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=== Sheffield Wednesday ===
On 11 August 1986, he signed for [[Sheffield Wednesday F.C.|Sheffield Wednesday]]. He was brought to Wednesday by then manager Howard Wilkinson, just before the start of the [[1986–87 in English football|1986–87]] season. The fee was £250,000. Barnsley's financial troubles saw the young striker sold. His Owls debut came against [[Charlton Athletic F.C.|Charlton Athletic]] which was the first game of the season as Wednesday began the season away in a 1–1 First Division draw on 23 August 1986. However the following week he made his Hillsborough debut as a substitute against Everton in front of over 33,000 and he scored within minutes of entering the field. He would go on to make 21 league appearances that season, scoring six goals. By [[1988–89 in English football|1988–89]] he was firmly established in the first team.{{cn|date=April 2019}}
He became a firm favourite and an idol of the Wednesday supporters, scoring 149 goals in 358 appearances during his eleven years at the club.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sheffwed.vitalfootball.co.uk/interview-with-ex-owls-defender-juan-cobian/|title=INTERVIEW With Ex-Owls Defender Juan Cobian|date=27 July 2016|website=Vital Sheffield Wednesday|accessdate=23 April 2019}}</ref> He was capped three times for [[England national football team|England]], and scored once. He even managed to score and keep a clean sheet in the same match, (a 2–0 victory over Manchester City in January 1990) after he replaced an injured [[Kevin Pressman]] in goal.
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In 1991, Hirst scored 32 goals as Wednesday were promoted back to the First Division at the first attempt, including a 4-goal haul against [[Hull City A.F.C.|Hull City]] (a 5–1 win) on 1 September 1990. This form led to him being called up for the England B international against [[Switzerland national football team|Switzerland]], in which he scored both England goals in a 2–1 win. He was subsequently called into the full England squad for the tour of [[Australasia]].
He made his international debut in the 1–0 win over [[Australia national football team|Australia]], but was replaced at half-time. He was named as a substitute in the next game against [[New Zealand national football team|New Zealand]]. He came on at half-time and within three minutes of the restart he scored his first (and only) England goal. With [[Gary Lineker]] injured, he lined up with [[Alan Shearer]] against [[France national football team|France]] at Wembley. Bryan Robson said that, "It's not a question of who will replace Lineker, but who will partner David Hirst".{{cn|date=April 2019}} It became Hirst's third and final England match. Although he was selected for more England squads, injuries kept him out of the team.
[[Manchester United]] boss [[Alex Ferguson]] tried six times to tempt Owls boss [[Trevor Francis]] to sell Hirst, but without success.{{cn|date=April 2019}} Two of these occasions were in 1992. First, after a shortage of goals in the second half of the [[1991–92 in English football|1991–92 season]] had cost United the championship, Ferguson attempted to sign Hirst during the close season, but the offer was refused. In November 1992, with United's title challenge flagging once again due to a shortage of goals, Ferguson offered the Owls £3million for Hirst, but the offer was rejected and United signed [[Eric Cantona]] instead.
In 1992 during a game at Highbury, Hirst suffered a broken ankle. It was the start of his injury problems. He still scored in the game and managed 16 goals in 33 games. In the same season Hirst played in the Sheffield Wednesday team that reached both domestic Finals – they lost both to [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]], but Hirst scored Wednesday's equaliser in the [[FA Cup Final 1993|FA Cup Final]] at [[Wembley]] in a 1–1 draw before Arsenal won the replay 2–1.
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|date=28 February 1998 |accessdate=1 October 2012}}</ref>
However, his injury problems returned in the [[1998–99 in English football|1998–99 season]] and he played just twice – these games were the last of his career. He retired from playing on 26 January 2000, at the age of 32, after being advised to do so by medical experts.{{cn|date=April 2019}}
=== Style of play ===
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