John Caulfield (born 11 October 1964) is a retired

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 ...

footballer, he has been the manager of

Galway United F.C. Galway United Football Club (Irish: ''Cumann Peile Ghaillimh Aontaithe'') is an Irish association football club based in Galway. They play in the League of Ireland First Division. They were founded as Galway Rovers F.C. during the 1930s. They m ...

since August 2020. Caulfield spent the majority of his playing career at

Cork City F.C. Cork City Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Chathair Chorcaí) is an Irish association football club based in Cork. The club was founded and elected to the League of Ireland in 1984. It was one of the first clubs in Ireland (and the first in ...

and was a prominent member of the team that won the 1992–93 League of Ireland Premier Division. He was also the League of Ireland Premier Division Top Scorer in both 1991–92 and 1994–95. As a manager Caulfield has won the 2016 FAI Cup, 2017 FAI Cup and

2017 League of Ireland Premier Division The 2017 League of Ireland Premier Division was the 33rd season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The league began on Friday 24 February 2017 and concluded on 27 October 2017. Fixtures were announced on 9 December 2016. On 17 October, ...

with

Caulfield has also played

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by kic ...

and represented both

Roscommon Roscommon (; ) is the county town and the largest town in County Roscommon in Ireland. It is roughly in the centre of Ireland, near the meeting of the N60, N61 and N63 roads. The name Roscommon is derived from Coman mac Faelchon who built ...

and

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

at inter-county level, winning an

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) refers to all of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Ireland" is most frequently used to refer to sporting teams or events for the entire islan ...

title with the latter.

Family

Caulfield was born in

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. His mother was from

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

and his father was from

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...

. When he was a young child he moved with his family to

County Roscommon "Steadfast Irish heart" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Roscommon.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Connacht , subdi ...

. As a schoolboy he attended matches with his father at

Athlone Town Athlone Town Association Football Club () is an Irish football club from Athlone who are playing in the League of Ireland. The club is the oldest in the League as it was founded in 1887. First elected to the League of Ireland in 1922, they pl ...

, including the

1975–76 UEFA Cup The 1975–76 UEFA Cup was won by Liverpool over Club Brugge on aggregate. The third club was revoked from the Netherlands and Austria, and it was assigned to the Soviet Union and Sweden. First round First leg ...

game against

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...

. While a boarder at

Summerhill College Summerhill College (aka The College of the Immaculate Conception) is a Roman Catholic voluntary secondary school for boys located in the town of Sligo in northwest Ireland. History The school was founded in 1857 by then-Bishop of Elphin, Dr La ...

, where he studied for his

Leaving Cert A secondary school leaving qualification is a document signifying that the holder has fulfilled any secondary education requirements of their locality, often including the passage of a final qualification examination. For each leaving certifica ...

, he also attended matches at

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí Shligigh) is an Irish professional football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 ...

Playing career

Early years

While completing his third level education at Athlone Regional College, Caulfield began playing for

as a defender. In 1983–84, together with

Turlough O'Connor Toirdhealbhach Mór Ua Conchobhair (old spelling: Tairrdelbach Mór Ua Conchobair; 1088 – 1156) anglicised Turlough Mór O'Conor, was King of Connacht (1106–1156) and High King of Ireland (ca. 1120–1156). Family background and early life ...

and

Fran Hitchcock Fran Hitchcock (born 2 December 1960 in Dublin) is an Irish former footballer who played as a forward during the 1980s and 1990s. Hitchcock made his League of Ireland debut for Shelbourne F.C. on 7 September 1980. He can count Home Farm F.C. ...

, he was a member of the Athlone Town reserve team that won the

League of Ireland B Division The League of Ireland B Division is a former league within the Republic of Ireland football league system. Its debut season was 1964–65. It was originally a second level league. However following the emergence of the League of Ireland First Di ...

. He also made his first senior

appearance with Athlone Town, coming on as substitute against Home Farm, making what Caulfield himself described as a "three-minute" debut. In 1985, he moved to

Ballineen and Enniskean The twin villages of Ballineen () and Enniskeane () in County Cork in Ireland are southwest of Cork City, on the R586 road. Ballineen and Enniskean lie on the River Bandon between Bandon and Dunmanway and the fertile Bandon valley. History Ba ...

West Cork West Cork ( ga, Iarthar Chorcaí) is a tourist region and municipal district in County Cork, Ireland. As a municipal district, West Cork falls within the administrative area of Cork County Council, and includes the towns of Bantry, Castletownbe ...

and began working in the local Soundstore shop. He also began playing for Wembley in the Munster Senior League.

Cork City

Between

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

and

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, Caulfield played for

Cork City Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the island of Ireland. It is located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster. Following an extension to the city' ...

, making his debut in a

League of Ireland Cup The League of Ireland Cup ( ga, Corn Sraithe na hÉireann), also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', is an annual knockout competition in men's football in the Republic of Ireland. It is contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited c ...

game against

Kilkenny City Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilkenn ...

