| Joe Haverty | |
| |
| Nationality: | 
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| Caps (goals): | 32 (3) |
| Rovers apps (gls)1: | 13 (1) |
| Date of birth: | 17 February 1936 |
| Place of birth: | Dublin |
| Height: | 5 ft 3½ in |
| Position: | Winger |
| Date joined: | 4 December 1964 |
| Joined from: | Celtic |
| Date left: | Summer 1965 |
| 1 League appearances and goals only. | |
Joe Haverty was a winger who arrived at Eastville from Scottish side Celtic in December 1964. His stay at Rovers was brief, but he established himself as a firm fans favourite before leaving the club to return home to Ireland at the end of the 1964-65 season to play for Shelbourne.
Measuring in at only 5 ft 3½ in (1.61 m), Haverty was one of the shortest players ever to pull on a Rovers shirt, but he was known for repeatedly beating opponents with his skill on the ball. He was capped 32 times by the Republic of Ireland, and scored three times for them.
Career[]
Joe, who was born in Dublin on 17 February 1936, began playing football in Ireland as a youngster for Home Farm and Drumcondra, before getting a big move to St Patrick's Athletic, with whom he won the Irish cup. His performances for St Pat's were good enough to attract the attention of Arsenal, who brought him to England for a transfer fee of £1,000 in the summer of 1954.
Haverty spent seven years with the Gunners, making 114 league appearances and scoring 25 goals, before moving north to Blackburn Rovers in 1961. He only remained in Lancashire for a single year, and moved back to London to join Millwall in 1962, where he plied his trade for a further two seasons. He then had brief spells at Celtic and Bristol Rovers before heading back across the Irish Sea to join Shelbourne.
After two years back in his home city he moved to America to play in the NASL for the Chicago Spurs in 1968, who relocated and became the Kansas City Spurs a year later. In 1969 he moved back to Dublin to join Shamrock Rovers, where he ended his playing career.
Haverty was inducted into the FAI's Hall of Fame in 2000. He died in London on 7 February 2009 at the age of 72, ten days before his 73rd birthday.