Full name Jean-Michel d'Avray Years Team Height 1.88 m | Playing position Team Apps Position Midfielder | |
Date of birth (1962-02-19) 19 February 1962 (age 55) Place of birth Johannesburg, South Africa | ||
Football 360 extra time mich d avray
Jean-Michel (Mich) d'Avray (born 19 February 1962 in Johannesburg, South Africa) is a former professional association footballer who spent the majority of his playing career at Ipswich Town. He is currently a development coach with South African Premier Soccer League club Bloemfontein Celtic.
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Club career
D'Avray's professional football career began when he made his debut for Ipswich Town against Southampton at Portman Road in November 1979. Over the next 11 seasons he made more than 200 appearances for the club, scoring nearly 40 goals. He also had a brief spell on loan to Leicester City where he made three appearances during the 1986–87 season. He went on to play for Dutch club NEC Nijmegen 28 times between 1990 and 1992.
International career
While playing for Ipswich, d'Avray won two caps for England at Under-21 level. He scored once, against Italy to help England into the final of the 1984 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.
Managerial career
D'Avray started his managerial career in 1991 with the Moroka Swallows in Johannesburg where he remained for just one season before moving to the Cape Town Spurs. He was awarded the South African Coach of the Year award in 1993 before leading the Spurs to a league and cup double in the 1993–94 season. From 1993 to 1997 he coached the South African Under-23 team, leading them out in 1994 for their inaugural game against Ghana. He coached the squad for a total of 28 games, his final match coming in December 1997 against Uganda.
In 1998 he moved to Australia to join A-League team Perth Glory as assistant manager before becoming manager in 2001. He led the team to the league title in 2003 and 2004. and succeeded Lawrie McKinna as National Soccer League (NSL) Coach of the Year, winning the accolade in the 2003–04 season, the final time the award was made.
D'Avray became Technical director of the Glory in 2005 but held the position for just one season. He joined Bloemfontein Celtic at the start of the 2008–09 season. In January 2009 he was replaced as Coach by Owen da Gama after a poor run of performances that left Celtic close to relegation. D'Avray remained on the staff as a development coach.
He is married to his wife Angela and has 2 children. He holds a UEFA Pro Licence.