Owen Heary (born 4 October 1976, in

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

) is an Irish professional

football defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

and manager. He is formerly the manager of Shelbourne in the

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 ...

, the club with which he spent most of his playing career.

Playing career

He made 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 us ...

debut for Kilkenny City at Bray Wanderers on 21 November 1993. After one season 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 ...

he moved home to Home Farm where in 4 seasons he won the First Division Shield. He won five league titles and one FAI Cup with Shelbourne after making his debut against

Finn Harps Finn Harps Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Chláirsigh na Finne) are an Irish football club that play in the First Division of the League of Ireland, as of 2023. The club was founded in 1954 and elected to the league in 1969. However, it was te ...

Tolka Park Tolka Park ( ga, Páirc na Tulchann) is an Irish football ground located in the north Dublin suburb of Drumcondra, on the northern banks of the River Tolka. It is currently the home ground of League of Ireland club Shelbourne. The stadium fo ...

in September 1998. He accompanied Dermot Keely, his former manager at Home Farm (whom Heary had captained) to Shelbourne. Heary, a right-sided full-back noted for his robust tackling, general fitness and frequent sorties up the right flank in support of his attack, was elected

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...

for the 2001/2002 season by his peers in the

Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland 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 Ir ...

. Heary was unveiled as a Bohemians player at a press conference on 22 January 2007 and has since slotted into the side with ease, playing a huge part in Bohs' great defensive record. Owen captained Bohs to the 2008 league title and FAI Cup in a fantastic season for the right back. He collected a bucketful of personal honours during the season, being voted on to the Eircom League of Ireland Premier Division Team for 2008, receiving 42% of the votes for the right back positio

and named the eircom/Soccer Writers Association of Ireland (SWAI) player of the month for Octobe

This was topped off when he was named the SWAI Personality of the Year on 4 December. Heary struggled with injuries during the 2009 season, only making 20 league appearance

However, he collected his first ever League Cup winners medal in the September as Bohs beat Waterford United F.C., Waterford United 3–1 at the

RSC RSC may refer to: Arts * Royal Shakespeare Company, a British theatre company * Reduced Shakespeare Company, a touring American acting troupe * Richmondshire Subscription Concerts, a music society in Richmond, North Yorkshire, England * Rock Ste ...

. In November 2009, Heary as captain, collected the Premier Division trophy for the Bohemians first back-to-back league wins. In doing so, he equalled

Johnny Matthews Johnny Matthews (27 August 1946 – 25 December 2019) was an English footballer and manager. Matthews started his career playing with his home club Coventry City. He moved to Waterford United during the 1965/66 season on St. Patrick's Day ...

record of 7 league winners medal

Despite captaining the club to the

Setanta Sports Cup The Setanta Sports Cup was a club football competition featuring teams from both football associations on the island of Ireland. Inaugurated in 2005, it was a cross-border competition between clubs in the League of Ireland from the Republic of I ...

, Bohemians had a disappointing 2010 season where the club lost their league title on goal difference and failed to make an impact in Europe where they made an embarrassing exit to Welsh side

The New Saints The New Saints of Oswestry Town & Llansantffraid Football Club, also known as The New Saints ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed y Seintiau Newydd) or TNS, are a professional football club that currently play in the Cymru Premier. They are the most successfu ...

. Heary retired as a player in 2013. His testimonial was played between Shels and Bohs 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 ...

in November 2013.

Management

Owen took his first steps into management during 2011 when he took charge of Bohs' A Team and under 19 team and also managed the first team during their Leinster Senior Cup matches. When

Pat Fenlon Patrick Fenlon (born 15 March 1969) is an Irish football coach and former player. Fenlon played as a midfielder for St Patrick's Athletic, Bohemians, Linfield, Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne. As a manager he won five League of Ireland tit ...

departed for Hibernian, Owen became Aaron Callaghan's

assistant manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

for the 2012 season. After a poor run of results during the 2013 season which left Bohs in the relegation zone, Callaghan was sacked as manager and Heary was appointed to take caretaker charge of the club. Due to Heary not possessing the necessary coaching qualifications, this was for an initial 60-day period until 12 September 2013. Heary now holds a UEFA Pro Licence having been shortlisted by the FAI to do the course in January 2014. Heary managed Sligo Rovers until June 2015. He was appointed as manager of Shelbourne on 28 June 2016 following Kevin Doherty's resignation.

European competition

Heary made 41 appearances in European competition and scored against

Rhyl F.C. Rhyl Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl Droed Y Rhyl) was a Welsh football club based in Rhyl in Denbighshire. It withdrew from footballing activities in April 2020 and had its entire footballing record for the 2019/2020 season expunged. It was fo ...

in the 2008 UEFA Intertoto Cupbr>

Honours

Club

;Home Farm * League of Ireland First Division Shield (1): 1998 ;Shelbourne *

(5): 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2003, 2004,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

* FAI Cup (1): 1999–2000 *FAI Super Cup 2001-2002 *LFA President’s Cup (2) 1998-1999, 2002-2003 ;Bohemians *

(2): 2008, 2009 * FAI Cup (1): 2008 *

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 ...

(1): 2009 *

(1): 2009–10

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 Le ...

(1): 2001–02 * SWAI Personality of the Year (1): 2008 *Eircom League Player of the Year (1): 2005 *League of Ireland team of the year 12 times *Independent Sports Star of the week 2004 * Shelbourne record appearance holder (274) MANGER *Shelbourne * Leinster Senior Cup (2) 2017,2018

References

External links

Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heary, Owen 1976 births Living people Association footballers from County Dublin Association football defenders Kilkenny City A.F.C. players Home Farm F.C. players Shelbourne F.C. players Bohemian F.C. players Republic of Ireland association footballers League of Ireland players League of Ireland XI players Bohemian F.C. managers Sligo Rovers F.C. managers Shelbourne F.C. managers Republic of Ireland football managers People educated at St. Declan's College, Dublin