Sean Friars (born 15 May 1979) is a

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 ...

coach and former player. He is the assistant manager of

NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and colloquially as the Irish League or Irish Premiership, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northe ...

club

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 can ...

and works for the Depaul Foyle Haven Centre, which helps people afflicted by addiction issues and homelessness in Derry. As a former addict he is now fully focused on helping people struggling with some of the demons that wrecked his own football career. His brother Emmet also played as a defender.

Playing career

Early career

Friars was born in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

, Northern Ireland. Prior to his move to Cliftonville, he played for Foyle Harps,

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

Portadown Portadown () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of a ...

Newry Town Newry City Football Club was a Northern Irish association football, football club founded in 1918 and dissolved in 2012. It was based in Newry, County Down and played its home matches at The Showgrounds (Newry), the Showgrounds. Club colours we ...

Derry City Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

and

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 ...

. Friars made only one appearance, as substitute, for

. He came on against

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

in a 2–1 home win at Portman Road. In 2001, he had a short-term deal with Newry Town which expired in September. In March 2004 a loan deal from Derry City to Finn Harps was announced. The left-sided midfielder, had been a member of Derry City's 2002

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 ...

winning team. After returning from a loan spell with

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 ...

First Division club Finn Harps, it was announced in August 2004 that he had left Derry City by mutual agreement.

Cliftonville

Friars made his Cliftonville debut in August 2004 in a friendly match against

Holywood Holy Wood or Holywood may refer to: Places * Holywood, County Down, a town and townland in Northern Ireland ** Holywood, County Down (civil parish), a civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland ** Holywood railway station (Northern Ireland) * ...

During his first year at Cliftonville, Friars was included in the 2004–05 Irish League Team of the Year. Friars returned to

Cliftonville Cliftonville is a coastal area of the town of Margate, situated to the east of the main town, in the Thanet district of Kent, South East England, United Kingdom. It also contains the area known as Palm Bay. The original Palm Bay estate was ...

from a spell at

Limavady United Limavady United Football Club is an intermediate, Northern Irish football club playing in the NIFL Premier Intermediate League. The club comes from Limavady, County Londonderry, and plays home matches at the Showgrounds. Club colours are royal ...

where he spent the latter half of the 2006–07 season. In October 2006 there was some doubt over his future with Cliftonville after he went absent from the club and was subsequently dropped from the squad for a number of matches. He remained with Cliftonville and recently had an "outstanding" match in their second leg away win in the UEFA Intertoto Cup in July 2007.

Newry City

Friars sealed a return to

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 ...

in the summer of 2007 where he proved himself as a vital member of the team scoring 8 goals in his first 14 matches. His brother

Emmett Emmett may refer to: Places ;In the United States * Emmett, Idaho * Emmett, Kansas * Emmett, Michigan, a village in St. Clair County * Emmett Charter Township, Michigan in Calhoun County * Emmett Township, St. Clair County, Michigan * Emmett, Misso ...

was also in the

team.

Institute

In January 2009 Friars was transferred to

for an undisclosed fee, signing a 2-year contract.

Dungannon Swifts

On the same day as his brother

Emmet Friars Emmet Friars (born 14 September 1985 in Derry, Northern Ireland) is a former footballer who is currently the manager of NIFL Championship side Dergview. Career Notts County Emmet began his career as a trainee with Notts County, but failed to ...

, 3 January 2012, Sean joined

Dungannon Swifts Dungannon Swifts Football Club is a Northern Irish, semi-professional football club playing in the NIFL Premiership. The club, founded in 1949, has risen from the Mid-Ulster league to the top tier in Northern Ireland since its election to the ...

International career

Friars played for the Northern Ireland U21 national team, also captaining the side.

Coaching career

Institute (academy)

Friars was appointed as

Under-20 team manager in the summer of 2016 and went on to win back to back Championship titles with the team.

Limavady United

Friars left his role at Institute to take on his first senior managerial job with

on 19 May 2018.

Institute return

On 3 May 2019, Friars returned to old club Institute as assistant manager, following relegation from the

NIFL Championship The Northern Ireland Football League Championship (known as the Lough 41 Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second level of the Northern Ireland Football League, the national football league in Northern Ireland. Clubs in the Championshi ...

with Limavady. He took on the role; initially, as assistant to John Quigg and maintained the position, following Quigg's resignation and the appointment of

Sean Connor Sean Connor (born 12 July 1967) is a Northern Irish football manager and former player who was most recently manager of NIFL Championship side Institute. He had a brief playing career which included spells at Distillery, Port Vale, Macclesfield ...

Honours

Derry City *

: 2002

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Friars, Sean 1979 births Living people Association footballers from Northern Ireland Sportspeople from Derry (city) Liverpool F.C. players Ipswich Town F.C. players Portadown F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Newry City F.C. players Derry City F.C. players League of Ireland players Finn Harps F.C. players Cliftonville F.C. players Institute F.C. players NIFL Premiership players Association football forwards Dungannon Swifts F.C. players English Football League players Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England