Martin O'Neill facts for kids
O'Neill in 2023
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill | ||
| Date of birth | 1 March 1952 | ||
| Place of birth | Kilrea, Northern Ireland | ||
| Height | 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Rosario | |||
| 1969–1971 | Derry City | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1971 | Distillery | 7 | (3) |
| 1971–1981 | Nottingham Forest | 285 | (48) |
| 1981 | Norwich City | 11 | (1) |
| 1981–1982 | Manchester City | 13 | (0) |
| 1982–1983 | Norwich City | 55 | (11) |
| 1983–1984 | Notts County | 64 | (5) |
| 1984 | Chesterfield | 0 | (0) |
| 1985 | Fulham | 0 | (0) |
| Total | 435 | (68) | |
| National team | |||
| 1971–1984 | Northern Ireland | 64 | (8) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1987–1989 | Grantham Town | ||
| 1989 | Shepshed Charterhouse | ||
| 1990–1995 | Wycombe Wanderers | ||
| 1995 | Norwich City | ||
| 1995–2000 | Leicester City | ||
| 2000–2005 | Celtic | ||
| 2006–2010 | Aston Villa | ||
| 2011–2013 | Sunderland | ||
| 2013–2018 | Republic of Ireland | ||
| 2019 | Nottingham Forest | ||
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Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, OBE (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish football manager and former player. He played as a midfielder.
After starting his career in the Irish League, O'Neill moved to England. He spent most of his playing time with Nottingham Forest. With Forest, he won the First Division title in 1977–78. He also won the European Cup twice, in 1979 and 1980. He played 64 games for the Northern Ireland national football team. He was also the captain of the team at the 1982 World Cup.
As a manager, O'Neill has led many clubs. These include Grantham Town, Wycombe Wanderers, Norwich City, Leicester City, Celtic, Aston Villa, and Sunderland. He helped Leicester City reach the Football League Cup final three times, winning it twice. As Celtic manager from 2000 to 2005, he won seven trophies. This included three Scottish Premier League titles. He also led Celtic to the 2003 UEFA Cup Final. At Aston Villa, he guided them to three sixth-place finishes in the English Premier League. He also led them to the 2010 Football League Cup Final.
In 2013, he became the manager of the Republic of Ireland national football team. He helped them qualify for the 2016 UEFA European Championship. This was only the third time in the nation's history. They even beat Germany, who were the world champions at the time. He left the role in November 2018. In January 2019, he became manager of Nottingham Forest but left in June of the same year.
Contents
Early Life and Gaelic Football
Martin O'Neill was born in Kilrea, Derry, Northern Ireland, in 1952. He was the sixth of nine children. He has four brothers and four sisters. His father helped start the local GAA club, Pádraig Pearse's Kilrea. His brothers, Gerry and Leo, played for the club. They were also on the Derry senior team that won the 1958 Ulster Senior Football Championship. They also reached the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final that year. Martin played Gaelic football for Kilrea and Derry when he was younger. He also played while studying at St. Columb's College, Derry, and later at St. Malachy's College, Belfast.
While at St. Malachy's, he started playing football for Rosario. Then he played for Distillery. This was against the rules of the Gaelic Athletic Association. They did not allow Gaelic footballers to play "foreign sports" like soccer. When St. Malachy's reached the 1970 MacRory Cup final, the Antrim GAA County Board tried to stop the game. They did not want it to be played at Belfast's Casement Park. The colleges moved the game to County Tyrone so O'Neill could play. St. Malachy's won the game.
Club Football Career
Starting Out
Before joining Distillery in the Irish League, O'Neill played for Rosario. At Distillery, he won the Irish Cup in 1971. He scored two goals in a 3–0 win against Derry City in the final. His second goal was amazing. He dribbled past three players before scoring with a powerful shot. Because they won the cup, Distillery played in Europe the next season. O'Neill scored against Barcelona in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in September 1971. During this time, a scout from Nottingham Forest noticed him. He signed for Nottingham Forest in October 1971. He left Distillery and stopped his university studies.
Nottingham Forest Success
O'Neill became a key player during Forest's best years. He scored in his first league game for the club. It was a 4–1 win over West Bromwich Albion on 13 November 1971. He played 17 league games that season and scored twice. However, his team was relegated from the First Division in 1972.
In January 1975, Brian Clough became manager. This was the start of a big change for Nottingham Forest. Under Clough, O'Neill helped Forest get promoted to the top league in 1977. A year later, they won the league title and the League Cup. They won the League Cup again in 1979. That same year, he was a substitute for Forest's first European Cup win against Malmö. He was still recovering from an injury. But he played in their 1980 win against Hamburg.
