Sean Michael O'Driscoll (born 1 July 1957) is a former professional footballer and manager. He has previously managed

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

and

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

. He was known by the nickname "Noisy" in his playing days at

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

. He represented the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

as a player.

Playing career

As a player, O'Driscoll was a midfielder for

(1979–84) and

(1984–95). He also won three

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 Java ...

for the

. He played as Bournemouth won the inaugural

Associate Members' Cup The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier League ...

by beating

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

. When he retired in 1995, he had played a club-record 423 league games for Bournemouth (his record has since been broken by

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

and

Steve Fletcher Steven Mark Fletcher (born 26 July 1972) is an English retired footballer who played as a forward for AFC Bournemouth, where he holds the club record for appearances and is currently an assistant manager for the Premier League side. Fletcher b ...

), and subsequently joined the club's coaching staff.

Management career

AFC Bournemouth

In August 2000, he was appointed manager at Bournemouth, and despite limited financial resources, achieved good results, including promotion via the Third Division play-offs in the 2002–03 season.

Doncaster Rovers

O'Driscoll left Bournemouth in September 2006 to become manager of

during the season the club moved from Belle Vue to

Keepmoat Keepmoat Homes Ltd is a home construction, housebuilding company in the United Kingdom that provides private homes for sale. Its headquarters are in Doncaster. History The company was founded in Rotherham by George Bramall and Dick Ogden as ' ...

. Notable events early in his career with Doncaster include a 4–0 victory away at

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

, winning the manager of the month award for January 2007, and also overseeing Rovers' 3–2 success over

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

final in 2007. This success meant that O'Driscoll had achieved the rare feat of managing two different teams to victory at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium (), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium () for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it has a retractable roof and is the home of the Wales national rugby union team; it has ...

. In O'Driscoll's first full season in charge, 2007–08, he steered Doncaster to promotion into the

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 sys ...

after a 1–0 victory over

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

in the League One play-off final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

. The following season, 2008–09, saw his side meet his demands of not being relegated back down again. They ended up 14th, comfortably clear of relegation. For the following season and a half, O'Driscoll turned Doncaster into a comfortable mid-table team on one of the tightest budgets in the Championship. However, a plethora of injuries in the second half of the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season (which at one point even saw the club request to postpone a match with

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

because they were struggling to field a first 11.) saw Doncaster go on a dreadful run of form winning just one of their final 19 matches of the season, though they still survived due to their good form over the first half of the season. O'Driscoll could not inspire a comeback during the start of the following season and on 23 September 2011 with Doncaster taking just a single point from their first seven games, it was confirmed that O'Driscoll, along with his assistant Richard O'Kelly, had been relieved of their duties by Doncaster Rovers. He became

coach under Steve Cotterill in the 2011-2012 Championship season. He left the club to join Crawley as manager in the summer of 2012.

Crawley Town

O'Driscoll was appointed

manager in May 2012. In July 2012 he left the club without managing a competitive game to take over at

Nottingham Forest

On 19 July 2012 O'Driscoll was appointed as manager of Nottingham Forest by the club's owners, the Al Hasawi family. By 31 August 2012 he had signed 11 new players, including fan favourite

Adlène Guedioura Adlène Guedioura (; born 12 November 1985) is a former professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder. At club level, Guedioura had spells at CS Sedan Ardennes, Sedan, Olympique Noisy-le-Sec, Noisy-le-Sec, L'Entente S ...

. He also linked up once again with former Doncaster players Simon Gillett,

James Coppinger James Coppinger (born 18 January 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He began his career at Newcastle United, making one appearance in the Premier League, and later spent two years at Exeter ...

and

Billy Sharp Billy Louis Sharp (born 5 February 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Doncaster Rovers. Sharp has played for Sheffield United, Rushden & Diamonds, Scunthorpe United, Southampton, Nottingham Forest, Re ...

