[2] Born in Huyton, Merseyside, Dunbavin attended Christ the King Catholic High School in Southport before being offered a two-year scholarship deal at Liverpool in June 1996.
[4] He signed an additional-one-year contract with the club in April 2005[5] before being sent out on loan to fellow Conference outfit, and the now-defunct, Scarborough in November 2005.
[6] Following his release from Halifax at the end of the 2005-06 season, Dunbavin joined newly-promoted Football League Two club Accrington Stanley on 1 July 2006.
In August 2009, Dunbavin received a suspended sentence, for his part in a brawl for which his friend Steven Gerrard had previously been arrested.
[9] The move came after Dunbavin's falling out with then-manager James Beattie,[10] which resulted in him being dropped in favour of young loanee Marcus Bettinelli.