Later Playing Days
O'Neill joined Norwich City in February 1981 for £250,000. However, Norwich was relegated on the last day of the season. He then moved to Manchester City. After a good start, he was not favored by manager John Bond. He returned to Norwich in February 1982. He scored six goals to help them get promoted again.
After another season at Norwich, he went back to Nottingham to play for Notts County. They were relegated twice in a row. O'Neill tried to get fit for Northern Ireland's 1986 World Cup team. He tried to play for Chesterfield in 1984. But he only played for 20 minutes in a reserve game before a knee injury forced him off. After leaving Chesterfield, Fulham manager Ray Harford asked O'Neill to join. O'Neill only played two reserve games for Fulham. He retired in February 1985 because of his knee injury.
International Career
O'Neill first played for his country in an amateur game against Scotland in February 1971. He made his senior debut on 13 October 1971. This was in a UEFA Euro 1972 qualifying game against the Soviet Union. He became a regular player for Northern Ireland. He captained the team at the 1982 World Cup in Spain. They reached the second group stage and beat the host nation, Spain. He played 64 games and scored eight goals for Northern Ireland between 1971 and 1984. He also won the British Home Championship twice as a player, in 1980 and 1984.
Managerial Career
After his playing career, O'Neill worked at an insurance company. Then he started his career in football management. He began at Grantham Town in 1987. After that, he had a short time at Shepshed Charterhouse.
Wycombe Wanderers
He became manager of Wycombe Wanderers in February 1990. In the 1992–93 season, he led Wycombe into the Football League for the first time ever. In the 1993–94 season, he guided Wycombe to a second promotion in a row. They won the Division 3 play-offs, beating Preston North End 4–2. This moved them up to Division 2. O'Neill also won the FA Trophy with Wycombe in 1991 and 1993.
Under O'Neill, Wycombe also reached the Conference League Cup final twice, winning it in 1991–92. The team also won three Conference Shield titles. He left the club on 13 June 1995 to become manager at Norwich City.
Norwich City
O'Neill became manager of Norwich City in June 1995. He left the club in December of the same year. This was due to disagreements with the club chairman, Robert Chase. They disagreed about signing a new player.
Leicester City
O'Neill joined Leicester City right after leaving Norwich City. In his first season, Leicester was promoted to the Premier League. They won the Football League Cup under him in 1997 and 2000. They also reached the final in 1999. They finished ninth in the Premier League in 1997, tenth in 1998 and 1999, and eighth in 2000. Because they won the League Cup twice, they qualified for the UEFA Cup in 1997–98 and 2000–01. O'Neill stayed as Leicester manager until his contract ended.
Celtic
O'Neill left Leicester on 1 June 2000. He became manager of Celtic. Celtic had finished second to their rivals Rangers in the two seasons before. In the season just before O'Neill arrived, they were 21 points behind the champions.
O'Neill's first game against Rangers, called the "Old Firm" derby, was in August 2000. Celtic won 6–2. This was their biggest win over Rangers since 1957. In his first season, O'Neill won three domestic trophies with Celtic. This was the first time they had done this since 1968–69. Celtic then won the league title again in 2001–02. This was the first time since 1982 that Celtic had won the league two years in a row. Celtic also played in the Champions League group stage. They won all their home games but lost all their away games.
He then led Celtic to the 2003 UEFA Cup Final in Seville. Celtic lost 3–2 in extra time to Porto. This was Celtic's first European final since 1970. They beat teams like Blackburn, Celta Vigo, Stuttgart, Liverpool, and Boavista to reach the final. The next season, Celtic won the league title back from Rangers. They also reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup, beating Barcelona along the way.
On 25 May 2005, Celtic announced that O'Neill would leave as manager. He needed to care for his wife, Geraldine, who had lymphoma. His last game for Celtic was the Scottish Cup final on 28 May 2005. They won 1–0 against Dundee United.
Under O'Neill, Celtic won 213 games, drew 29, and lost 40 out of 282 games. This made him the most successful Celtic manager since Jock Stein. In his five seasons at Celtic Park, O'Neill won three Scottish Premier League titles, three Scottish Cups, and one League Cup. He also oversaw a record of seven wins in a row against Rangers. In the 2003–04 season, Celtic set a British record of 25 league wins in a row. His win rate of 75.5% is the highest of any manager in the club's history.
Aston Villa
O'Neill became the Aston Villa manager on 4 August 2006. He said he was excited to be back with such a great club. He wanted to help restore it to its former glory.
Villa had the longest unbeaten start of any Premier League team in 2006–07. They went 9 games without a league defeat. Villa finished 11th, which was 5 places higher than the season before. In October 2007, Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner said he would not stop O'Neill from leaving if he was offered the England manager job. O'Neill later said these reports were "unfair speculation."
