Steve Lomas

Stephen Martin Lomas (born 18 January 1974) is a Northern Irish football manager and former professional footballer.

As a player, Lomas was a midfielder from 1991 to 2010. He had spells in the Premier League for both Manchester City and West Ham United before moving into the The Football League, Football League with Queens Park Rangers F.C., Queens Park Rangers and Gillingham F.C., Gillingham. In 2009, he became player-manager of Non-league side St Neots Town F.C., St Neots Town. Lomas was capped 45 times by Northern Ireland national football team, Northern Ireland, scoring 3 goals.

Lomas was appointed manager of Scottish Premier League club St Johnstone F.C., St Johnstone in 2011. He guided them to UEFA Europa League qualification places in 2011–12 and 2012–13. He moved to Championship club Millwall F.C., Millwall in June 2013.

Club career

Lomas, a midfielder, first made his name with Manchester City after joining them in 1991. He soon broke into the first team but will often be remembered at the club for his misfortune of scoring an own goal on the last day of the 1995–96 in English football, 1995–96 season, which meant that City could only manage a 2–2 draw at home to Liverpool F.C., Liverpool and were relegated from the Premier League on goal difference.

He then moved to West Ham United in 1997 for a fee of £2.5 million. He made his West Ham debut on 9 April 1997 in a 0–0 draw with Middlesbrough F.C., Middlesbrough; his first goal coming on 3 December 1997 in a 4–1 defeat of Crystal Palace F.C., Crystal Palace.
He made 227 competitive appearances, scoring 13 goals, became Captain (association football), club captain and was a member of the West Ham team which won the UEFA Intertoto Cup, Intertoto Cup in 1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup, 1999.

On 31 August 2005, he was released on a free transfer and joined Queens Park Rangers F.C., Queens Park Rangers. Whilst at QPR he was named captain on occasions and his experience helped Rangers move away from the relegation zone.

He left QPR in May 2007, and joined Gillingham F.C., Gillingham on 31 July 2007. On 9 January 2008, Gillingham manager Mark Stimson revealed that Lomas had been placed on the transfer list. On 31 January it was announced that Lomas had been released from his contract.

International career

Lomas was born in Hanover, West Germany, his father was a soldier stationed there. As a child he briefly lived in Hong Kong, before moving to Coleraine, Northern Ireland at the age of two.
He earned 46 Cap (sport), caps for the Northern Ireland national football team, Northern Ireland national team, scoring three goals.

Managerial career

After leaving Gillingham, Lomas took up a coaching role at Norwich City F.C., Norwich City before managing St Neots Town F.C., St Neots Town. from 23 March 2009, until July 2010, leading the club to their most successful season for 40 years. He left the club briefly in January 2010, following the departure of chairman John Delaney, but returned after Delaney had been reinstated as Chairman. Lomas resigned from St Neots in July 2010 to pursue his ambition to manage at a league club. At the end of February 2011 he accepted the position of reserve team manager at West Ham United.

St Johnstone

In November 2011, Lomas signed a -year deal to manage Scottish Premier League side St Johnstone F.C., St Johnstone following the departure of Derek McInnes to English Football League Championship, Championship team Bristol City F.C., Bristol City. Shortly after signing the deal to become first team manager he was joined by former Northern Ireland national football team, Northern Ireland goalkeeper and Lisburn Distillery F.C., Lisburn Distillery manager Tommy Wright (Northern Ireland footballer), Tommy Wright who had agreed to join the club as an assistant to Lomas. In his first season as manager of St Johnstone, Lomas took the club to a top 6 finish for the first time since 1999.

After Hearts won the Scottish Cup, St Johnstone also qualified for the Europa League, entering the competition in the second qualifying round. Initially there was confusion about who their opponents would be, because of an appeal to CAS by Turkish club, Besiktas, who had been banned from this season's European competition by UEFA. Turkish club, Eskisehirspor were, however, confirmed as opponents of St Johnstone with the first leg to be played in Turkey on 19 July and the second leg at home at McDiarmid Park, Perth on 26 July 2012.

Despite a slow start to the 2012–13 season after many changes to the squad – 12 players were out of contract during the summer – St Johnstone had an excellent September, drawing with Dundee United F.C., Dundee United and winning the next four matches, the first against Celtic F.C., Celtic, ending Ross County F.C., Ross County's 40 game unbeaten run and beating rivals Dundee F.C., Dundee, as well as reaching the quarter finals of the Scottish League Cup. On 4 October 2012, Lomas was named SPL Manager of the month, the first time a St Johnstone manager had won the award. On beating the Manager of the Month "curse" in October to record 5th and 6th straight wins against St Mirren and Kilmarnock, Steve Lomas achieved the best run of results at St Johnstone since 1971, reaching second place in the SPL table behind Celtic.

In October 2012, Lomas' name began to be linked with vacant manager's positions in English clubs; first at Bournemouth, then Burnley, Fleetwood, Doncaster Rovers and Coventry City.

Lomas achieved a second successive top six SPL finish with a game to spare, and in the last game of the season on 19 May 2013, in his first full season in charge, a 2–0 victory over Motherwell gave St Johnstone 3rd place in the SPL and UEFA Europa League, Europa League qualification.

Millwall

On 5 June 2013, Millwall F.C., Millwall made an official approach to speak with Lomas about the vacant managerial position. His appointment as manager was announced on 6 June. Lomas was sacked on 26 December 2013 after the ten men of Millwall lost to Watford F.C., Watford. Lomas' tenure at Millwall had been up and down. He had won six of 24 games as manager of Millwall but these included wins against higher placed teams such as Blackpool, Leeds and Wigan and he was nominated for the September SkyBet Championship Manager of the Month award after winning three games in a row. Lomas had also drawn six including QPR, Burnley, Reading and Nottingham Forest. Inheriting a team which finished one point above the relegation places on the last day of the 2012–13 season, however, Lomas was unable to achieve a dramatic turnaround in performance and left with the club one place above that in 20th position and four points above the relegation places.

Personal life

He is a nephew of the former Manchester United F.C., Manchester United and Northern Ireland goalkeeper Harry Gregg.

Honours

West Ham United
* UEFA Intertoto Cup: 1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup, 1999

Managerial statistics

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References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lomas, Steve
1974 births
Living people
Footballers from Hanover
Association football midfielders
Association footballers from Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland international footballers
Manchester City F.C. players
West Ham United F.C. players
Queens Park Rangers F.C. players
Premier League players
English Football League players
Gillingham F.C. players
St Neots Town F.C. players
British association football commentators
West Ham United F.C. non-playing staff
St Johnstone F.C. managers
Scottish Premier League managers
Millwall F.C. managers
English Football League managers
Football managers from Northern Ireland
Expatriate sportspeople from Northern Ireland in Germany
German expatriate sportspeople in England
German people of Northern Ireland descent
People from Coleraine, County Londonderry
Association football coaches
Sportspeople from County Londonderry