Gary Lavery

Gary Lavery (born 4 May 1997) is a Northern Irish footballer who has recently retired from football to take up a career in mma
Early career
Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Lavery progressed through the academy at Glenavon F.C.. He was a devastating goalscorer at youth team level playing for various teams across the north. From an early age, it has been apparent that Lavery was a frequent goalscorer coming through the ranks of the South Belfast Youth League, and Northern Ireland National League respectively. At Aquinas F.C, a local South Belfast club, he won the golden boot at Under 12 level in his first season. From 2008 onwards, he was also a regular face in the local County Down squad. He helped fire Aquinas to the 2009 South Belfast Cup beating Holywood F.C. 6-0 in the final. In May 2011, he was selected for the Northern Ireland elite squad which travelled to Luxembourg for a two-game mini-tournament against their European hosts. He did not feature in the first match, which Luxembourg won 2-0, however he did play in the second match, in which Northern Ireland elite won 4-1, where he unleashed a right-foot rocket into the top right corner of the goal.
Career
Glenavon
He made his senior debut for Glenavon at the age of 15, when he came on in a 6-1 win against Richhill to in the Mid-Ulster cup, replacing McDaid as a substitute in the 66th minute, scoring his debut goal in the 85th minute. His league debut then came on 20 April 2013 in a 2-0 victory against Ballymena United, replacing Andy McGrory as a substitute on the 86th minute of the game. Since 2012, Lavery had numerous trials with many Premier League clubs. However, on 29 June 2013, Lavery signed a two-year scholarship with Premier League club Cardiff City.
His previous coaches at Glenavon F.C. are backing him to be a success in the Premier League. He played the 2013-14 season with their U18 Academy.
Cardiff City Academy
On 29 September 2013, his first start came in the FAW Welsh Youth Cup in the first round against Treowen Stars F.C. U19, at the Cardiff Athletics Stadium. He was on the score sheet as Cardiff City U19 eased to an impressive victory 6-1.
On 30 October 2013, he also featured in the FAW Welsh Youth Cup 2nd round, away to local rivals Newport County. In adverse weather conditions against a well organised Newport side, Lavery was once again involved in the action as Cardiff City came from a goal down to edge out 10-man Newport County.
Fleetwood Town
Lavery signed his first professional contract on 17 April 2015.
International career
Lavery was recently called up to the Northern Ireland national under-17 football team for the UEFA European Championship qualifiers. The mini-tournament was held locally in Northern Ireland, where they hosted Latvia, Luxembourg and Turkey between 14-19 November 2013. However, a poor opening performance against Latvia at Stangmore Park, Dungannon, in which they lost 0-1 left them with a mountain to climb for the remaining two games. They did beat Luxembourg 3-1 at Solitude, Belfast, only to be gunned down 0-2 against Turkey in the final fixture at Stangmore Park, Dungannon on Tuesday 19 November 2013. Lavery was recently called up to the U17 squad for two friendlies against the Czech Republic U17, in which both will be played in Northern Ireland

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