Chris Dunleavy

At Goodison he burst his thigh muscle out of its sheath during pre-season training which required an operation, and he frequently wore strapping on his thigh thereafter. He made the worst possible start by scoring two own goals on his home début v. Rochdale but he soon settled down to become an outstanding pivot, making 400 League appearances during his career; very strong defensively with his height mostly assuring mastery in the air, he also came upfield for set pieces and scored some powerfully headed goals. An ever-present in 1971—72 his record post-war run of 106 consecutive appearances was broken after he sustained an ankle injury on Boxing Day 1972. He recovered after a six-game absence and his consistent displays were sadly missed following his transfer to Chester for £12,000. He spent three seasons at Chester missing much of 1974—75 with a broken leg and then was a regular at Halifax for 5 years. He played with Andy Provan and Jim Fryatt for Philadelphia Atoms and, after finishing his career playing in Australia, settled in New South Wales. In 1985 he suffered a major road accident when the minibus he was driving was hit by a lorry. Now happily recovered, he runs his own distribution company.

Profile reproduced with Permission from:
The Sandgrounders: The Complete League History of Southport F. C., by Michael Braham and Geoff Wilde (Palatine Books, 1995). ISBN 978-1-874181-14-9

Southport Playing Stats

First Team

	Heritage Qualifying				League Only				Cup Only				Other Only				All
Season
1969/1970	19	(0)	19	0	19	(0)	19	0	1	(0)	1	0	1	(0)	1	0	21	(0)	21	0
1970/1971	37	(3)	40	2	36	(2)	38	2	3	(1)	4	1	1	(0)	1	1	40	(3)	43	4
1971/1972	49	(0)	49	7	46	(0)	46	5	8	(0)	8	2	1	(0)	1	1	55	(0)	55	8
1972/1973	43	(0)	43	2	40	(0)	40	2	3	(0)	3	0	1	(0)	1	0	44	(0)	44	2
1973/1974	4	(0)	4	0	4	(0)	4	0	0	(0)	0	0	0	(0)	0	0	4	(0)	4	0
Total	152	(3)	155	11	145	(2)	147	9	15	(1)	16	3	4	(0)	4	2	164	(3)	167	14

Southport Playing Stats

Reserves

	Heritage Qualifying				League Only				Cup Only				Other Only				All
Season
1969/1970	0	(0)	0	0	0	(0)	0	0	1	(0)	1	0	0	(0)	0	0	1	(0)	1	0
1970/1971	0	(0)	0	0	0	(0)	0	0	2	(0)	2	0	0	(0)	0	0	2	(0)	2	0
Total	0	(0)	0	0	0	(0)	0	0	3	(0)	3	0	0	(0)	0	0	3	(0)	3	0

Transfers