John McDonnell (born 26 March 1965 in Dublin) 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 ...

manager and former footballer. He most recently managed Drogheda United having also managed Dublin City,

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 ...

Newry City Newry (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Clanrye river in counties Armagh and Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry was founded in 1144 alongside a Cistercian monastery, although ...

, Shelbourne and been assistant manager of Faroe Islands. Nicknamed ''Johnny Mac'', he had an accomplished career as a footballer before entering management. The majority of his career was spent at

and he captained the side to the 1996 League of Ireland Championship.

Career

Playing career

As a defender, McDonnell started his career with

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 ...

in the 1983–84 season (five total appearances), followed by Home Farm, Drogheda United before signing for Pats. After winning the league there he signed back for Rovers for the 1991–92 where he scored once in 34 appearances. He then signed back for another spell at Richmond Park where he captained the side to the League triumph in the 1995–96 season under manager Brian Kerr. Despite missing out on the Champions League due to then format in the first ever European tie at Richmond Park McDonnell scored in the UEFA Cup tie with SK Slovan Bratislava. He then moved to Newry Town. It was with the Northern Irish club that he made the first step into management, becoming player-manager in 1998. In this first ever season in European competition, Newry Town (as they were then known) were drawn against the Croatia side

Hrvatski Dragovoljac Nogometni klub Hrvatski dragovoljac ( en, Football Club Hrvatski dragovoljac), commonly referred to as NK Hrvatski dragovoljac or simply Hrvatski dragovoljac, is a Croatian football club based in the Novi Zagreb neighbourhood of the country's c ...

. A 1–0 defeat in Croatia was followed by a historic 2–0 win at home to send the club into the second round. There they met Bundesliga side MSV Duisburg. Again, Newry were drawn away in the first leg, coming away with a respectable 2–0 defeat to the German professionals. A 1–0 win at home wasn't enough to force extra time but the side had exceeded expectations in the tournament. He resigned in September 1999.

Management career

Having previously been player-manager for Newry Town, the chance came to manage at newly founded League of Ireland side Dublin City then he was appointed as assistant manager at then league champions Shelbourne. McDonnell was assistant manager of the Republic of Ireland national team Under 20s at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championships. In 2004, when

Eamonn Collins Eamonn Anthony Stephen Collins (born 22 October 1965) is an Irish retired association football, footballer and football manager, who is now a players' Sports agent, agent. In his playing career, he was the youngest player ever to turn out in a ...

resigned as St Pats manager, the club turned to its former captain and firm fans' favourite, McDonnell, to turn around the fortunes of the ailing Dublin giant. (Ironically Collins would take McDonnell's job as Pat Fenlon's assistant.) His side initially struggled and only a late burst at the end of the 2005 season saw St. Pats saved from a humiliating relegation. For the 2006 season, he assembled practically a whole new squad and reached the final of 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 ...

losing to Derry City 4–3. He then guided Pats to their best ever European run in the UEFA Cup in the 2008/2009 season where they qualified for the first round proper after eliminating

JFK Olimps Riga JFK Olimps was a Latvian football club, playing in the top division of Latvian football. The club was from the city of Riga. According to a study from January 2011, the club was the youngest team in Europe, with an average age of 19.02 years. ...

and IF Elfsborg. He is the first St Pats player to win the League of Ireland, score and manage the club in European competition. In January 2009, he departed as

manager. He was then linked with the Assistant Manager position at Leeds United, the Manager position at Cork City and manager positions at League 2 sides

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

and

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

. In September 2009, he returned to Irish League side

as manager following the resignation of

Gerry Flynn Gerry is both a surname and a masculine or feminine given name. As a given name, it is often a short form (hypocorism) of Gerard, Gerald or Geraldine. Notable people with the name include: Surname *Elbridge Gerry (1744–1814), fifth US vice presi ...

. In March 2010, he resigned. In April 2010, he was appointed Assistant Manager of the Faroe Islands, by manager Brian Kerr, his former colleague at St Pat's. Kerr and McDonnell resigned in October 2011. On 24 May 2013, McDonnell was appointed manager of Shelbourne. McDonnell was appointed Drogheda United boss on 29 November 2014.

Honours

St Patrick's Athletic * League of Ireland: 1989–90, 1995–96 * SRFC Young Player of the Year: 1983–84

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonnell, John 1965 births Living people Association footballers from County Dublin Republic of Ireland association footballers Association football defenders Home Farm F.C. players Drogheda United F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players League of Ireland players St Patrick's Athletic F.C. managers Republic of Ireland football managers League of Ireland managers Newry City F.C. players NIFL Premiership players League of Ireland XI players Belvedere F.C. players