Bryan Hamilton (born 21 December 1946) is a
Northern Irish
Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...
former professional football player and manager. He gained 50 caps for Northern Ireland between 1969 and 1980, and later managed the national team for four years. He later became Technical Director at
Antigua Barracuda F.C.
Antigua Barracuda were an Antiguan professional association football, football team based in St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda. Founded in 2010, the team played in USL Pro, the third tier of the United States soccer league system from 2011 to 2013 ...
, which no longer exists, having been dissolved in 2014.
Biography
Playing career
Born in
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
, Hamilton began his career at
Distillery
Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distillation is the heati ...
, before moving on to
Linfield. He was named
Ulster Footballer of the Year
The Ulster Footballer of the Year is the older of two association football player of the year awards in Northern Ireland. (The other is the Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association award.) It is awarded by Castlereagh Glentoran Supporters ...
and
for the 1970/71 season, also finishing as
Irish League top goalscorer. In 1971, he signed for
Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...
, where he spent five years and made over 150 appearances for the club. In 1976, he signed for
Everton, before moving onto short spells at
Millwall
Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...
and
Swindon Town
Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...
.
In 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 ...
semi-final of 1977, full-time was looming in the clash between
Everton and
local rivals Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
at
Maine Road
Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City F.C. from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest atte ...
, with the score at 2–2, when Hamilton put the ball into the back of the net. However, infamously, his goal which should have stood was disallowed by referee
Clive Thomas and the match went to a replay, which Everton lost 3–0. This echoed an incident in the
1975 FA Cup semi-final replay, when Thomas had similarly disallowed a potentially match winning goal by Hamilton.
Everton supporters felt legitimately aggrieved to have victory snatched away
The FA Cup was shown on BBC and ITV in 1977 and the first game of the semi-final which was drawn 2–2 is also memorable for the fact that in a highlights programme the referee was asked to explain the disallowed 'goal' but he failed to explain and all he would say was.....There was an offence
Hamilton's time at Everton will always be remembered for that controversial disallowed goal in the FA Cup semi-final, however, when Hamilton signed for Everton the manager was another Northern Irishman Billy Bingham but when Bingham lost his job as manager Hamilton's first team opportunities became more and more limited
International goals
''Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first. ''
Managerial career
Hamilton became player/manager of
Tranmere Rovers
Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ado ...
in 1980. The club remained in the Fourth Division throughout this period, with three top half finishes during his five-year period in charge, culminating in a finish of 6th in 1984–85.
He was appointed manager of
Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, ...
in March 1985. Shortly after joining he led them to victory in the
1985 Associate Members' Cup Final. The 1985–86 season saw Wigan emerge as contenders for promotion to the Second Division, a feat which looked likely for virtually the entire campaign. However, when Wigan had completed their fixtures
Derby County
Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group.
Founded in 188 ...
had three games in hand, two of which would be won to pip the Latics by a single point. His achievements with Wigan did not go unnoticed, and he moved to
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
soon afterwards. However, he was unable to keep Leicester in the First Division and soon left the club, and returned to Wigan as manager from 1989–1993.
Hamilton was appointed manager of
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
in 1994, succeeding
Billy Bingham
William Laurence Bingham (5 August 1931 – 9 June 2022) was a Northern Ireland international footballer and football manager.
As a player, his first professional club was Glentoran, whom he played for between 1948 and 1950. Making the move ...
. In the
Euro 96
The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 ...
qualifiers, Northern Ireland were in contention for qualification and were only narrowly pipped to second place by 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 ...
. The
1998 World Cup qualifiers provided a far worse return despite a promising early draw with
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
– who would later beat Northern Ireland for the first time in two decades – and Hamilton left the job at the end of the qualifiers.
In April 2000 he was appointed manager of
Norwich City
Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...
, but resigned on 4 December. He returned to Ipswich as coach in 2001, but left the club in 2002. In November 2006, he was appointed Technical Director of the
Antigua and Barbuda Football Association
The Antigua and Barbuda Football Association is the governing body of football in Antigua and Barbuda. They control the Antigua and Barbuda national football team.
Association staff
Competitions
The ABFA oversees the administration of Antigu ...
.
Hamilton is now a media pundit working mainly with
Eurosport
Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through Warner Bros. Discovery Sports#Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties, its international sports unit, it operates two ...
,
BBC Radio 5 Live
BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcast ...
,
Setanta Sports
Setanta Sports is a sports television company based in Dublin, Ireland broadcasting throughout select Eurasian. The company was formed in 1990 to facilitate the broadcasting of Irish sporting events to international audiences. The company previo ...
,
Today FM
Today FM is an Irish national commercial FM radio station, owned and operated by Bauer Audio Ireland Limited. Broadcasting since 17 March 1997, it broadcasts mostly music, with a daily news and current affairs programme. Today FM holds a lic ...
,
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...
and
Anglia Television
ITV Anglia, previously known as Anglia Television, is the ITV franchise holder for the East of England. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional news bureaux in Cambridge and Northampton. ITV Anglia is owned and operated b ...
.
Honours
As a player
Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...
*
Texaco Cup
The Texaco Cup, officially known as the International League Board Competition, was an association football competition started in 1970, involving sides from England, Scotland, and Ireland that had not qualified for European competitions.
It wa ...
: 1973
As a manager
Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, ...
*
Football League Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...
: 1985
Individual
*
Ulster Footballer of the Year
The Ulster Footballer of the Year is the older of two association football player of the year awards in Northern Ireland. (The other is the Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association award.) It is awarded by Castlereagh Glentoran Supporters ...
: 1970–71
*
: 1970–71
*
Ipswich Town Hall of Fame: Inducted 2014
References
External links
Bryan Hamilton profile at Ipswich Town Talk*
– Bryan Hamilton Pride of Anglia's website
Bryan Hamilton– Swindon Town FC website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Bryan
1946 births
Association footballers from Belfast
Association footballers from Northern Ireland
NIFL Premiership players
Ulster Footballers of the Year
Northern Ireland Football Writers' Association Players of the Year
Lisburn Distillery F.C. players
Linfield F.C. players
Ipswich Town F.C. players
Northern Ireland international footballers
Everton F.C. players
Millwall F.C. players
Swindon Town F.C. players
Tranmere Rovers F.C. players
Tranmere Rovers F.C. managers
Football managers from Northern Ireland
Wigan Athletic F.C. managers
Leicester City F.C. managers
Shamrock Rovers F.C. guest players
Northern Ireland national football team managers
Norwich City F.C. managers
Living people
Association football midfielders