Don Givens was born in Limerick on August 9th 1949. At 17 years of age, he joined Manchester United although he did not make his debut for the famous English club until two years later. He struggled to make the grade at United however and was soon on his way out of Old Trafford - being transferred to Luton Town in 1970 for £15,000. Givens played over 80 times for Luton - scoring a goal in very four matches in the process - when he was transferred again in July 1972.

Don Givens against Denmark in 1979.

This time however, Queens Park Rangers were to offer him the kind of stability that would ensure that his natural footballing skills flowered and he enjoyed the zenith of his playing career at the West London club. Givens was at QPR for six years - scoring 76 goals in 242 appearances. In the 1975-1976 season, Givens underlined his class by helping QPR finish second to Liverpool in the 1st Division Championship. Two years later, he was sold to Birmingham City for £165,000. At Birmingham he enjoyed similar scoring ratios - he played 59 times for the Blues, scoring on ten occasions.

Don Givens celebrates another goal for Ireland.

At International level, Givens is probably best remembered for his hat-trick against the USSR in 1974. The highly-fancied Soviets came to Dublin as clear favourites. Ireland were not in a good run of form and the USSR were regarded as one of the best sides in Europe. The Irish midfield played very well - John Giles and Liam Brady (making his international debut) - were in superb form. The end product was a hat-trick for Givens - the first hat-trick to be scored by an Irish player in 40 years exactly. A year later, Givens was to go one better and score four goals against Turkey! Don Givens held the scoring record for Ireland for many years to come - it was only in 1990 that Frank Stapleton managed to overtake him as Ireland's highest ever goalscorer.

Givens playing against Belgium in 1980.

Don Givens played 56 times for the Republic of Ireland. During that time, he scored an impressive 19 goals. He is still involved with the Irish national team. Givens took charge of the Ireland senior side for one match in 2002 after Mick MCarthy quit. He is now the manager of Ireland's Under 21 team.