Anthony Limbrick (born 9 April 1983) is an Australian professional

football manager ''Football Manager'' (also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008) is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

and former player, who was most recently manager of

Cymru Premier The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 200 ...

club

The New Saints The New Saints of Oswestry Town & Llansantffraid Football Club, also known as The New Saints ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed y Seintiau Newydd) or TNS, are a professional football club that currently play in the Cymru Premier. They are the most successfu ...

. As a player, Limbrick played at a semi-professional level for Australian sides Riverside Olympic, Bundaberg Waves and

Rochedale Rovers Rochedale Rovers are a semi-professional football club which plays at Underwood Park in Priestdale, Queensland, Australia and competes in the Football Queensland Premier League with junior teams competing in both Football Queensland and Fo ...

before emigrating to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 2005 where he featured for non-league sides Northwood and Wingate & Finchley. Since moving into coaching he has notably worked for

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

sides

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

and

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

as well as the England under-17's. He was appointed manager of

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

in 2017 before a spell as

Ian Holloway Ian Scott Holloway (born 12 March 1963) is an English professional football manager, former player, media personality and television pundit who was most recently the manager of Grimsby Town. A midfielder, he notably played in the Premier League ...

's assistant manager at

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

. Limbrick is one of few notable Australian managers who have coached in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, others including

Ange Postecoglou Angelos Postecoglou ( el, Άγγελος Ποστέκογλου, ; born 27 August 1965) is an Australian association football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Scottish Premiership club Celtic. Born in Greece, he moved ...

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

and

Harry Kewell Harry Kewell (born 22 September 1978) is an Australian association football coach, manager and former player. His most recent role as a club manager was at English National League side Barnet, and he is currently a first team coach at Celtic F.C ...

, formerly of

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

sides such as

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

Club career

Born in

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, Limbrick later moved to Launceston, attending Riverside High School. During Limbrick's time in Tasmania, he played for Riverside Olympic, before moving to

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

mainland Australia Mainland Australia is the main landmass of the Australian continent, excluding the Aru Islands, New Guinea, Tasmania, and other Australian offshore islands. The landmass also constitutes the mainland of the territory governed by the Commonwealt ...

, playing for Bundaberg Waves and

. Limbrick later played

Non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

for Northwood and Wingate & Finchley, before a broken leg ended his playing career.

Managerial career

Youth Coaching, Woking and Grimsby Town

In 2007, Limbrick became a youth team coach at

Boreham Wood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly known ...

. In 2007, he returned to former club Wingate & Finchley as first team coach, leaving in 2010 to join

as a youth coach, working under first team managers

Mauricio Pochettino Mauricio Roberto Pochettino Trossero (; born 2 March 1972) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player. He was most recently the head coach of Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain. Pochettino played as a central defender and be ...

and

Ronald Koeman Ronald Koeman (; born 21 March 1963) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. He is the younger brother of his former international teammate Erwin Koeman and the son of former Dutch international Martin Koeman. Koeman was cap ...

. Limbrick was later part of the coaching staff at for England under-17's and

academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

. In May 2017, Limbrick was appointed manager of

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

club

, leading the club to the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

second round, after beating

club

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

. In April 2018, after a nine-game winless run, Limbrick was sacked as manager of Woking. Ahead of the

2018–19 EFL League Two The 2018–19 EFL League Two (referred to as the Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th season of Football League Two under its current title and the 26th season under its current league division format. Team changes To League ...

season, Limbrick was appointed assistant manager to Michael Jolley at

. In November 2019, following the departure of Jolley via mutual consent, Limbrick was named interim manager of Grimsby before reverting to assistant following the appointment of

. Limbrick departed Grimsby in September 2020.

The New Saints

On 2 April 2021, Limbrick was appointed manager of

club

following the dismissal of Scott Ruscoe. On 11 April 2021, Limbrick took charge of his first Cymru Premier match, which saw The New Saints secure a 1–0 home win over

Bala Town Bala Town Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed y Bala) is a Welsh football team from Bala, Gwynedd, who play in the Cymru Premier. They play their home games at Maes Tegid. History For a full history see; '' List of Bala Town FC seasons'' Al ...

. Limbrick saw out the rest of the Cymru Premier season with seven wins, a draw and only one loss to finish second in the table and qualify for the 2021-22 UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifying round. In the inaugural season of the UEFA Europa Conference League, Limbrick's 2021–22 side cruised through qualifying rounds 1 and 2, beating

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882. History Early history In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...

and

FK Kauno Žalgiris Futbolo klubas Kauno Žalgiris (''Football club Kauno Žalgiris'') is a professional Association football, football club based in Kaunas, Lithuania, that competes in the A lyga, the top tier of Lithuania. The club was founded as FM Spyris Kaun ...

. However, their momentum quickly shrivelled after a penalty shootout heartbreak in the second leg of the third round against

Viktoria Plzeň Viktoria usually refers to Viktoria, a name which is the same as Victoria (name), but may also refer to: Places * FK Viktoria Stadion, stadium of Viktoria Žižkov * Viktoria-Luise-Platz, building in Berlin * Viktoriastadt, now known as Victoria ...

, despite their impressive first-leg win their European journey came to a sudden end. Following the game, Limbrick explained, "When you play these top teams there's fine margins, we conceded late in both games and the players were dead on their feet by the end because they couldn't have done anymore." Despite the European exit,

dominated the opening of The

2021–22 Cymru Premier The 2021–22 Cymru Premier ( cy, Uwch Gynghrair Cymru 2021–22) (known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons) was the 30th season of the Cymru Premier (formally known as the Welsh Premier League), the highest football league within Wal ...

, remaining undefeated after the first seven league fixtures. Following this success in the league, Limbrick was awarded Cymru Premier Manager of the Month. On 11 March 2022, Limbrick became the first Australian manager to win a top-flight European football league after his side drew 3−3 with

Penybont Penybont (also sometimes spelled Pen-y-Bont) is a small village in Radnorshire, Powys, Wales. The population of the community at the 2011 census was 428. The community includes the settlement of Llandegley. Penybont colliery The Penybont colli ...

to seal the 2021−22 title. Limbrick's side claimed the

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most ...

with a 3-2 win over

in the final. Limbrick was sacked in July 2022, due to The New Saints' disappointing performances in European competitions.

Career statistics

Manager

: ''As of match played 26 July 2022''

Honours

Manager

The New Saints *

: 2021–22 *

: 2021−22 Individual *

Manager of the Month: August 2021, January 2022

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Limbrick, Anthony Living people Sportspeople from Hobart Soccer players from Tasmania Australian soccer players Association football defenders Australian expatriate soccer players Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Australian expatriate sportspeople in Wales Northwood F.C. players Wingate & Finchley F.C. players Southampton F.C. non-playing staff West Ham United F.C. non-playing staff Woking F.C. managers National League (English football) managers Grimsby Town F.C. non-playing staff Grimsby Town F.C. managers English Football League managers The New Saints F.C. managers Cymru Premier managers Australian soccer coaches Association football coaches 1983 births Expatriate football managers in Wales Australian expatriate soccer coaches