Mark Anthony Kinsella (born 12 August 1972) 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 player, currently a coach at

Drogheda United Drogheda United Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Dhroichead Átha Aontaithe) is a semi-professional Irish association football club based in Drogheda, County Louth playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They play their home matches ...

after previously being both the manager and assistant manager. He played as a central midfielder for most of his career. Kinsella began his career at

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

, before spells at

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

and

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...

. He played 48 times for the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

, scoring three goals and playing in the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

in Japan and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. Kinsella is a former manager of

Daventry Town Daventry Town F.C. is a football club based in the town of Daventry, Northamptonshire, England, formed in 1886. They are members of the . History The club was established in 1886 as a local-town club playing in the Northampton Town League. T ...

Club career

Colchester United

Kinsella joined

as a 17-year-old (he was actually signed by the legendary ex-Rangers manager

Jock Wallace John Martin Bokas Wallace (6 September 1935 – 24 July 1996) was a Scottish professional footballer and manager. Wallace played as a goalkeeper, and has the unique distinction of being the only player ever to play in the English, Welsh and Sco ...

) and played there for seven seasons, including two in the Conference, and played at Wembley in 1992 when Colchester won the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

. He was nicknamed "Sheedy" by the fans, in honour of the Everton player, and is among the club's most revered former players.

Charlton Athletic

Kinsella moved to Charlton Athletic in September 1996 for £150,000. At Charlton he captained the team to a dramatic victory over

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

in the 1998 Division 1 Play-off Final, with Kinsella scoring one of the penalties in the shootout. Following relegation after only one season in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

in 1999, Kinsella lifted the First Division championship trophy with Charlton the following year, with the South East London outfit returning to the top-flight in 2000. Kinsella is remembered by Charlton fans as a turning point in their recent history, he was the first player in the modern era to stay with Charlton when his performances placed him as a top ten midfielder in the country via the Carling Opta Stats. His skill, talent and sometimes individual carrying of the team in the 1998–99 season places him above that of

Richard Rufus Richard Raymond Rufus (born 12 January 1975) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre back, spending his entire career with one club, Charlton Athletic. He was also capped six times by England U21. Rufus was part of ...

Clive Mendonca Clive Paul Mendonca (born 9 September 1968) is an English former professional footballer, who played as a striker between 1986 and 2002 notably for Grimsby Town and Charlton Athletic. Mendonca also played for Sheffield United, Doncaster Rovers a ...

, Andy Hunt and John Robinson in Charlton's list of greats in the late 1990s teams. In 2001, he suffered an injury, which allowed

Scott Parker Scott Matthew Parker (born 13 October 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is currently the head coach of Club Brugge in Belgium. Parker began his career at Charlton Athletic, and ...

to take his place in the team. Kinsella could not reclaim his place in the Charlton first team after coming back from injury, so he was sold to

in 2002, for a fee of £1 million.

Aston Villa

Kinsella made his debut for

on 24 August 2002 against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

. He later went on to make 24 appearances in his first season. After a good start in the first half of the 2002–03 season he rarely made an appearance in the second half of the season and had a couple injuries that set him back. In Kinsella's second season he only made two appearances and left Aston Villa mid-season in early 2004.

West Bromwich Albion

Kinsella moved to

in January 2004, on a short-term contract until the end of the season. He made 18 appearances for the club, helping them to win promotion to the Premiership. His only goal for Albion came in a 3–0 win over Coventry City on 6 March 2004.

Walsall

Kinsella then transferred to

in July 2004, signing a two-year deal. After two injury damaged seasons, Kinsella took charge of Walsall on a caretaker basis, following

Kevan Broadhurst Kevan Broadhurst (born 3 June 1959) is an English former professional footballer, coach and football manager. Broadhurst was born in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. He played 173 games for Birmingham City in all competitions and had a three-game l ...

's sacking in April 2006, earning one win and suffering one defeat in his two games in charge. He continued to combine playing and coaching at Walsall before being lured back to Charlton in December 2006. His last professional match was in Walsall's

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

home defeat to promotion rivals

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

on 9 December 2006. Kinsella scored two goals for Walsall, once against

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydf ...

in the FA Cup, and once against Wycombe Wanderers in the league.

International career

Kinsella won 48 caps for the Irish national team, scoring 3 times and was named Irish Footballer of the Year in 2000. He also captained the side in a friendly against Finland in November 2000. Although rarely remembered, he formed an excellent midfield partnership with

Roy Keane Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971) is an Irish football pundit, coach and former professional player. He is the joint most successful Irish footballer of all time, having won 19 major trophies in his club career, 17 of which came during ...

in the qualifying stages for the 2002

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

. Keane was quoted as stating that the Ireland's form during that

campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...

was down to the presence and performances of Kinsella. After Keane's much publicised dismissal from the squad before the 2002

, Kinsella formed a solid partnership with future Charlton player

Matt Holland Matthew Rhys Holland (born 11 April 1974) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Holland began his career at West Ham United, having previously been with Arsenal's academy. During his time at West Ham spent time out on ...