Aston Villa just missed out on a UEFA Cup spot at the end of the 2007–08 season. They qualified for the Intertoto Cup by finishing 6th. They scored 71 goals, which was their second-best total in the Premier League.
After 25 games of the 2008–09 season, the club was third in the table. They were on track for a spot in the Champions League for the first time since 1983. O'Neill decided to focus on Champions League qualification. He played a team of reserve players for a UEFA Cup game, which they lost. After this, Villa did not win any of their next 8 league games. They failed to reach the top 4.
At the start of the 2009–10 season, Villa did not qualify for the group stage of the UEFA Europa League. But they continued to do well in the league. They had wins against Manchester United, Chelsea, and Liverpool.
Villa finished 6th for the third season in a row. They also improved their points total, finishing with 64 points. Their poor home form meant they missed a chance to qualify for the UEFA Champions League.
Aston Villa reached their first final under Martin O'Neill. This was the League Cup final on 28 February 2010 against Manchester United. They lost 2–1.
On 9 August 2010, O'Neill resigned as manager of Aston Villa. He said he had enjoyed his time at the club. O'Neill was reportedly unhappy about the money available for new players. But his departure, just five days before the new season, was still a surprise.
Sunderland
On 3 December 2011, O'Neill signed a three-year contract with Premier League club Sunderland. This was the team he had supported as a boy. In O'Neill's first game, Sunderland came from behind to beat Blackburn Rovers 2–1. Under O'Neill, Sunderland started to play much better. They had four wins from his first six games, including one against league leaders Manchester City. Sunderland continued to do well in his first few months. They moved up to ninth in the league. On 18 February, they beat Arsenal 2–0 in the FA Cup. The next week, they lost 4–0 to West Bromwich Albion. The week after was O'Neill's first "Tyne–Wear derby" against their rivals. The match ended 1–1. The following week, Sunderland beat Liverpool 1–0. Sunderland's form dropped towards the end of the season, and they finished in 13th place.
The next season, O'Neill bought Steven Fletcher and Adam Johnson. He wanted to build on the 13th-place finish and aim for the top 10. Sunderland went unbeaten for the first five games. They then had a 3–0 loss to Manchester City. They drew 1–1 in O'Neill's first Tyne-Wear derby at home. Sunderland then lost 0–1 at home to Aston Villa and 1–0 to Middlesbrough in the League Cup. Sunderland dropped into the relegation zone after a 1–3 home loss to Chelsea. Sunderland's form improved over the winter. They climbed the table with good results, including another 1–0 win over Manchester City. They reached a season high of 11th place. However, this was O'Neill's last win. Sunderland then went 8 games without a victory.
O'Neill was fired by Sunderland on 30 March 2013. This happened after a 1–0 loss to Manchester United. The team was one point above the relegation zone with seven games left. Sunderland had not won in the eight matches before O'Neill left.
Republic of Ireland
O'Neill was confirmed as the new manager of the Republic of Ireland national football team on 5 November 2013. He was joined by former team captain Roy Keane as his assistant manager. His first game in charge was a 3–0 win against Latvia on 15 November 2013. On 19 November 2013, O'Neill's first away game was a 0–0 draw against Poland. His first loss as manager was on 5 March 2014. They lost 2–1 at home to Serbia in a friendly game.
On 16 November 2015, the Republic of Ireland qualified for UEFA Euro 2016. They beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 3–1 over two games in the play-offs.
On 7 June 2016, O'Neill signed a contract extension until the 2018 FIFA World Cup. On 22 June 2016, Ireland beat Italy 1–0 in their final group game of Euro 2016. This meant they qualified for the knock-out stages and a match against France.
On 9 October 2017, Ireland beat Wales 1–0 to qualify for the World Cup play-offs. In the first play-off game on 11 November, Ireland drew 0–0 against Denmark. In the second game on 14 November, Ireland lost 5–1 to Denmark after taking an early lead. In January 2018, O'Neill signed a new two-year contract.
On 6 September 2018, Ireland lost 4–1 to Wales in their first game in the UEFA Nations League. Ireland finished last in their group. They only got two points from two 0–0 draws against Denmark. They were moved down to a lower league for the next Nations League. On 21 November 2018, O'Neill left his role with the FAI.
Nottingham Forest (Manager)
On 15 January 2019, it was announced that O'Neill had become the manager of Nottingham Forest. O'Neill guided the club to a ninth-place finish in the Championship. However, he was fired as manager on 28 June 2019. This happened soon after his assistant, Roy Keane, had left the club.
Outside Football
Even though he never finished his law degree, O'Neill is still interested in criminology. His interest started with the James Hanratty case from 1961.
