Eddie Gormley (born 23 October 1968) 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 ...
coach and former player who is currently manager of
Cabinteely
Cabinteely () is a suburb of Dublin's southside. It is in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, County Dublin, Ireland.
Geography
Cabinteely lies around the crossroads of Johnstown Road / Brennanstown Road and the Old Bray Road, and on either side of the ...
.
Early career
Educated at
Cabinteely
Cabinteely () is a suburb of Dublin's southside. It is in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, County Dublin, Ireland.
Geography
Cabinteely lies around the crossroads of Johnstown Road / Brennanstown Road and the Old Bray Road, and on either side of the ...
Community School where he played for the School Junior & Senior teams, and also playing schoolboy football with St Joseph's Boys, Gormley joined
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 ...
side
Bray Wanderers in the summer of 1987. He made his League of Ireland debut for Bray at
Derry City F.C.
Derry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Derry, Northern Ireland. It plays in the League of Ireland Premier Division, the top tier of league football in the Republic of Ireland, and is the League of Ireland ...
on the opening day of the
1987–88 League of Ireland Premier Division
The 1987–88 League of Ireland Premier Division was the third season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The Premier Division was made up of 12 teams.
Overview
The Premier Division was contested by 12 teams and Dundalk F.C. won the champio ...
season on 13 September 1987. He scored his first league goal 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 ...
on 9 October. After only a handful of appearances Gormley impressed in a trial at
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
and was signed on a three-year contract in November 1987. During his time at Tottenham, Gormley would earn
Republic of Ireland U-21
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 ...
caps. He would however not play for Tottenham's first team, outside of friendlies and testimonials. Tottenham loaned out Gormley to
Chesterfield
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
* Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
,
Motherwell
Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...
and
Shrewsbury Town F.C.
Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third tier of English football league system, English football. The club pla ...
to get some first team experience.
Doncaster Rovers
At the end of the 1989/90 season Gormley was released by Tottenham and signed by
Billy Bremner
William John Bremner (9 December 1942 – 7 December 1997) was a Scottish professional footballer and manager. Regarded as one of the game's great midfielders, he combined precision passing skills with tenacious tackling and physical stam ...
for
Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...
. Gormley inspired Doncaster to ten point lead in the league before financial circumstances saw a number of crucial players sold off, resulting in Doncaster missing out on promotion. The following two years saw Doncaster struggle as a side without any real chance of promotion. Gormley, however, flourished and was voted the club's Player of the Year in both 1991/92 and 1992/93 seasons. After three seasons at Doncaster, Gormley decided to return to Ireland and initially joined
Drogheda United
Drogheda United Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Dhroichead Átha Aontaithe) is a semi-professional Irish association football club based in Drogheda, County Louth playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They play their home matches ...
on loan at the start of the 1993/94 season.
St Patrick's Athletic
After securing his release from Doncaster Rovers, Gormley was signed by
St Patrick's Athletic
St Patrick's Athletic Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Lúthchleas Phádraig Naofa) is a professional Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the Irish Premier Division. Founded in May 1929, they played origin ...
manager
Brian Kerr in December 1993. His debut game went relatively unnoticed as it happened to be St. Pats first home game on return to their natural home of
Richmond Park
Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of Royal Parks of London, London's Royal Parks, and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I of England, C ...
after a four and half year absence. He played on the left wing during his first season. The following season saw Gormley move into central midfield and his performances there saw him selected on the League's All Star team. In 1995/96 Gormley won the
PFAI
The Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland (PFAI) is the representative body for professional and semi-professional footballers in Republic of Ireland. Players from all nationalities in the League of Ireland are represented, not just Iri ...
Player of the Year award as he drove St Pats to the league title. He also won the Player of the Month for December 1995.
Unfortunately for Gormley and St Pats he missed a penalty in 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 ...
final replay as Shelbourne stopped the Saints winning the double. After finishing 5th in 1996/97, Gormley captained the Saints to further league titles in 1997/98 and 1998/99. His goal at
Buckley Park
Buckley Park is a multi-purpose stadium on the Callan Road ( N76), near Kilkenny, Ireland. Kilkenny City (formerly EMFA) purchased of land from a local farmer by the name of Mick Murphy for £16,000. The ground was originally called Tenney Par ...
to clinch the league in May 1998 as well as his lob of the Sligo keeper from the halfway line at Richmond are what he will be remembered for.
