon Mutch, having obtained confirmation from the Premier League that it was within the rules for a boy of that age to play, but were informed less than two hours before kick-off that due to the Football Association's child protection rules Mutch would not be eligible. Special dispensation was granted for Howland, who had not been assigned a squad number for the 2007–08 season, to take his place on the bench wearing a numberless shirt.[5][6]

Port Vale

In January 2008 he joined Port Vale of League One on loan for the remainder of the season,[7] and made his debut in the Football League on 26 January 2008 against A.F.C. Bournemouth.[8] At the end of the season he was released by Birmingham,[9] but his performance while on loan at Port Vale was sufficient to earn him a two-year permanent deal.[10]

He was one of few Vale players to hit 40 games in the 2008–09 season. He enjoyed his time under Dean Glover,[11] especially in games with Glover's five-man midfield tactic.[12] However, he was transfer listed by new manager Micky Adams in August 2009, along with five others, having failed to impress in the pre-season.[13] After a month on the transfer list, he was the only one of the six to have received no inquiries from any clubs,[14] which came as a surprise to many Vale fans. He returned to the Vale first team in mid-September, after impressing in training, though he remained transfer listed.[15] In April 2010 he learned that he would not be offered a new contract by manager Micky Adams.[16]

Glentoran

In September 2010, Howland left England for Belfast, signing a season long contract with IFA Premiership club Glentoran.[17] He made his debut in the televised Sky Sports match at home to Linfield. He was utilised in the playmaker role in the heart of the midfield. The "Glens" finished in third place in 2010–11, qualifying for the UEFA Europa League. In January 2011, he signed a contract to keep him at the club until 2014.[18] Glentoran then finished sixth in 2011–12.[19] They finished fourth in 2012–13, and qualified for the Europa League. Glentoran also won the Irish Cup, and Howland played in the 3–1 final victory over Cliftonville.[20] Howland also featured in the club's Europa League qualification defeat to Icelandic club KR.[21] The "Glens" finished the 2013–14 season in fifth place, though Howland missed much of the campaign after injuring cartilage in his knee.[22] He featured ten times in the 2014–15 campaign, and just once in the 2015–16 season, before he announced his retirement in August 2016, owing to a long-standing injury.[23]

International career

Howland represented Northern Ireland at junior levels and was first selected for the under-21 squad in February 2006.[24] He won four caps at under-21 level.[25]

Physiotherapy career

Howland graduated as a physiotherapist, and secured a job at the Crewe Alexandra Academy in 2016.[23]

Statistics
Club Season Division League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Birmingham City2005–06[26]Premier League0000000000
2006–07[27]Championship0000000000
2007–08[28]Premier League0000000000
Total 0000000000
Port Vale2007–08[28]League One171000000171
2008–09[29]League Two402110000413
2009–10[30]League Two5010001[lower-alpha 1]070
Total 623210010654
Glentoran2010–11[31]NIFL Premiership202003000232
2011–12[31]NIFL Premiership264002000284
2012–13[31]NIFL Premiership295412000356
2013–14[31]NIFL Premiership9100000091
2014–15[31]NIFL Premiership100000000100
2015–16[31]NIFL Premiership1000000010
Total 951241700010613
Career total 1571562701017117
  1. Appearance/s in the EFL Trophy.

Honours
Glentoran
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References
  1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2009). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2009–10. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84596-474-0.
  2. "David Howland". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  3. "Player Profiles: David Howland". Birmingham City F.C. Archived from the original on 11 April 2008. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
  4. "Birmingham sign youngster Howland". BBC Sport. 15 May 2007. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
  5. "Statement regarding Jordon Mutch". Birmingham City F.C. 26 September 2007. Archived from the original on 10 February 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
  6. Tattum, Colin (27 September 2007). "Howland comes to the rescue for Blues". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
  7. "Birmingham youngster joins Vale". BBC Sport. 23 January 2008. Retrieved 23 January 2008.
  8. "Port Vale 1–3 Bournemouth". BBC Sport. 26 January 2008. Retrieved 26 January 2008.
  9. "Young quartet released". Birmingham City F.C. 13 May 2008. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2008.
  10. "Howland to stay with the Valiants". BBC Sport. 23 May 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2008.
  11. "Howland flourishing under Glover". BBC Sport. 4 November 2008. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
  12. "Attacking freedom helps Howland". BBC Sport. 23 March 2009. Retrieved 6 June 2009.
  13. Shaw, Steve (6 August 2009). "Port Vale: Valiants transfer list six players". The Sentinel. Retrieved 6 August 2009.
  14. Shaw, Steve (2 September 2009). "Breaking News: Davidson set to extend Stafford stay". The Sentinel. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
  15. "Manager: Howland Has Earned Chance". port-vale.co.uk. 20 September 2009. Retrieved 21 September 2009.
  16. "Port Vale release Lawrie, Howland, Richman & Edwards". BBC Sport. 27 April 2010. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
  17. "Glens sign David Howland". glentoran.com. 19 September 2010. Archived from the original on 23 September 2010. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
  18. "Glentoran duo Callacher and Howland sign new Oval deals". BBC Sport. 28 January 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  19. "Glentoran 2011–2012 : Northern Irish Premier League Table". Statto Organisation. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
  20. Jackson, Lyle (4 May 2013). "Waterworth double as Glentoran beat Cliftonville". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  21. "Glentoran 0-3 KR". uefa.com. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  22. "Glentoran midfielder Howland faces spell on sidelines". BBC Sport. 3 October 2013. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  23. "David Howland | Glentoran FC". www.glentoran.com. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  24. Harris, Martin (2 February 2006). "Under-21 squad announced". Irish Football Association. Archived from the original on 18 March 2006. Retrieved 22 January 2008.
  25. "Squad Profiles – Under 21: David Howland". Irish Football Association. Archived from the original on 20 August 2009. Retrieved 22 January 2008. Note this source says 3 appearances, which was correct when accessed in January 2008; it was not updated for the match he played in March of that year.
    Harris, Martin (26 March 2008). "U21s no match for strong Romanians". Irish Football Association. Archived from the original on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 11 October 2010.
    "David Howland". Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats (NIFG). Retrieved 6 September 2017.
  26. "Games played by David Howland in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  27. "Games played by David Howland in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  28. "Games played by David Howland in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  29. "Games played by David Howland in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  30. "Games played by David Howland in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  31. "Stats". Soccerway. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
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