. Shortly after he scored the club's first hat-trick in a 3-2 win over

. Together with Pat Morley and

Dave Barry David McAlister Barry (born July 3, 1947) is an American author and columnist who wrote a nationally syndicated humor column for the ''Miami Herald'' from 1983 to 2005. He has also written numerous books of humor and parody, as well as comic ...

, he subsequently became a prominent member of the City team that won the 1992–93 Premier Division, the 1997–98

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 ...

, three League of Ireland Cups and eleven Munster Senior Cups. During this time Caulfield made 455 appearances for the club. This remains a club record. Caulfield is also the holder of several other club records including most starts (376) and most substitute appearances (79). Together with Pat Morley, he is the club's joint all-time top scorer with 129 goals. He was also the League of Ireland Premier Division Top Scorer in both 1991–92 and 1994–95. In 2008, he was inducted into the club's Hall of Fame. While playing for Cork City, Caulfield continued to live in

where he started a family with his wife, Grainne. They have two daughters, Sinead and Aideen. Throughout Caulfield's playing career with Cork City he maintained his amateur status and worked as a sale rep, initially with

Bulmers Bulmers cider is one of a number of brands owned by British cider maker H. P. Bulmer of Hereford. It is one of the biggest selling British bottled cider brands in the UK because it has the highest concentration of apples, with a number of vari ...

and later for

Diageo Diageo plc () is a Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic beverage company, with its headquarters in London, England. It operates from 132 sites around the world. It was the world's largest distiller before being overtaken by Kweich ...

. He would continue to work for Diageo until he was appointed manager of Cork City in 2013.

Gaelic football

As well as playing

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

, Caulfield has also played

at inter-county level. He initially represented

as a minor but after moving to

he played for St Mary's,

Carbery Carbery or Carbury may refer to: ;People: * Brian Carbury (1918–1961), New Zealand fighter ace * Douglas Carbery (1894–1959), British soldier and airman * Ethna Carbery (1864–1902), Irish writer * James Joseph Carbery (1823–1887), Irish ...

and then for

at inter-county junior level. In 1990, he was a member of the Cork team that won the

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

and

All-Ireland Junior Football Championship The All-Ireland Junior Football Championship is a GAA competition involving four Junior Gaelic football inter-county teams. Prior to a change in competition structure in 2021, the competition was previously for all Junior Gaelic football inte ...

s. In the All-Ireland final on September 9 at

Páirc Uí Chaoimh Páirc Uí Chaoimh ( ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Cork (city), Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is the home of Cork GAA. The venue, often referred to simply as The Park, is located in Ballintemple, Cork, Ballintemple and is built near to ...

he scored 1–3 as Cork defeated

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

3–16 to 0–8. He continued to play for St Mary's until 2007 and was subsequently part of the coaching staff that guided the club to the 2009 West Cork Junior A Football Championship.

Coach/Manager

Early years

While still playing for

, Caulfield began attending FAI coaching courses and was tutored by, among others, Brian Kerr. He also began coaching schoolboy teams at Riverside Athletic, the

-based team that played in the

West Cork League The West Cork League is an association football league featuring amateur and junior clubs from West Cork. Its top division, the PremierHiSpecCars.com Premier Division, is a seventh level division in the Republic of Ireland football league system ...

. He also coached the West Cork Schoolboys League representative team that played in the Kennedy Cup at inter-league level.

Avondale United

Between 2002 and 2010 Caulfield served as manager of Avondale United in the Munster Senior League. During this time Caulfield transformed Avondale into one of the leading intermediate clubs in 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 ...

. In 2004–05 Avondale reached the Munster Senior Cup. Caulfield was initially a player/coach at Avondale and in the semi-final he scored the opening goal in a 3–1 win over Clonmel Town. With Caulfield in charge Avondale won the

FAI Intermediate Cup The FAI Intermediate Cup ( ga, Corn Comortais Peile na hÉireann), also known as the FAI Umbro Intermediate Cup and the Pat O'Brien Intermediate Challenge Cup, is a cup competition organized by the Football Association of Ireland for intermediate ...

in 2005–06 and 2006–07 and two Munster Premier Division titles in 2008–09 and 2009–10.

UCC

Between 2010 and 2013 served as manager of University College Cork A.F.C., who like Avondale United, played in the Munster Senior League. Caulfield guided UCC to success in both the 2011

Collingwood Cup The Collingwood Cup is an association football cup competition featuring university teams from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is organised by the Irish Universities Football Union, and is the oldest surviving all Ireland associ ...

and in the 2011–12 MSL Senior First Division which saw them promoted to the Senior Premier Division.

Cork City

On 5 November 2013 Caulfield was appointed manager of

, succeeding

Tommy Dunne Tomás Dunne (born 21 May 1974) is an Irish hurling coach and former player who is from Toomevara, County Tipperary in Ireland. He is the current coach of the Tipperary senior hurling team. Dunne enjoyed a distinguished playing career with Toom ...

