Pat Dunne: a tribute to Manchester United's brilliant shot-stopper

He was a key member of an underrated defence which also included Bill Foulkes and Nobby Stiles and he helped Matt Busby’s Manchester United to the league title in 1965

Dunne makes a save for Manchester United against Spurs in 1965 (Getty Images)

Manchester United goalkeeper Pat Dunne was something of a one-season wonder in football’s top flight – but what a season it was.

Virtually unknown in the English game after being plucked from the relative obscurity of the League of Ireland in the spring of 1964, the burly but acrobatic Dubliner made his Red Devils debut the following September.

Thereafter he didn’t miss a match for the next eight months as Matt Busby’s men were crowned as champions for the first time since the Munich air disaster of 1958 and reached the semi-finals of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.

However, for all his brilliance as a shot-stopper, and his unfailing courage when diving at the feet of charging attackers, the affable Dunne was not the most reliable at claiming crosses, and he proved neither consistent nor classy enough for a long-term Old Trafford tenure.

As John Doherty, one notably shrewd contemporary observer, put it affectionately: “When Pat was good, he was very, very good, but when he was bad he was horrid.”

Having been spotted by Everton and brought to Merseyside as a promising teenager, Dunne failed to make the grade at Goodison Park. He returned to his homeland, where he shone with Shamrock Rovers, helping them to win five major trophies, including the League title and the FAI Cup in 1963-64.

Much impressed, Busby signed him for £10,500; United’s top two custodians, Harry Gregg and David Gaskell, suffered appalling luck with injuries, and the newcomer was duly pressed into senior action.

Stellar attackers Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and George Best attracted most of the plaudits, but Dunne proved a key member of an oft-underrated rearguard which also included central defenders Bill Foulkes and Nobby Stiles, and right-back Shay Brennan, as United pipped Don Revie’s Leeds to the championship.

In 1965-66, though, the five-times-capped Republic of Ireland international was found wanting and replaced by the veteran Gregg. Then Alex Stepney was recruited and in February 1967 Dunne, after 67 outings as a Red, was sold to second-tier Plymouth Argyle for £5,000.

In the less demanding surroundings of Home Park, Dunne blossomed anew, perhaps finding his true level. Soon he was a local hero, being voted the Pilgrims’ player of the year for 1967-68, a terrific achievement for a goalkeeper in a relegation season.

After three years and 164 games for Argyle, he returned to Shamrock Rovers, later entering management and playing at various levels until he was 55.

Patrick Anthony Joseph Dunne, footballer: born Dublin 9 February 1943; married (two sons); died 25 September 2015.