Frank "Sniffer" O'Neill (1953 – 14 April 2024) was an Irish

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 lea ...

who played for several clubs, most notably Cork Celtic and

Cobh Ramblers Cobh Ramblers Football Club (CRFC) is an Irish football club. The club, founded in 1922 and elected to the League of Ireland in 1985, hails from Cobh, County Cork and play their home matches at St. Colman's Park. The club's colours are clare ...

Career

O'Neill began his football career with local side Springfield. 1972 proved to be a very successful year for the 19-year-old O'Neill. He was selected for the Cork AUL Youths squad that represented the Republic of Ireland in an international tournament in

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

, won a Munster Senior League title with

before signing for Cork Celtic. O'Neill was the club's leading scorer with 12 goals when Celtic won the 1973–74 League of Ireland. O'Neill returned to Cobh Ramblers shortly after the league title success, however, he was coaxed back to Cork Celtic for the 1975–76 league before returning to Cobh Ramblers for good. He averaged 30 goals a season as Cobh Ramblers won six successive Munster Senior League titles from 1979–80 to 1984–85. O'Neill also won two

FAI Intermediate Cup The FAI Intermediate Cup (), also known as the FAI Umbro Intermediate Cup and the Pat O'Brien Intermediate Challenge Cup, is a cup competition organized by the Football Association of Ireland for intermediate association football clubs from the ...

titles during this period. When his playing career ended, O'Neill became involved in administration and refereeing affairs. He returned to Cobh Ramblers as assistant manager to George Mellerick in 1993.

Death

O'Neill died after a period of ill health in

Cobh Cobh ( ,), known from 1849 until 1920 as Queenstown, is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. With a population of 14,148 inhabitants at the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, Cobh is on the south si ...

, on 14 April 2024, at the age of 70.

Honours

Cork Celtic *

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

: 1973–74

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:ONeill, Frank 1953 births 2024 deaths Sportspeople from Cobh Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association football forwards Cobh Ramblers F.C. players Cork Celtic F.C. players 20th-century Irish sportsmen