. After just five months in charge of the club, just hours after a 4–2 victory over

, O'Driscoll was sacked on 26 December 2012. He has left Nottingham Forest twice in one year after previously being the club's coach during the 2011–2012 season. Forest owner

Fawaz Al-Hasawi Fawaz Mubarak Al-Hasawi (born 25 October 1968) is a Kuwaiti businessman and was the owner and chairman of Nottingham Forest Football Club. Biography Qadsia SC Between 2010 and 2012, Fawaz was president of Qadsia SC, one of the largest sport ...

had received advice from the

board that a manager with

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

experience was needed to secure promotion, which lead Al-Hasawi to make the decision. He originally planned to sack O'Driscoll on

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A liturgical feast central to Christianity, Chri ...

, but Forest Chief Executive Mark Arthur refused to follow the order until the following day.

Bristol City

O'Driscoll was announced as

manager on a 12-month rolling contract on 14 January 2013. The club were bottom of the

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, i ...

at the time of his appointment. O'Driscoll's first match in charge of Bristol City came on 19 January 2013, a 1–0 defeat against

Elland Road Elland Road, or Elland Road Stadium, is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the List of foot ...

. He earned his first win as Bristol City manager on 26 January 2013, a 2–1 victory against

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

at Ashton Gate. This sparked an initial upturn in City's fortunes, with 5 wins and 2 draws from their next 10 games taking them on the verge of climbing out of the relegation zone. However the form was not sustained, with 7 defeats, 2 draws and no wins from their last 9 games seeing City relegated to

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

with 3 games to spare and finishing bottom of the table. The start of the 2013 season saw the club at the bottom of the division with 6 points from 6 draws, no wins and 5 losses. Bristol City parted company with O'Driscoll on 28 November.

England U19s

On 3 September 2014 the FA announced that Sean O'Driscoll would replace the outgoing

Noel Blake Noel Lloyd George Blake (born 12 January 1962) is a former professional footballer and current coach. He was formerly the head coach of the England national under-19 football team England national under-19 football team, also known as Englan ...

in the post of England U19 manager. On 6 July 2015 it was confirmed that Sean had negotiated his release from this role in order to take over as assistant manager at

Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founded in ...

Liverpool (assistant)

On 6 July 2015 it was announced by

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

that Sean O'Driscoll had been appointed assistant manager, replacing Colin Pascoe for the

2015–16 Premier League The 2015–16 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 24th season of the Premier League, the top English professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992, and the ...

season. Upon being appointed, O'Driscoll said he was excited to be joining one of the world's most iconic football clubs. He left the position in October 2015 after the sacking of

Brendan Rodgers Brendan Rodgers (born 26 January 1973) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who is manager of Scottish Premiership club Celtic. Rodgers began his career as a defender at Ballymena United, where he stayed until h ...

Walsall

On 18 December 2015, O'Driscoll was announced as head coach of

. O'Driscoll's first match in charge of Walsall ended in a 2–0 victory over

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

. On 6 March 2016, O'Driscoll was sacked by Walsall.

Wolves

On 10 July 2017, O'Driscoll was announced as a professional phase coach in

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

Academy.

Portsmouth

On 22 March 2019, O'Driscoll was appointed as head of coaching and learning for the

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

's academy. O'Driscoll formally resigned from this role on 29 September 2021.

Weymouth

On 14 December 2021, O'Driscoll joined the backroom team at

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

side Weymouth on a non-contract basis.

Honours

AFC Bournemouth *

Football League Third Division play-offs The EFL League Two play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from fourth to seventh in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are part of the annual Engli ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

Doncaster Rovers *

Football League One play-offs The EFL League One play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL League One table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , the play-offs comprise tw ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

: 2006–07 Individual * Football League One Manager of the Month: January 2007

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Odriscoll, Sean Footballers from Wolverhampton English men's footballers Republic of Ireland men's association footballers English football managers Republic of Ireland association football managers English people of Irish descent Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Fulham F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players AFC Bournemouth managers Doncaster Rovers F.C. managers 1957 births Living people Alvechurch F.C. players English Football League managers Crawley Town F.C. managers Nottingham Forest F.C. managers Bristol City F.C. managers Liverpool F.C. non-playing staff Walsall F.C. managers Oldham Athletic A.F.C. non-playing staff Willenhall Town F.C. players Men's association football midfielders Association football coaches English Football League players 20th-century Irish sportsmen