Jimmy McGeough (born 13 August 1944) is a Northern Irish former football player and manager.

Playing and coaching career

His clubs included Derry City, Lincoln and

Waterford United Waterford Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Phort Láirge) formerly Waterford United Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Waterford who play in the League of Ireland First Division. The club was founded and elected to the ...

. Joining Derry in July 1963 he was part of the only Derry City side ever to win the Irish League (Northern Ireland) and was an Irish Cup winner too with the Candystripes. He scored in the European Cupbr>
McGeough played his last game for Derry at Coleraine on 9 October 1965 bringing an end to a remarkable sequence of never having missed a single match for Derry since his arrival in July 1963. Derry withdrew from the Irish League in 1973 due to civil unrest. He signed for Waterford from Derry in December 1965 for £3,000 and was part of the great Waterford side of the 1960s and 1970s. He left for Lincoln City at the end of the 1971/72 season but moved back to the Blues in November 197

He was capped at Inter-League level by the IFA Premiership, Irish League and 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 use ...

. Jimmy was appointed the first player-manager of Thurles Town in June 197

However, he departed for

New York Apollo The New York Greeks was an American soccer club based in New York City that was a member of the American Soccer League. The team began as the amateur Greek-Americans. The club played lower Premier Division of the German American Soccer League w ...

a year late

In 1980, the Apollo came under new ownership which renamed the team the New York United. In 1981, he was the American Soccer League Coach of the Year. McGeough also spent ten seasons as the head coach of the

SUNY Farmingdale The State University of New York at Farmingdale (Farmingdale State College or SUNY Farmingdale) is a public college in East Farmingdale, New York. It is part of the State University of New York. The college was chartered in 1912 as a school of ap ...

. The dates are unknown, but he compiled a 111–76–6 record.NJCAA Record Book
/ref> McGeough enjoyed success as a coach in the US, mainly with

Long Island Rough Riders The Long Island Rough Riders are an American association football, soccer team based in South Huntington, New York, United States. Founded in 1994, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays i ...

. He linked up with Alfonso Mondelo in 2000 to coach

Tampa Bay Mutiny Tampa Bay Mutiny was a professional soccer team based in Tampa, Florida. They were a charter member of Major League Soccer (MLS) and played from 1996 to 2001. They played their home games at Tampa Stadium and then at Raymond James Stadium. The ...

but soon after the Mutiny franchise was closed down by

MLS Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

. After nearly a quarter of a century in the United States he was appointed manager of

in January 200

taking over following Paul Power's resignation late in the 2001 season. He guided the club to a top half finish in the First Division in his first season. The following year, McGeough's first full season in charge, Waterford won the First Division title. McGeough unearthed some exciting talents with Republic of Ireland national football team, Republic of Ireland under-21 goalkeeper Dan Connor (footballer), Daryl Murphy and

Neale Fenn Neale Michael Charles Fenn (born 18 January 1977) is a former professional footballer who is also the former manager of League of Ireland clubs Longford Town and Cork City. Club career Early career Fenn played for Tottenham Hotspur, making his ...

, all proving to be exceptional signings. However off the pitch, McGeough had a difficult relationship with club chairman Ger O'Brien. A dip in form with a series of poor results followed and their rift becoming public knowledge. The rift stemmed from McGeough's request to have Kevin O'Brien, the chairman's son, released. A restructuring of the coaching staff, reportedly supported by the manager, saw McGeough handing over some of his power to assistant Giles Cheevers. He was sacked in December 2003 leading to much outrage from Waterford's fan

Jimmy McGeough took charge of

Larne FC Larne Football Club is a professional Northern Irish football club based in Larne, County Antrim that play in the NIFL Premiership. History The club was founded in 1889 and plays its home matches at Inver Park. The club's colours are red and w ...

in August 200

and in his first season led the Antrim club to the

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Samuel Gelston's Whiskey Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland. Ina ...

final at

Windsor Park Windsor Park is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of Linfield F.C. who own the land the stadium is built on, while the Irish Football Association own and operate the stadium and pay Linfield an annual renta ...

. The tiny club also survived in the Irish Premier League before McGeough returned to the U.S. to rejoin his family. It was reported at the time he returned home that it was due to 9/11-related terrorism laws that prevented McGeough from being out of the US for more than 12 consecutive months. He is currently coaching children in Florida with his son

Jim Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim ...

who had an extensive professional career. His other sons, Paul and Tony were also professionals in the New York soccer scene. He is married to Belfast-born Margaret Ward and also has a daughter, Annette.

Honours

As a player

Irish Football League Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

: **

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 ...

1964–1965 *

: **

1964 *

: 5 **

1965–66, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1971–72 *

Top Four Cup The Top Four Cup was an association football super cup featuring the top four clubs in the League of Ireland. It was first held in 1955–56 and last played for in 1973–74. It was played at the end of the season. Shamrock Rovers were the i ...

: 4 **

1967–68,1968–69,1969–70,1970–71 *

League of Ireland Shield The League of Ireland Shield ( ga, Sciath Sraithe na hÉireann) is a defunct Irish football tournament which was introduced when the League of Ireland started in 1921 and ran uninterrupted until 1972. It was played before the league season began ...

: **

1968–1969 *

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 ...

: **

1974/75

As a manager

League of Ireland First Division The League of Ireland First Division ( ga, Céad Roinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League First Division, is the second level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland football league system. Th ...

: **

2002–03

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGeough, Jimmy 1944 births American Soccer League (1933–1983) coaches American Soccer League (1933–1983) players Derry City F.C. players Expatriate soccer players in the United States League of Ireland managers League of Ireland players Association football midfielders NIFL Premiership players Living people New York Apollo players Association footballers from Northern Ireland Expatriate association footballers from Northern Ireland Expatriate sportspeople from Northern Ireland in the United States Football managers from Northern Ireland Association footballers from Belfast Waterford F.C. managers Waterford F.C. players Farmingdale State Rams League of Ireland XI players