5'7.5"  12st.
b. Great Harwood  25 May 1960

 

Debut 2 May 1983 (22y 342d) Final Game 26 December 1983 (23y 215d)
First Goal 12 November 1983 Final Goal 19 November 1983
CAREER: Witton Park School;Brooklands;Mill Hill Old Boys;Darwen:Mill Hill WMC;Bury (trial);Blackburn Rovers Oct’75-’77 (ass sch);Mill Hill St Peter's;Darwen Jan’78; Chorley; Vancouver Whitecaps (Canada) (£20,000);Bristol City Aug'81[19+2-1];---(Finland);Blackburn Rovers Sep'82 (non con);Chorley;Burnley Jul'84-Jul'86[46+10-4]; Chorley; Horwich RMI;Clitheroe;Lancaster City Sep’88;Workington Town;Lancaster City;Rossendale United; Haslingden.

FL       8 apps   2 gls  - 2 wdn                4 ns
FAC                                                          1 ns
Total  8 apps    2 gls -2 wdn  -90m     5 ns
Strike rate  315m
LC                                                            3 ns
 

Devine was the (mercifully) anonymous star of a video of unusual football clips. Taking a penalty for Lancaster against Whitby he developed cramp in both legs as he was about to shoot and the ball was propelled with such lack of force that the goalkeeper had to wander off his line to retrieve it. This was the most bizarre feature of an unusual career which saw him fail to make the grade locally before finally starring with the neighbouring non-league side, Chorley, where he played in the final of the Lancashire Junior Cup. Spotted by Tony Waiters and taken to play in the NASL he failed to make the starting line up in Canada but made the acquaintance of Dick Dinnis, who recruited him for Bristol City when he returned to England. A further misadventure followed in Finland where he signed but never played for a club in Helsinki, the name of which even the player cannot recall. Incredibly his hasty return from Scandinavia brought him an invitation to play as a non contract player with the Rovers. A left sided player with mobility he had a few first team games but managed far more with Burnley two years later. Later he served a variety of non league sides and worked as a Sports Development officer in a football in the community scheme at Ewood. He had started work as an apprentice toolmaker at Wellfield Precision on Whitebirk Estate. He moved to Spain and opened a sports bar (Devines) in Benaldema but later sold it and returned to Blackburn. In July 2015 he almost made a surprise return to football as manager of AFC Darwen but changed his mind after accepting the appointment.