Michael Joseph McCarthy (born 7 February 1959) is a professional football manager, pundit, and former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...

. He was last in charge of

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

club

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

. McCarthy began his playing career at

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough ha ...

in 1977, and he later had spells at

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

, and finally

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 ...

, retiring in 1992. Born and raised in England, he represented 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. ...

, for whom he earned 57

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 ...

and played at

UEFA Euro 1988 The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in West Germany from 10 to 25 June 1988. It was the eighth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. The tournament crowned the Nethe ...

and the

1990 FIFA World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being ...

. McCarthy managed Millwall and then the Republic of Ireland. He guided the country to the knockout stage of the last 16 of 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 ...

. He later managed

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 ...

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club' ...

and

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 professio ...

. McCarthy began a second tenure as manager of the Republic of Ireland national team in November 2018, leaving after having guided the team to a

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europ ...

playoff place. He then had brief spells at Cypriot club

APOEL APOEL FC ( el, ΑΠΟΕΛ; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', literally "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") ...

and

. He has also been a television pundit and commentator, including for the BBC and Virgin Media Television.

Club career

Barnsley

Born in Barnsley, Yorkshire, McCarthy made his league debut for then-Fourth Division

on 20 August 1977 in a 4–0 win over

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Bor ...

. He spent two years in the basement league, before the club won promotion. Two years later, the team again went up to the (old) Division 2. A strong central defender, he was a virtual ever-present for his home town club, but departed in December 1983 for fellow Division 2 club

Manchester City

The

Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City F.C. from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest a ...

club won promotion in McCarthy's first full season and he finally had the chance to play at the highest level. His first season in the top flight was steady enough as the club reached mid-table, but relegation struck the following year. McCarthy himself would not face the drop though as he moved to

in May 1987.

Celtic

He picked up his first silverware at the Scottish club as they won the league and cup double in his first season. The following season McCarthy again won a

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, although the club had to settle for third place in the league.

Lyon

McCarthy again moved onto a new country, as he joined

on a three-year contract in July 1989.

Millwall

However, things did not work out for the defender in France and, feeling his international chances were being harmed, he returned to England on loan with top flight

in March 1990. Despite the London side suffering relegation during his loan period, McCarthy impressed enough to earn a move and he was signed permanently in May 1990 for £200,000. His appearances in the next two seasons were often limited by injuries and he effectively retired from playing when he took over as manager of the club in 1992.

International career

McCarthy, the son of an Irish-born father, Charlie, is an Irish citizen since birth.Section 7(1) of the ''Irish Nationality and Citizenship Acts 1956 to 2004''. He made his Irish international debut in a goalless friendly against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

on 23 May 1984, McCarthy soon became a first-choice player and featured in all three of Ireland's games at Euro '88. He went on to become captain, leading to the nickname "Captain Fantastic", as per the title of his autobiography. The highlight of McCarthy's international career was the second-round penalty shoot-out win over

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

in the 1990 World Cup finals. This led to a crunch tie with hosts

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in the quarter-final, where Ireland's first ever appearance in the finals came to an end, losing 1–0. McCarthy was the player who committed the most fouls in the 1990 tournament. In total, McCarthy won 57 caps for the Republic of Ireland; scoring two goals, one against

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

in April 1988, the other against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

in May 1992.

Managerial career

Millwall

McCarthy became player-manager at

in March 1992, succeeding

Bruce Rioch Bruce David Rioch (; born 6 September 1947) is a football manager and former player for the Scotland national team. His last managerial post was at AaB in the Danish Superliga in 2008. As a player, he made more than 550 appearances in the Fo ...

. In his first full season (1992–93), he was still registered as a player, but made only one further appearance (in the

Anglo-Italian Cup The Anglo-Italian Cup ( it, Coppa Anglo-Italiana, also known as the Anglo-Italian Inter-League Clubs Competition and from 1976 to 1986 as the Alitalia Challenge Cup, Talbot Challenge Cup or Gigi Peronace Memorial) is a defunct European football c ...

), before he became solely a manager. He took the club to the play-offs in 1993–94 after a strong third-place finish, but they lost out to

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

in the semi-finals. During the 1995–96 season, McCarthy became the prime candidate for the vacant

manager's job, after the resignation of

Jack Charlton John Charlton (8 May 193510 July 2020) was an English footballer and manager who played as a defender. He was part of the England national team that won the 1966 World Cup and managed the Republic of Ireland national team from 1986 to 199 ...

