Bernie Slaven

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Bernie Slaven (born 13 November 1960 in Paisley, Scotland) is a footballer who played internationally for the Republic of Ireland (playing 7 times and scoring 1 goal). The clubs he played for were: Morton, Airdrie, Queen of the South, Albion Rovers, Middlesbrough, Darlington and Port Vale.

He rose to fame at Middlesbrough after a £25,000 transfer from Albion Rovers in Scotland with whom he scored 31 goals in a single season winning the Daily Record golden boot in the process. He is often considered one of the best buys ever made by Middlesbrough due to his prolific goalscoring exploits, scoring 146 goals in 381 games, mostly playing in the number 7 shirt. His international career included a call-up for Jack Charlton's Republic of Ireland squad for the 1990 World Cup. He is widely considered as one of the most important buys in the history of Middlesbrough FC.

He is now a presenter on the Three Legends football phone-in on Century FM in the North-East along with other Legends Malcolm Macdonald (formerly of Newcastle United). He represents Middlesbrough as their Legend. He recently had an autobiography, Legend?, published. In August 2006 he released a DVD called Lucky Slaven which features 90 of the Middlesbrough goals during his spell at the club. In October 2006, Bernie and his commentary partner Alastair Brownlee, won an award in New York for their commentary on Middlesbrough's UEFA Cup run in the 2005/2006 season.

In 1999, Slaven bared his backside in Binns department store window in Middlesbrough following a bet on Century FM. He bet if Middlesbrough beat Manchester United at Old Trafford, he would perform the dare. Middlesbrough beat Manchester United 3-2, so Slaven had to go ahead with the dare, with the score painted on his cheeks.

	Republic of Ireland squad - 1990 FIFA World Cup Quarter-finalists
1 Bonner | 2 Morris | 3 Staunton | 4 McCarthy | 5 Moran | 6 Whelan | 7 McGrath | 8 Houghton | 9 Aldridge | 10 Cascarino | 11 Sheedy | 12 O'Leary | 13 Townsend | 14 Hughton | 15 Slaven | 16 Sheridan | 17 Quinn | 18 Stapleton | 19 Kelly | 20 Byrne | 21 McLoughlin | 22 Peyton | Coach: Charlton