Managerial and coaching career

While still a player at Walsall, Kinsella took on the additional roles of reserve-team manager and first-team coach. He was appointed development coach at Charlton Athletic in December 2006, with responsibility for the development of young professional players, liaison with the academy and the managing the reserve team. After the appointment of Alan Pardew, Kinsella's role was changed to that of reserve-team manager. It was announced on 10 June 2008 that he has been given a new one-year contract at the club. In November 2008 when Alan Pardew left Charlton by mutual consent, Kinsella left his post as Reserve team manager, being replaced by U18 Youth Coach Damian Matthew, to adopt a more senior role in the first team, helping Caretaker manager

Phil Parkinson Philip John Parkinson (born 1 December 1967) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is currently manager of National League side Wrexham. Parkinson is the only manager to take an English fo ...

, while a replacement for Pardew was found. In December 2008, Parkinson was confirmed as the new Charlton manager, and Kinsella assumed the role of first-team coach permanently. He was sacked along with Phil Parkinson on 4 January 2011. He was linked with return to his former club

as manager in August 2009, but the job went to

Adrian Boothroyd Adrian Neil Boothroyd (born 8 February 1971) is an English former footballer who is currently the manager of Indian Super League club Jamshedpur. At club level, he was manager of Watford from 2005 to 2008. During his time with Watford, he was r ...

. He became manager of

in June 2011, leaving the club in July 2012. Having left Daventry, Kinsella joined former St Neots Town manager Dennis Greene's coaching staff at

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

side

Histon Histon is a village and civil parish in the South Cambridgeshire district, in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is immediately north of Cambridge – and is separated from the city – by the A14 road (England), A14 road which r ...

in August 2012. Mark was appointed

assistant manager on 27 September 2012, to work alongside fellow Irishman

Joe Dunne Joseph John Dunne (born 25 May 1973) is an Irish Manager (association football), football manager and former association football, footballer who is currently assistant manager of Newport County A.F.C., Newport County. Dunne played as a defen ...

. On 1 September 2014, Mark Kinsella was sacked as assistant manager of

. On 29 November 2014, Kinsella was announced as assistant manager of

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 ...

side

. Kinsella replaced

Johnny McDonnell Johnny McDonnell was an Irish soccer player during the 1900s and 1910s. He was born in Kilcolgan Co Galway on 8 October 1885. He started his footballing career with Athlone Town FC and then played for the amateur Bohemian F.C., Bohemians durin ...

as manager following McDonnell's departure from the club after a 4–1 home defeat to bottom side Limerick. On 10 November 2015, Drogheda appointed Pete Mahon as manager and Kinsella stepped back into a coaching role. On 16 April 2016, the Football Association of Ireland announced that Kinsella, along with former internationals

Damien Duff Damien Anthony Duff (born 2 March 1979) is an Irish professional football manager and former player who played predominantly as a winger. He has been the manager of League of Ireland club Shelbourne F.C. since November 2021. He began his pro ...

Kenny Cunningham Kenneth Edward Cunningham (born 28 June 1971) is an Irish former footballer who played as a defender. He played international football for the Republic of Ireland until his retirement in 2005. He spent his professional club career, from 1989 t ...

Keith Andrews (footballer) Keith Joseph Andrews (born 13 September 1980) is an Irish former association footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He is currently the assistant manager of the Republic of Ireland national football team. Andrews began his career at ...

and Stephen McPhail, would help coach some of the Republic of Ireland's youth players. Then on 31 August 2018 Kinsella moved to a specific role with the under-21s team.

Personal life

He is the father of

Liam Kinsella Liam Mark Kinsella (born 23 February 1996) is a professional association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL League Two, League Two club Swindon Town F.C., Swindon Town. Kinsella was born in England and has represented the Rep ...

and 2020 Olympic bronze medallist

Alice Kinsella Alice Nicole Kinsella (born 13 March 2001) is an Irish-English artistic gymnast and member of the British national gymnastics team. She represented Great Britain at the 2020 Summer Olympics and won a bronze medal in the team event, and was par ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Colchester United *

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

: 1991–92 *

: 1991–92 Charlton Athletic *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

: 1999–2000 Individual * FAI Senior International Player of the Year: 2000 *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...

: 1995–96 Third Division, 1999–2000 First Division * Colchester United F.C. Player of the Year: 1993–94, 1995–96 * Charlton Athletic Player of the Year: 1997–98, 1998–99

References

External links

* *
Aston Villa former players
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinsella, Mark Republic of Ireland association footballers Association football midfielders Republic of Ireland international footballers Republic of Ireland under-21 international footballers Home Farm F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Premier League players 2002 FIFA World Cup players Association footballers from Dublin (city) 1972 births Living people People educated at St Aidan's C.B.S. Charlton Athletic F.C. non-playing staff Colchester United F.C. non-playing staff Association football coaches