. After a protracted period of speculation, McCarthy was officially appointed on 5 February 1996, two days after his resignation at the club. Despite sitting a comfortable 14 points clear from the relegation zone at the time of his departure, Millwall would go on to suffer the drop (by virtue of goals scored) after McCarthy's departure. His loan signings of the underachieving

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

n internationals Sergei Yuran and Vassili Kulkov from Spartak Moscow, who each received a £150,000 signing-on fee and were being paid five times the wage of the rest of the first team, would later be cited as one of the main reasons Millwall were eventually relegated under Jimmy Nicholl, although it cannot be proven.Bethel, Chris; ''Millwall Football Club 1940–2001'' Tempus Publishing Ltd, 2001, p.122;

Republic of Ireland

In February 1996, McCarthy became the new manager of the Republic of Ireland football team following the resignation of

. His first game in charge was a friendly international against

on 27 March which finished in a 0–2 defeat. After two narrow failures to qualify for the

1998 World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

and

Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

, McCarthy took the nation to the

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea an ...

held in South Korea and Japan after a 2–1

play-off The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

aggregate win against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. Before the tournament, McCarthy was involved in a very public and bitter spat with star player

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 durin ...

, who was sent home the day before it began. The conflict occurred after Keane had questioned the quality of the preparations and facilities the team were using. Despite this furore, McCarthy's team reached the second round but were eliminated by

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

in a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

(after having already missed and scored a penalty in normal time). In spite of this, the Keane issue remained, with the proportion of blame undecided. Many in Ireland sided with Keane – particularly following a televised interview in which details of poor preparation were revealed – and demanded McCarthy's resignation both during and after the tournament. An independent inquiry into the organisation's handling of the squad's preparation later commissioned by the Football Association of Ireland created a damning report, leading to general secretary Brendan Menton tendering his resignation. Criticism of McCarthy in the media became increasingly intense after a poor start to Ireland's qualifying campaign for

Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. The ...

. In particular, his persistence with several players and tactics that some perceived to be inadequate did him damage, as did a 4–2 away defeat to

and a 2–1 home defeat to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. Under mounting pressure, McCarthy resigned from the post on 5 November 2002. During his 68 games in charge, the Republic of Ireland won 29, drew 20 and lost 19.

Sunderland

On 12 March 2003, McCarthy was appointed manager of struggling

as an immediate replacement for Howard Wilkinson, who was sacked after six successive Premiership defeats left the club facing near-certain relegation. The following season, after relegation, he took Sunderland to the First Division promotion play-offs, but lost in a penalty shoot-out to

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

after Palace had scored a stoppage-time equaliser. McCarthy completed the turnaround of the club in the 2004–05 season. The Black Cats returned to the Premier League as Football League Championship champions, amassing 94 points. After a poor season and with the club 16 points from safety with only 10 games remaining, he was dismissed on 6 March 2006.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 21 July 2006, McCarthy was appointed manager at Championship side

, replacing

Glenn Hoddle Glenn Hoddle (born 27 October 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He currently works as a television pundit and commentator for ITV Sport and BT Sport. He played as a midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, Monaco, Chelsea an ...

who had resigned a fortnight earlier. He signed a 12-month rolling contract The team managed to make the promotion play-offs in his first season, where they lost out to local rivals

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 pl ...

over two legs, losing 3–2 at Molineux and 1–0 at

The Hawthorns The Hawthorns is an all-seater football stadium in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England, with a capacity of 26,688. It has been the home of Championship club West Bromwich Albion since 1900, when it became the sixth ground to be used by the cl ...

. In the 2007–08 season he took the club to within a single placing of a successive play-off finish, ending seventh, losing the coveted sixth place to

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

by a goal difference of only one. The campaign had also seen him linked with the international positions of

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 ...

and his previous post as Republic of Ireland manager. The 2008–09 season started well for McCarthy as he won the August Championship Manager of the Month Award, after seeing his side reach the top of the table, eventually going on to match Wolves' record start to a season (equaling the 1949–50 season). Wolves maintained their position at the top of the table over the following months, and McCarthy again won the Manager of the Month Award for November. After maintaining top spot since October, McCarthy's Wolves secured promotion to the Premier League by beating

QPR Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football, football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home ...

