Paul Hegarty (born 30 May 1967 in Raphoe,

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconn ...

, Ireland) is former Irish footballer and current assistant manager of League of Ireland Premier Division club

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 ...

. 'Heggsy' as he is commonly referred to has also previously managed nearby clubs

Institute An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations ( research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

and

as well as another brief period as assistant to Stephen Kenny at Derry from 2005 to 2006.

Playing career

He played youth football in the Ulster Senior League before signing with Derry City where he made his League of Ireland debut on 13 September 1987. He later moved to

before returning to Derry to play once more with City and

Coleraine F.C. Coleraine Football Club is a semi-professional Northern Irish football club, playing in the NIFL Premiership, the highest level of the Irish League. The club, founded in 1927, hails from Coleraine, County Londonderry and plays its home matches ...

He also had a spell at

as a player-manager. Hegarty was known throughout Ireland as one of the toughest tackling midfielders of his era.

Managerial and Coaching

Before becoming the assistant manager to Stephen Kenny at Derry City in 2005, Hegarty had a spell of management at Institute. His fiery temper and desire for his team to do well was evident during every game. This driven and determined attitude is reminiscent of the character Hegarty displayed on the field as a player. While at Derry, Hegarty was ever present on the sidelines as the club went on to win the FAI Cup, finish second in 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 ...

and enjoyed an historic run in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

, being eliminated in the First Round by

Paris St. Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional Association football, football List of football clubs in France, club based in Paris, France. They compete ...

. On 15 December 2006 Hegarty announced that he would be moving on from his role as assistant manager at Derry due to difficulties in relation to Pat Fenlon's new training schedules for the 2007 season. With the managerial slot left empty at

since Anthony Gorman's departure, Hegarty looked like the favourite to take the role at

Finn Park Finn Park ( ga, Páirc na Finne) is a football stadium in Ballybofey, Ireland. The home ground of League of Ireland team Finn Harps, it has a 'safe capacity' of 4,200 with 351 seats. Facilities The ground is in a relatively dilapidated condit ...

. On 20 December 2006 Hegarty was named the new boss at

after signing a two-year deal with the club. Hegarty's touchline demeanour is well known to Irish football fans, and his high pitched shouted instructions can be heard on many a Friday night around Finn Park. Whilst in his first season he won promotion with Finn Harps he has presided over their immediate return to the First Division of the League of Ireland. On 11 May 2009, Paul Hegarty left the club, stating "personal reasons" and was replaced as manager by James Gallagher. On 6 January 2012 after an unsuccessful application for the managerial position at Derry City for himself, he joined the club as assistant to their new manager and preferred choice

Declan Devine Declan Devine (born 15 September 1973 in Derry) is a Northern Irish football manager and former footballer who has played for and managed his hometown club Derry City in the League of Ireland Premier Division. He is the current manager of Boh ...

, both signing two year deals with the club. He took over as caretaker manager, after Peter Hutton left the club on 15 September 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hegarty, Paul 1967 births Living people People from Raphoe Association footballers from County Donegal Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Derry City F.C. players Finn Harps F.C. players Coleraine F.C. players Institute F.C. players League of Ireland players League of Ireland managers NIFL Premiership players Finn Harps F.C. managers Institute F.C. managers Men's association football midfielders Republic of Ireland association football managers