Ian Dunbavin was a regular in the Liverpool youth team but after signing a professional contract in 1999, aged 19 he failed to get anywhere near the star-studded first team and so moved on to Division Three Shrewsbury Town in January 2000, with the club perilously close to the drop zone. He featured in seven games that season, but the Shrews only won two of them. Crucially one of those wins was a 2-1 success at Exeter on the final day of the season that lifted the Shrews off the bottom of Division Three, and secured them survival, sending Chester down instead.

Dunbavin found first team football easier to come by in 2000-2001 and featured 25 times for the Shrews as they finished a credible 15^th in the league. After a 9^th placed finish in 2001-2002 (finishing just one point off the play-offs) Dunbavin suffered relegation in 2002-2003. Dunbavin featured 44 times as the Shrews finished bottom of Division Three and were relegated from the Football League for the first time in their history.

Dunbavin would play the first three games of Shrewsbury's life in the Conference- in which they won two of them and drew the other- but lost his place in the side and moved on loan to fellow Conference side Morecambe in March 2004. He played just three matches for the Shrimps in which they lost them all. He failed to break back into the Shrewsbury side and left in the summer of 2004, agonisingly after making 99 league appearances for the Shropshire side. They were also promoted back to the Football League that summer.

Dunbavin moved to the Shay to join Conference side Halifax and he made 44 appearance as the Shaymen finished a positive ninth in 2004-2005. Dunbavin made 15 appearances for the Shaymen in 2005-2006 but was then dropped after a drink driving offence. He moved on loan to Scarborough where he made 14 appearances. There was no chance the Seadogs would keep him though as they were relegated from the Conference that season. Despite not finishing bottom, Scarborough went down due to financial irregularities. After his drink driving offence, Halifax were also unwilling to keep him and they sacked him in July 2006.

He didn't have to wait long for a new club to come along. Almost immediately after leaving the Shay, Dunbavin signed for Accrington Stanley, who had just romped to the Conference title. Despite being unwanted by both Halifax and Scarborough, Dunbavin had earned himself a promotion back to the Football League. He made 26 appearances in 2006-2007 as Accrington- playing in the Football League for the first time since reforming in 1991- finished a respectable 20^th in League Two.

Dunbavin made a further 25 appearances in 2007-2008 as Stanley again proved their critics wrong by finishing 17^th, and at the time of writing, the 28 year old has made five appearances in 2008-2009 (the last one of which being in January) and Stanley sit in 16^th place.

Rob Miles.