Eoin Kevin Joseph Colin Hand (born 30 March 1946) is an Irish former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

and football manager. As a player, his normal position was centre-half. He works as a television and radio football commentator for

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...

in Ireland.

Playing career

Hand played schoolboy football with Stella Maris. As a 17-year-old, Hand was signed by

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 ...

but the move did not work out and he returned quickly to Ireland. He started his

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 use ...

career with short spells for Dundalk F.C. and Shelbourne F.C. but it was with Drumcondra F.C. that he found most success. After a series of outstanding displays, he was signed by

Portsmouth F.C. Portsmouth Football Club is a professional football club based in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, which compete in . They are also known as ''Pompey'', a local nickname used by both HMNB Portsmouth and the city of Portsmouth; the ''Pompey'' nick ...

for a transfer fee of £8,000 in October 1968. Hand impressed enough at Portsmouth to earn a call up to 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 ...

and went on to earn 19 caps for his country. He stayed with Portsmouth until being released at the end of the 1975–76 season. After a brief spell in South Africa, Hand was persuaded back into football by

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 ...

making his debut on 9 October 1977 at

Glenmalure Park Glenmalure Park, often simply known as Milltown, was a football stadium on the Southside of Dublin city in Ireland. Located in the suburb of Milltown, it was home to Shamrock Rovers from 1926 to 1987, when it was sold to property developers ...

. However, after only nine games he returned to Portsmouth F.C. He left again in 1979, after playing a total of 277 times in the league for them.

Managerial career

In 1979, Hand was appointed player-manager of Limerick United. He immediately sparked a revival in Limerick's fortunes and they won the

1979–80 League of Ireland The 1979–80 League of Ireland was contested by 16 teams, and Limerick United won the championship. Final classification Results Top scorers {{DEFAULTSORT:1979-80 League of Ireland Ireland, 1979-80 1979–80 in Republic of Irela ...

in Hand's first season. They landed a

European Cup 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 competi ...

tie with

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

and Hand was rewarded with the Irish national team manager's job. He was the 1980 ''Soccer Writers' Association of Ireland'' ''Personality of the Year''. He also won 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 ...

in 1982. For a short time, he tried to combine both jobs but with business commitments in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

, he left Limerick and concentrated on the Ireland job. In Hand's first

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

qualifying campaign, Ireland narrowly lost out to France on goal difference. Ireland conceded a late goal to

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

after having what some commentators describe as a 'perfectly good goal' disallowed. The image of Hand on the bench with his head in his hands post match is widely shown in Ireland as one of Irish sport's most heartbreaking images. Ireland finished an unremarkable third in the qualifying campaign for Euro 84 and, shortly afterwards, Hand combined club and international management again when he was appointed manager of

St Patrick's Athletic FC 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 ...

, however, he stayed only one season with the Dublin club. His managerial contract was finished when he failed to qualify for the 1986 World Cup; he was replaced by

Jack Charlton John Charlton (8 May 193510 July 2020) was an English footballer and manager who played as a defender. He was part of the England national team that won the 1966 World Cup and managed the Republic of Ireland national team from 1986 to 1996 ...

. In 1988, he was appointed manager of

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. ...

and remained there until 1992. He also managed Shelbourne F.C. briefly during the 1993–94 season.

FAI work

Hand began working with the FAI in 1999 as a career guidance officer. His position was terminated in July 2012. Following this, he took a case of unfair dismissal against the FAI and was initially successful. The FAI appealed this decision to the Labour Court and were ultimately successful. The Court found that Hand had been a consultant to the FAI at all times rather than an employee. During his tenure as career guidance officer, Hand played a key role in the campaign by

Crumlin United Crumlin United Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Crumlin, Dublin. Founded in 1967, the club is one of the biggest producers of football talent in Ireland. They are linked with Nottingham Forest. Their main rival is C ...

to secure a portion of the £7m transfer of

Robbie Keane Robert David Keane (born 8 July 1980) is an Irish professional football coach and former player who played as a striker. Keane served as captain of the Republic of Ireland from March 2006 until his international retirement in August 2016. Keane ...

from

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

under the FIFA Solidarity Mechanism.

Personal life

Hand successfully underwent an operation for

pancreatitis Pancreatitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the pancreas. The pancreas is a large organ behind the stomach that produces digestive enzymes and a number of hormones. There are two main types: acute pancreatitis, and chronic p ...

in 1997, after which he gave up smoking and drinking."Giving young soccer stars a guiding Hand"
, The Nationalist, 28 January 2000 He is heavily involved in his passion for playing music and devoting his spare time to raising funds for charities. Hand now lives in Moyvane in North Kerry with his wife Pauline.

Managerial honours

** Limerick F.C. 1979/80 *

** Limerick F.C. 1982 * SWAI Personality of the Year ** Limerick F.C. – 1980

Sources

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

References

External links

Newcastle Fans profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hand, Eoin 1946 births Living people Association footballers from Dublin (city) Republic of Ireland national football team managers Republic of Ireland football managers Republic of Ireland expatriate football managers Huddersfield Town A.F.C. managers Huddersfield Town A.F.C. non-playing staff Dundalk F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Limerick F.C. managers St Patrick's Athletic F.C. managers Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland international footballers League of Ireland players League of Ireland XI players Limerick F.C. players League of Ireland managers Shelbourne F.C. players Shelbourne F.C. managers English Football League players Drumcondra F.C. players Expatriate soccer players in South Africa Stella Maris F.C. players Association football defenders People from Drumcondra, Dublin Port Elizabeth City F.C. players Lusitano F.C. (South Africa) players