Career
Born in Bramley, West Yorkshire, Canavan was spotted by Youth scout Jeff Daws, the brother of Head of Youth Development Tony Daws,whilst playing for Leeds City Boys U15"s in a game against Doncaster City Boys. Canavan made his U19 Youth Team debut against York City towards the end of the 2004-2005 season. Whilst only 14 years of age.
Canavan played for the Youth Team for 4 seasons before taking up the armband of youth team captain as a second year apprentice.
He was given a trial at Liverpool whilst in the reserve squad. Canavan signed his first professional contract in April 2009 for Scunthorpe United.
He made his first team debut on 22 August 2009 in a 4–0 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday, replacing Robert Jones on 28 minutes. He attended Saint Mary"s Menston.
He is a first team regular playing in both League and Cup matches.
He has most notably played against Manchester United and Manchester City twice. As a consequence of this successful season, Canavan signed a new 2-year contract on 29 May 2014. On 15 February 2016, Canavan joined Rochdale on an emergency loan.
Although born in Leeds, he carries an Irish passport and was called up by the FAI to the U21 squad in March 2011.
In March 2011 made his debut appearance for the national Under-21 team
