Alan O'Neill (born 2 July 1957 in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

) is an Irish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

who played in the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally us ...

in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

Playing career

Son of Robert who played for Shelbourne, O'Neill made his

debut for

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

at Milltown on Sunday the 28th of December 1975 in a 1–0 win over Cork Hibernians. In his second season under Sean Thomas he won his first medal, the

FAI League Cup The League of Ireland Cup ( ga, Corn Sraithe na hÉireann), also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', is an annual knockout competition in men's football in the Republic of Ireland. It is contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited ...

. After the departure of Thomas,

Johnny Giles Michael John Giles (born 6 November 1940) is an Irish former association football player and manager best remembered for his time as a midfielder with Leeds United in the 1960s and 1970s. After retiring from management in 1985, Giles served as t ...

took over as manager at the start of the 1977–78 season. He played for the

Republic of Ireland national football team , FIFA Trigramme = IRL , Name = Republic of Ireland , Association = Football Association of Ireland (FAI) , Confederation = UEFA (Europe) , website fai.ie, Coach = Stephen Kenny (foot ...

amateur team that qualified and reached the semi-finals of the 1978

UEFA Amateur Cup The UEFA Amateur Cup was a football competition for amateur teams in Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. ...

. On 8 March 1978 at

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park (Irish: ''Páirc Cnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., who have played there since the early 20th century. Affectionately known as D ...

O'Neill played in the first ever Republic of Ireland U21 game and went on to win 2 caps in total. He also won an amateur cap and was called up 8 times for the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

side. O'Neill picked up his second medal when Rovers ended a nine-year barren spell in the FAI Cup with their 21st triumph in 1978. O'Neill saved a penalty in the 1982

final but The Hoops lost 1–0 to Athlone Town. His first taste of European competition didn't come until 1982 where, like his league debut, he kept a clean sheet on his European bow. Playing in the

1982-83 UEFA Cup __NOTOC__ Year 198 (CXCVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sergius and Gallus (or, less frequently, year 951 '' Ab ...

games made up for the disappointment of missing out on the

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

games four years previously through serious injury picked up on a pre season tour of Spain in August 1978. He represented the

League of Ireland XI The League of Ireland XI, more recently referred to as the ''Airtricity League XI'' for sponsorship reasons, is the representative team of the League of Ireland, the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland. For much of its ...

representative side twice in 1979 and 1980 and was called into the

as cover in October 1979. Jim McLaughlin was appointed Rovers manager in June 1983 but due to a misunderstanding that developed between them O'Neill signed for UCD. This came as a huge shock to Rovers fans and he got a tremendous reception when Rovers played UCD in the FAI Cup Final in 1984. UCD won the Cup after a replay and O'Neill was

Man of the Match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

in both games despite being hampered by an ankle injury. He kept another clean sheet when UCD played Everton in the 1984–85 European Cup Winners' Cup that autumn, a trophy the English club went on to win. In June 1985 he signed for Dundalk F.C. In eight seasons he won all domestic honours. He was everpresent for 4 seasons from 1987 to 1991 and kept 105 clean sheets in 233 league games making a total of 327 appearances. In a

1987–88 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1987–88 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup finished with a shock victory by Mechelen in the final against defending champions Ajax. This led to their 1988 European Super Cup title in the club's first ever European campaign (1987–89). ...

game against defending holders

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the l ...

he saved a penalty from

Ronald Spelbos Ronald Spelbos (born 8 July 1954 in Utrecht) is a Dutch former football player and manager. He played central defense. He earned 21 caps for the Netherlands, scoring a goal in his last international, against Cyprus on October 28, 1987 in an 8-0 w ...

. O'Neill signed back for Rovers in the summer of 1993 and subsequently won another League title that season under Ray Treacy keeping fifteen clean sheets in thirty two games. O'Neill kept his 200th clean sheet in a 1–0 win over Sligo in the

RDS Arena RDS Arena is a multi-purpose sports stadium, owned by the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) and located in the Dublin suburb of Ballsbridge, Ireland. The arena was developed to host equestrian events, primarily the annual Dublin Horse Show, which wa ...

in September 1994. He made his 500th League of Ireland appearance at Galway United in September 1995 in a season where he ended up with the

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...

award. In total he played 6 times in European competition for the Hoops keeping 2 clean sheets and is the only Rovers player to ever win all three domestic trophies the

, the

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

and the

League of Ireland Cup The League of Ireland Cup ( ga, Corn Sraithe na hÉireann), also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', is an annual knockout competition in men's football in the Republic of Ireland. It is contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited c ...

. O'Neill kept 54 clean sheets in his first spell at the Hoops and 34 in his second spell.

Management career

After Treacy was sacked in January 1996 O'Neill, along with

Terry Eviston Terry Eviston (born 17 July 1957 in Dublin) was a association football, footballer who played for Home Farm F.C., Home Farm, Bohemian F.C., Bohemians, Athlone Town A.F.C., Dundalk F.C. and two spells with Shamrock Rovers F.C., Shamrock Rovers. H ...

, was appointed manager. After losing the first game of the 1996/97 the Rovers faithful were stunned when O'Neill and Terry were sacked. O'Neill then signed for Sligo Rovers F.C keeping a clean sheet on his debut on 5 October 1996. His final League of Ireland game was at

Finn Park Finn Park ( ga, Páirc na Finne) is a football stadium in Ballybofey, Ireland. The home ground of League of Ireland team Finn Harps, it has a 'safe capacity' of 4,200 with 351 seats. Facilities The ground is in a relatively dilapidated condit ...

in April 1997. O'Neill stepped in to manage Rovers for the playoff games with Dublin City at the end of the 2005 season. In 2006 O'Neill became a Shamrock Rovers legend. He is the only Rovers player to ever win all three domestic trophies the League of Ireland, the FAI Cup and the League of Ireland Cup. He is now the goalkeeping coach for the

Republic of Ireland under-21 national football team The Republic of Ireland national under-21 football team, is the national under-21 football team of the Republic of Ireland and is controlled by the Football Association of Ireland. The team played its first match in 1978 and has competed in the U ...

. O'Neill has four children. His younger brother

Dermot O'Neill (footballer) Dermot "Monkey" O'Neill (born 27 November 1960 in Dublin) was a Association football, football Goalkeeper (football), goalkeeper who played in the League of Ireland during the 1980s and 1990s. Son of Robert who played for Shelbourne F.C., Shel ...

also played in the League of Ireland as a goalkeeper.

Honours

: 3 **

Dundalk F.C. Dundalk Football Club ( ; ga, Cumann Peile Dhún Dealgan) is a professional association football club that competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division, the top tier of football in the Republic of Ireland. The club is based in Dundalk ...

1987/88, 1990/91 **

1993/94 *

: 3 **

1978 ** UCD 1984 **

1988 *

: 3 **

– 1976 **

– 1987, 1990 *

Tyler Cup The Tyler Cup was an association football competition played between clubs in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The competition ran from 1978 to 1980, and was similar to the earlier Blaxnit Cup, North-South Cup, Dublin and Belfast In ...

– 1978 * Leinster Senior Cup **

– 1982

Individual

* UCD Player of the Year (1): 1983–84 * Dundalk Player of the Year (1): 1992–93 * Shamrock Rovers Player of the Year (1): 1995–96

Sources

* ''The Hoops'' by Paul Doolan and Robert Goggins ()

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill, Alan 1957 births Living people Association footballers from County Dublin Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers League of Ireland players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Men's association football goalkeepers University College Dublin A.F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players Sligo Rovers F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. managers League of Ireland managers League of Ireland XI players Republic of Ireland association football managers