Dave Savage

Dave Savage
Nationality:
Caps (goals):	5 (0)
Rovers apps (gls)1:	65 (3)
Date of birth:	30 July 1973
Place of birth:	Dublin
Height:	6 ft 2 in
Position:	Midfielder
Date joined:	July 2003
Joined from:	Oxford United
Date left:	June 2005
1 League appearances and goals only.

Dave Savage is a midfielder who played for Rovers for two years, from 2003 to 2005. He was a regular in the first team during that time, playing 65 league games and scoring three goals. He was signed on a free transfer from Oxford United by Rovers manager Ian Atkins, who had managed Savage during his time in charge of both Oxford and Northampton Town.

Savage left the club in the summer of 2005 and joined Rushden & Diamonds on a free transfer. He was capped five times by the Republic of Ireland prior to joining Rovers.

Career

Dave's first senior club was Kilkenny City in Ireland, and in 1991 he made the move over to England, where he joined Brighton & Hove Albion for a year. Having failed to make an impact on the south coast he moved back to Ireland, where he joined Longford Town for two years. A second chance to prove himself in the English game came about when Millwall paid £15,000 for his services, and in four years with the Lions he won five caps for Ireland and made over 100 league appearances for the London club.

In 1998 Ian Atkins paid Millwall an £80,000 transfer fee to bring Savage to Northampton Town, the first of three clubs where the pair worked together, and after again making over 100 league appearances for the club joined up with Atkins again at Oxford United in 2001 and Bristol Rovers in 2003. Following his release from Rovers in 2003, he played for Rushden & Diamonds for two years, before signing for Brackley Town in 2007. At the start of his second season with Brackley he took up a player-coaching role, but the position wasn't to last long, as he signed for Oxford City in October 2008. He finally retired from football in 2011, shortly before his 38th birthday.

Career stats

Season	Club	League
		Apps	Goals
1990–91	Kilkenny City	?	?
1991–92	Brighton & Hove Albion	0	0
1992–93	Longford Town	?	?
1993–94	Longford Town	?	?
1994–95	Millwall	37	2
1995–96	Millwall	27	0
1996–97	Millwall	35	3
1997–98	Millwall	31	1
1998–99	Millwall	2	0
1998–99	Northampton Town	27	5
1999–00	Northampton Town	43	5
2000–01	Northampton Town	43	8
2001–02	Oxford United	42	1
2002–03	Oxford United	43	4
2003–04	Bristol Rovers	38	2
2004–05	Bristol Rovers	27	1
2005–06	Rushden & Diamonds	32	2
2006–07	Rushden & Diamonds	35	1
2007–08	Brackley Town	?	?
2008–09	Brackley Town	?	?
2008–09	Oxford City	?	?
2009–10	Oxford City	?	?
2010–11	Oxford City	?	?

Record against Rovers

Dave has played competitive first team fixtures against Rovers ten times, for four different clubs. He won four of those games, drew two and lost four.

Date	Club	Venue	Result	Notes
8 April 1997	Millwall	Memorial Stadium	1–0 to Rovers
29 November 1997	Millwall	Memorial Stadium	2–1 to Rovers
10 October 1998	Northampton Town	Sixfields	3–1 to Northampton	78th minute substitute Carl Heggs and James Hunt both scored for Northampton
14 October 2000	Northampton Town	Memorial Stadium	1–0 to Northampton	Jamie Forrester scored for Northampton. James Hunt also played
6 March 2001	Northampton Town	Sixfields	2–1 to Northampton	Scored a 13th-minute penalty James Hunt also scored, and Jamie Forrester played for the Cobblers
29 September 2001	Oxford United	Memorial Stadium	1–1
2 February 2002	Oxford United	Kassam Stadium	0–0	Subbed off after 89 minutes Rob Quinn also played for Oxford
21 April 2003	Oxford United	Kassam Stadium	1–0 to Rovers	James Hunt and Jefferson Louis also played for Oxford
2 January 2006	Rushden & Diamonds	Nene Park	3–2 to Rovers
8 April 2006	Rushden & Diamonds	Memorial Stadium	1–0 to Rushden