A hugely creative player with an eye for spectacular goals (''
Irish Times
''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
'' journalist Gerry Thornley called him ''Hagi'' such were the playing similarities with the
Romanian footballer), his all round two footed play made him a firm fans favourite in
Inchicore
Inchicore () is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. Located approximately west of the city centre, Inchicore was originally a small village separate from Dublin. The village developed around Richmond Barracks (built 1810) and Inchicore railway works (b ...
. He was captain of 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 ...
between 1996 and 2000. When he left in 2000 after an argument with manager
Pat Dolan
Patrick Dolan (born 20 September 1967 in Galway, Ireland) is a former football player, manager, and executive. He is also a former soccer analyst on RTÉ Sport. He is currently a FIFA-registered players' agenand has represented a number of p ...
Pats' fans were furious. He was cheered on and off the field by them every time he played against St Pats after his very successful spell there.
He played in two
1996–97 UEFA Cup games and captained Pats in four
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
qualifying games including a 0-0 draw at
Celtic Park
Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is also ...
End of playing career and on
Having decided to leave St Pats, Gormley re-joined his first club, Bray Wanderers. He played for four seasons and performed admirably. In January 2003 he signed on loan for
Kenny Shiels
Kenny Shiels (born 27 April 1956 in Magherafelt)Marshall Gillespie, ''The Northern Ireland Football Yearbook 1996/97'', UTV Books, 1996, p. 59 is a former Northern Irish football player and manager, who is currently the manager of the Northern Ir ...
at
Ballymena United
Ballymena United Football Club is a semi-professional football club from Northern Ireland. Based in Ballymena, County Antrim, the team competes in the NIFL Premiership and plays home matches at the Ballymena Showgrounds which is owned by the Mi ...
and made his
Irish League debut at Carrick on 8 February.
He was unable, however to help Bray reach the heights he reached with St Pats and in 2005, Gormley retired from professional football. His last game was as a substitute on 24 June at the
Belfield Bowl Belfield or similar terms may refer to:
People
*David Belfield (born 1950), known later as Dawud Salahuddin, killer of Iranian critic Ali Akbar Tabatabai
* Fred Belfield (1876–1921), English football player
*Henry Conway Belfield (1855–1923), ...
. After his retirement Eddie played one season for Pearse Rovers (Sallynoggin, Co Dublin) in the Leinster Senior League. After a spell as coach with, in September 2006 Gormley was appointed manager of Bray Wanderers.
On 9 August 2010, Gormley parted company with Bray Wanderers, according to the club website.
He scored a total of 21 goals in 151 appearances at the Carlisle Grounds
The Carlisle Grounds is a football stadium in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland. Situated directly behind the Bray D.A.R.T. station, it is home to Bray Wanderers A.F.C.
History
The Carlisle Grounds can claim to be the Football Association of ...
.
Honours
Club
;St Patrick's Athletic
* League of Ireland Premier Division
The League of Ireland Premier Division ( ga, Príomhroinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is the top level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland f ...
(3): 1995-96, 1997-98, 1998-99
* FAI Super Cup
The FAI Super Cup was an association football super cup featuring clubs from the Republic of Ireland. It was played for between 1998 and 2001. It was a pre-season tournament played in the summer before the regular League of Ireland season bega ...
(1): 1999
Individual
* PFAI Players' Player of the Year
The Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland Players' Player of the Year (often called the PFAI Players' Player of the Year, the Players' Player of the Year, or simply the Irish Player of the Year) award is given to the footballer the Lea ...
(1): 1995-96
* Doncaster Rovers Player of the Year (2): 1991-92, 1992–93
References
External links
Gormley interview
from braywanderers.com, July 2002
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gormley, Eddie
1968 births
Association footballers from County Dublin
Bray Wanderers F.C. players
St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players
League of Ireland players
Republic of Ireland association footballers
Republic of Ireland under-21 international footballers
Republic of Ireland expatriate association footballers
Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players
Chesterfield F.C. players
Doncaster Rovers F.C. players
English Football League players
Living people
League of Ireland managers
League of Ireland XI players
Association football midfielders
Ballymena United F.C. players
Expatriate association footballers in Northern Ireland
Irish expatriate sportspeople in the United Kingdom
Expatriate footballers in England
Bray Wanderers F.C. managers
Republic of Ireland football managers