The Queen’s Birthday Honours List came out the other day and it included a Premier League footballer, currently plying his trade for Fulham. Is it Danny Murphy? Is it Jimmy Bullard? No, it’s none other than David Healy, a striker who has scored 34 goals in 65 games for Northern Ireland. For those of you challenged by maths, that’s better than a goal every two games, including a hat-trick against Spain during qualifying for Euro 2008. Quite a feat!
The BBC report that Healy is suitably chuffed at the award. The forward outscored everyone on Europe during qualifying for this summer’s tournament, with his team not far away from progressing at the expense of Spain or Sweden.
Uefa president Michel Platini travelled to Belfast in March to present Healy with an award for his 13 goals, which beat the record previously held by Croatia’s Davor Suker.
“It’s an unbelievable honour,” said the 28-year-old Killyleagh-born striker.
“As a player growing up you never expect to get something like this.
“You dream of playing for big clubs and your country and scoring goals, but you never expect to be honoured in this way.
“Goal scoring records are there to be broken but when you are given something like the MBE you are always going to have it, no one can take this away from me.”
Healy has been unable to replicate his international scoring form for Fulham thus far, although perhaps this is the fillip that the striker needs to score a hatful for the Premier League strugglers. Let’s see if Roy Hodgson can get the best of him next season.