He has worked on television as an analyst for BBC and ITV. He has covered the World Cup, the European Championship, and UEFA Champions League matches.
O'Neill was given an award called Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1983 for his services to football. He was later promoted to Officer of the same Order (OBE) in 2004. In 2002, Norwich supporters voted him into the club's Hall of Fame.
He received the Nottingham Lifetime Achievement Award on 3 November 2013. This was for his contributions to football and his achievements with Nottingham Forest.
In November 2022, O'Neill's book, On Days Like These: The Incredible Autobiography of a Football Legend, was published.
In June 2024, O'Neill started co-hosting The Football Authorities podcast with his friend Clive Tyldesley. The podcast looks closely at major football stories. It also answers questions from listeners.
Personal Life
O'Neill and his wife, Geraldine, have two daughters.
When he was young, O'Neill supported Sunderland A.F.C. and Celtic F.C.. His favorite player was Sunderland captain Charlie Hurley. Charlie Hurley won Sunderland's Man of the Century award in 1979.
Career Statistics
International Goals
Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first.
| Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 28 March 1973 | Coventry |  Portugal |
1–0 | 1–1 | 1974 World Cup qualification |
| 2 | 16 May 1973 | Glasgow |  Scotland |
1–0 | 2–1 | 1973 British Home Championship |
| 3 | 30 October 1974 | Stockholm |  Sweden |
2–0 | 2–0 | Euro 1976 qualifying |
| 4 | 13 May 1978 | Glasgow | Scotland |
1–1 | 1–1 | 1978 British Home Championship |
| 5 | 15 June 1980 | Melbourne |  Australia |
1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly match |
| 6 | 30 March 1983 | Belfast |  Turkey |
2–0 | 2–1 | Euro 1984 qualifying |
| 7 | 21 September 1983 | Belfast |  Austria |
3–1 | 3–1 | Euro 1984 qualifying |
| 8 | 12 September 1984 | Belfast |  Romania |
3–1 | 3–2 | 1986 World Cup qualification |
Managerial Statistics
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Wycombe Wanderers | 7 February 1990 | 13 June 1995 | 262 | 140 | 63 | 59 | 53.4 |
| Norwich City | 13 June 1995 | 17 December 1995 | 20 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 45.0 |
| Leicester City | 21 December 1995 | 1 June 2000 | 223 | 85 | 68 | 70 | 38.1 |
| Celtic | 1 June 2000 | 31 May 2005 | 282 | 213 | 29 | 40 | 75.5 |
| Aston Villa | 5 August 2006 | 9 August 2010 | 190 | 80 | 60 | 50 | 42.11 |
| Sunderland | 3 December 2011 | 30 March 2013 | 66 | 21 | 20 | 25 | 31.8 |
| Republic of Ireland | 5 November 2013 | 21 November 2018 | 55 | 19 | 20 | 16 | 34.5 |
| Nottingham Forest | 15 January 2019 | 28 June 2019 | 19 | 8 | 3 | 8 | 42.1 |
| Total | 967 | 487 | 239 | 241 | 50.4 | ||
Honours
Player
Distillery
- Irish Cup: 1970–71
Nottingham Forest
- First Division: 1977–78
- League Cup: 1977–78, 1978–79
- European Cup: 1978–79, 1979–80
- FA Charity Shield: 1978
- European Super Cup: 1979
- Anglo-Scottish Cup: 1976–77
Northern Ireland
- British Home Championship: 1979–80, 1983–84
Manager
Wycombe Wanderers
- Football League Third Division play-offs: 1994
- Football Conference: 1992–93
- FA Trophy: 1990–91, 1992–93
- Conference League Cup: 1991–92
- Berks & Bucks Senior Cup: 1989-90
- Football Conference Shield: 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94
Leicester City
- Football League First Division play-offs: 1996
- Football League Cup: 1996–97, 1999–2000; runner-up: 1998–99
Celtic
- Scottish Premier League: 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04
- Scottish Cup: 2000–01, 2003–04, 2004–05
- Scottish League Cup: 2000–01
- UEFA Cup runner-up: 2002–03
Aston Villa
- Football League Cup runner-up: 2009–10
Individual
- Premier League Manager of the Month: September 1997, October 1998, November 1999, April 2007, November 2007, December 2008, April 2010, December 2011
- Scottish Premier League Manager of the Month: August 2000, December 2000, February 2001, August 2001, April 2002, November 2002, October 2003, November 2003, January 2005
- LMA Football League First Division Manager of Year: 1993–94
- LMA Football League Third Division Manager of Year: 1995–96
- SFWA Manager of the Year: 2000–01, 2001–02, 2003–04
- Scottish Premier League Manager of the Year: 2003–04
See also
In Spanish: Martin O'Neill para niños