. With Caulfield in charge, Cork City have finished as runners-up in the

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 ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

and

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

. They were also runners-up in the 2015 FAI Cup. In 2016 Caulfield guided Cork City to victory in both the

President's Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world minus Europe. Europe competes against the United States in a similar but considerably ...

and the

. In the 2016 FAI Cup Final, City won when

Sean Maguire Sean Maguire (born 18 April 1976 in Ilford, London) is a British-American actor and singer, who rose to fame in 1988 when at the age of eleven he took on the role of "Tegs" Ratcliffe on the BBC children's drama ''Grange Hill'', in which he rem ...

scored a last minute extra time goal against

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

. In the

2016–17 UEFA Europa League The 2016–17 UEFA Europa League was the 46th season of Europe's secondary club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the eighth season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The 2017 UEFA Eu ...

Caulfield guided City to the Third Qualifying Round, defeating Linfield and

BK Häcken Bollklubben Häcken, more commonly known as BK Häcken or simply Häcken (), is a Swedish professional association football, football club based in Gothenburg. It currently plays in Allsvenskan, the top tier of Swedish football. Formed on 2 Augu ...

before losing out to

K.R.C. Genk Koninklijke Racing Club Genk (), commonly known as KRC Genk, Racing Genk or simply Genk, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Genk in Belgian Limburg. Racing Genk plays in the Belgian Pro League and have won four cham ...

. The victory over Linfield ensured that Caulfield was the first American-born manager to progress in a two-legged tie in European competition. When Caulfield managed Cork City to the

title a year later, he became the first American-born manager to win a top-tier league in Europe. He followed up this success by coaching his team to victory in the 2017 FAI Cup, thus completing the double. In May 2019, Caulfield left his position as manager of Cork City after a disappointing start to the season in which the club picked up 13 points from their 14 league games.

Galway United

In August 2020, Caulfield took over as manager of

Galway United Galway United Football Club (Irish language, Irish: ''Cumann Peile Ghaillimh Aontaithe'') is an List of association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland, Irish association football club based in Galway. They play in the League of Ireland Fi ...

. United won the first five league games under his management as he guided the club to the promotion playoffs, however a loss to Longford Town saw the club remain in the Division for the following season. In 2021, after a sluggish start in which the club took just 9 points from the opening 9 league games, a strong finish to the season saw United finish 2nd behind Shelbourne. A home defeat to Bray in the playoffs saw the club again miss out on promotion. 2022 saw the club make the best ever start to a league season but a loss of form in the second half of the season resulted in a 3rd placed finish and another trip to the playoffs, this time Waterford FC ending the promotion hopes. He signed a new contract in September 2021 to bring him to the end of the 2023 season. ;Stats Stats shown below are for Premier Division,

and

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

games.

Honours

Player

Association football

;

** 1992–93: 1 *

** 1997–98: 1 *

** 1987–88, 1994–95, 1998–99: 3 * Munster Senior Cup ** 1987–88, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01: 11 ;

** 1983–84: 1 ;Individual * League of Ireland Premier Division Top Scorer ** 1991–92, 1994-95: 2

Gaelic football

;

Cork GAA The Cork County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) ( ga, Cumann Luthchleas Gael Coiste Contae Chorcaí) or Cork GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic games in County Cork and the C ...

** 1990: 1 *

Munster Junior Football Championship The Munster Junior Football Championship is a gaelic football tournament between the six counties of Munster: Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, Clare and Waterford. It is the third-tier county teams playing off in a single-elimination tournament w ...

** 1990: 1

Manager

;

**''Winners'':

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

: 2 **''Runners Up'':

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

: 2 *

President of Ireland's Cup The President of Ireland's Cup, also known simply as the President's Cup, is an association football super cup featuring clubs from the Republic of Ireland football league system. It is a one-off match between the winners of the previous season' ...

**''Winners'':

: 3 *

**''Winners'':

: 1 **''Runners Up'':

: 4 ;

UCC The initialism UCC may stand for: Law * Uniform civil code of India, referring to proposed Civil code in the legal system of India, which would apply equally to all irrespective of their religion * Uniform Commercial Code, a 1952 uniform act to ...

** 2011 * Munster Senior League Senior First Division ** 2011–12 ; Avondale United *

** 2005–06, 2006–07: 2 *

Munster Senior League Senior Premier Division The Munster Senior League Senior Premier Division is the top division of the Munster Senior League. It is organized by the Munster Football Association. Together with the Leinster Senior League Senior Division and the Ulster Senior League Senior ...

** 2008–09, 2009–10: 2 * Munster Senior League Senior First Division ** 2002–03: 1

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caulfield, John Living people 1964 births Association football forwards Republic of Ireland association footballers League of Ireland players Athlone Town A.F.C. players Cork City F.C. players Cork City F.C. managers Munster Senior League (association football) managers Munster Senior League (association football) players People educated at Summerhill College Roscommon inter-county Gaelic footballers Cork inter-county Gaelic footballers Gaelic footballers who switched code Republic of Ireland association football managers