1–0 on 18 April 2009. The following week McCarthy clinched his second Championship as a manager after a 1–1 draw at his hometown club

. He won the Championship Manager of the Season Award at the conclusion of the campaign, his side having led the table for 42 of 46 games. The following season, McCarthy kept Wolves in the Premier League, his first success at this level in three attempts. The club assured safety with two games to spare, eventually finishing 15th, their best league finish since 1979–80, and their first ever survival in the modern Premier League. However, in the process of keeping the team in the top division, Wolves and McCarthy were fined £25,000 for fielding a weakened team for a fixture at

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

and thus breaking the Premier League rule E20. The Premier League also stated that the club had failed to fulfil its obligations to the league and other clubs in the utmost good faith and was therefore in breach of Rule B13. The team spent the majority of the 2010–11 campaign mired in the relegation zone, yet managed to defeat the likes of

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

and

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. A final day loss to Blackburn put them in danger of relegation, but results elsewhere meant they narrowly survived in 17th place, one point ahead of relegated

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

and

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and is ...

. This gave McCarthy the distinction of being the first Wolves manager in thirty years to maintain the club's top flight position for two successive seasons. The 2011–12 season began well for McCarthy and, after three games, his team topped the Premier League with 7 points. However, results tailed off and by January they had once again entered the relegation zone after nine games without victory. That same season Wolves sold £15 million worth of players and with the board allowing McCarthy to spend just £12 million it seemed inevitable when McCarthy was sacked as Wolves manager on 13 February 2012 after a run of poor results, culminating in a 5–1 home defeat to local rivals

Ipswich Town

On 1 November 2012, McCarthy was appointed manager at

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

side

on a two and a half-year contract. McCarthy's appointment came in the wake of

Paul Jewell Paul Jewell (born 28 September 1964) is an English football manager and former player, who was most recently director of football at Swindon Town. Jewell began his playing career with Liverpool, continued at Wigan Athletic and concluded in a ...

's departure by mutual consent. McCarthy won his first match in charge as Ipswich manager on 3 November 2012, away at Birmingham, 0–1. This broke a 12 match winless run in the league, 13 matches in all competitions. McCarthy guided Ipswich past Burnley on 10 November – the first home win since March after a late DJ Campbell winner. The match ended 2–1. With a win against Nottingham Forest in late November, his sixth game in charge, McCarthy had successfully guided Ipswich out of the relegation zone. McCarthy's Ipswich stopped Millwall's 13-match unbeaten run with a 3–0 home win on 8 December. On 2 February 2013, McCarthy's assistant

Terry Connor Terence Fitzroy Connor (born 9 November 1962) is an English former professional football player turned coach who is assistant manager at Blackpool. He was born in Leeds and was a pupil at Foxwood School, Seacroft, Leeds. As a player, Connor sc ...

took charge of a 4–0 rout of

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the ...

while McCarthy was ill. McCarthy then guided Ipswich to safety, finally finishing in 14th place. Prior to the 2013–14 season, McCarthy had signed 10 new players. McCarthy's first full season in charge of Ipswich ended with the club finishing in 9th place. On 30 June 2014, McCarthy and Terry Connor agreed a new three-year deal with Ipswich. The following season he led the club to their first appearance in the Championship playoffs in ten years with a sixth-placed finish, before losing out to rivals

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

in the semi-finals. During the 2015–16 season McCarthy and assistant Terry Connor renewed their contracts for a further two seasons, with the option to extend until 2020. McCarthy led Ipswich to a 7th-place finish in his third full season at Portman Road. McCarthy's fourth full season in charge ended in a 16th-place finish. On 29 March 2018, Ipswich Town announced that McCarthy would be leaving the club at the end of the 2017–18 season on the expiry of his contract, along with assistant manager Terry Connor, after talks with owner Marcus Evans. His final season with the club was marred by a fractured relationship between him and the club's supporters, with many supporters voicing their dissatisfaction with McCarthy's defensive style of play and McCarthy branding them as "numbskulls". He left the club earlier than expected on 10 April 2018, shortly after a 1–0 home win over Barnsley.

Return to the Republic of Ireland

On 25 November 2018, McCarthy was appointed manager of

for the second time in his career, replacing

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 play ...

Robbie Keane Robert David Keane (born 8 July 1980) is an Irish professional football coach and former player who played as a striker. Keane served as captain of the Republic of Ireland from March 2006 until his international retirement in August 2016. Keane ...

, a legend for the national team, was appointed as one of McCarthy's assistant coaches, alongside

, who had previously assisted McCarthy at both

and

. In March 2019, McCarthy won his first two games in charge, by defeating both

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = "Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gibr ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, in the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifiers in Group D, by 1–0. In June 2019, the national team drew 1–1 away to

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

, before defeating Gibraltar once again, this time by 2–0, at the

Aviva Stadium Aviva Stadium (also known as Lansdowne Road) is a sports stadium located in Dublin, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,700 spectators (all seated). It is built on the site of the former Lansdowne Road Stadium, which was demolished in 2007, and ...

