Seamus Martin McDonagh (born 6 October 1952), known as Jim McDonagh, is a former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. He made more than 400 appearances in the English leagues. Born in England, he won 25

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. He then became a goalkeeping coach, working with numerous clubs in the English game until joining

Martin O'Neill Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Starting his career in Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his playi ...

's coaching team at Sunderland in 2011. In November 2013 he was appointed to the same role with the Republic of Ireland national team by O'Neill, and in 2019 he followed O'Neill to

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

as head goalkeeping coach

Playing career

McDonagh started his career at his hometown club

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

, and spent a month on loan at Manchester United in 1973, before joining Bolton Wanderers, initially on loan, taking over from the recently departed

Barry Siddall Barry Alfred Siddall (born 12 September 1954) is an English former professional football goalkeeper. When he retired from the game he had 614 appearances to his name over a 21-year career in the Football League, playing for numerous clubs. He p ...

. An ever-present during the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

Championship-winning side of 1977–78, he set a club record of conceding only 33 goals in a 42-match season. For the following two seasons in the

top flight Top Flight (April 15, 1929 – 1949) was an American U.S. Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. She was the leading American filly of her generation at two and three years of age. Background Bred in Kentucky by the very prominent horseman Harry ...

he was also an ever-present and did well enough for Everton to sign him for £250,000 when Bolton were relegated in 1979–80. Within a year

Neville Southall Neville Southall (born 16 September 1958) is a Welsh former international footballer. He has been described as one of the best goalkeepers of his generation and won the FWA Footballer of the Year award in 1985. He joined Bury from Winsford ...

had come through the ranks at Everton and McDonagh found himself back at Bolton. Another demotion followed in 1982–83, even with McDonagh managing to score a goal, and he moved on to

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

for two seasons before wandering around a further six English clubs as well as teams in the USA. It was while he was at Bolton that he received the first of 25 caps for

Coaching career

He was appointed player/manager of Galway United in 1988 when they were in the relegation zone. Despite helping save the club from relegation his contract was unilaterally terminated by United in May 1989. McDonagh went on to have coaching positions at clubs including

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

, Aston Villa, Plymouth Argyle and

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

. He was appointed Sunderland's first-team goalkeeping coach by

on 6 December 2011. O'Neill then appointed him to the same role with the Republic of Ireland national team in November 2013. On 21 November 2018, O'Neill and his backroom staff parted company with the FAI, and in January 2019, McDonagh followed O'Neill to Nottingham Forest as head goalkeeping coach.

References

General * Specific

External links

Playing career

Coaching career

See also

References

External links