; four days later, McCarthy guided them to the top the Group D table, having taken ten points after four games. On 5 September 2019, McCarthy's side once again came from behind to draw 1–1 with

, which enabled them to remain at the top of their qualifying group, with three matches to play remaining. However, a disappointing 0-0 draw in

, followed by defeat in Switzerland, left Ireland needing a win at home to Denmark to secure a top two spot. A 1-1 draw saw the Irish needing to win the play-offs to qualify. On 4 April 2020, amid the global

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...

, McCarthy stood down as manager and was immediately replaced by Stephen Kenny, who had been in charge of the nation's under-21s, for the play-offs.

APOEL

McCarthy joined

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

club

as manager on 2 November 2020; he signed a contract until 2022. He was sacked by the club on 5 January 2021 following a run of 2 wins, 1 draw and 5 defeats in his 8 games in charge.

Cardiff City

On 22 January 2021, McCarthy was appointed as manager of

, following the sacking of Neil Harris. He signed a contract until the end of the season. His reign started with games against two of his former teams from his playing-days; Barnsley and Millwall – both of which ended as draws. His first win as Cardiff manager came in the following game, a 2–0 win against

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

. After making an unbeaten start to his reign at the club, a run that included a 6-game winning streak, McCarthy signed a new two-year deal with the club on 4 March 2021. Cardiff finished the season in 8th place. Despite losing just one of their opening 6 matches at the start of the following season, a very poor run of results followed which saw Cardiff drop as low as 21st in the table. On 23 October 2021, after suffering a club record eighth successive loss of the season at the hands of

, McCarthy left the club by mutual consent.

Career statistics

Club

International

:Source:

Managerial

Honours

Player

Barnsley *

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

promoted: 1978–79 *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the ...

runner-up: 1980–81 Manchester City *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third t ...

promoted: 1984–85 *

Full Members' Cup The Full Members' Cup was an association football cup competition held in English football from 1985 to 1992. It was also known under its sponsored names of the Simod Cup from 1987 to 1989 and the Zenith Data Systems Cup from 1989 to 1992. Th ...

runner-up: 1985–86 Celtic *

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Football League (SFL). It was abolished in 2013, when t ...

: 1987–88 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1987–88, 1988–89 Individual *

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 Premi ...

: 1977–78 Fourth Division, 1978–79 Fourth Division, 1980–81 Third Division, 1981–82 Second Division, 1982–83 Second Division, 1983–84 Second Division, 1984–85 Second Division *

Player of the Year: 1977–78, 1978–79, 1980–81 *

Player of the Year: 1983–84

Manager

Sunderland *

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

: 2004–05 Wolverhampton Wanderers *Football League Championship: 2008–09 Individual * Philips Sports Manager of the Year: 2001 *

RTÉ Sports Person of the Year The RTÉ Sports Person of the Year Award is the titular award of the RTÉ Sport, RTÉ Sports Awards ceremony, which takes place each December. The winner is the Irish sportsperson (from the island of Ireland) judged to have ach ...

: 2001 *

Football League Championship Manager of the Month The EFL Championship Manager of the Month is an association football award that recognises the manager adjudged best for each month of the season in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The recipient is chosen by a pan ...

: March 2005, August 2008, November 2008, September 2014, November 2015, February 2021 * LMA Championship Manager of the Year: 2004–05, 2008–09 * LMA Hall of Fame: Inducted 2021

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCarthy, Mick 1959 births Living people English people of Irish descent Footballers from Barnsley English footballers Republic of Ireland association footballers Association football defenders Barnsley F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Celtic F.C. players Olympique Lyonnais players Millwall F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Football League players Ligue 1 players Republic of Ireland under-23 international footballers Republic of Ireland international footballers UEFA Euro 1988 players 1990 FIFA World Cup players Outfield association footballers who played in goal English expatriate footballers Republic of Ireland expatriate association footballers English expatriate sportspeople in France Irish expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate footballers in France English football managers Republic of Ireland football managers Millwall F.C. managers Republic of Ireland national football team managers Sunderland A.F.C. managers Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. managers Ipswich Town F.C. managers APOEL FC managers Cardiff City F.C. managers Premier League managers English Football League managers 2002 FIFA World Cup managers RTÉ Sports Person of the Year winners English association football commentators Irish association football commentators

Club career

Barnsley

Manchester City

Celtic

Lyon

Millwall

International career

Managerial career

Millwall

Republic of Ireland

Sunderland

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Ipswich Town

Return to the Republic of Ireland

APOEL

Cardiff City

Career statistics

Club

International

Managerial

Honours

Player

Manager

See also

References

External links