Seán Thomas (died 24 June 1999) was an Irish football manager.

Club management

After a short playing career with Home Farm and C.Y.M.S., a left back who had to give up playing because of an injury, he attended

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...

for periods from 1956–1959 to learn all the aspects of successful coaching. Thomas had short spells as coach at

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional association football, football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 and have been in ...

and Home Farm before moving to Shamrock Rovers in 1961 for Rovers' tour in the International Soccer League (1960-1965). In his 3 years at

Glenmalure Park Glenmalure Park, often simply known as Milltown, was a football stadium on the Southside of Dublin city in Ireland. Located in the suburb of Milltown, it was home to Shamrock Rovers from 1926 to 1987, when it was sold to property developer ...

, he picked up one

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 ...

title, 2

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...

s and 2 League of Ireland Shields. After the 2–2 draw with

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...

at the Estadio Mestalla in the

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, most commonly referred to as the Fairs Cup and sometimes as the European Fairs Cup or Fairs Cities' Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. The Fairs Cup was the idea of FIFA vice-presid ...

on 10 October 1963, Thomas commented "to say I am proud of the team is an understatement, I have never felt so proud of Shamrock Rovers as I have tonight. Their performance was the finest I have seen in my three years at the club". After a bust up with the Cunninghams (Rovers' owners) at the end of the 1963–64 season, he quit the Hoops. He was Bohs' first ever manager as before Thomas Bohs had only ever had coaches or trainers and a Selection Committee of five actually picked the side. It was a homecoming of sorts for Thomas as he grew up on the Phibsborough Road which backed on to

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park (Irish language, Irish: ''Páirc Chnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a Association football, football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., ...

and was an associate member of the club in his early years. Bohs had finished last the previous season and Thomas showed his credentials by managing the then still amateur Bohemians to a 3rd-place finish that season, just 5 points behind winners Drumcondra. This was a remarkable achievement considering the rest of the league was professional and Thomas was awarded Irish Soccer Writers' Personality of the Year. The following season, Bohs once again finished 3rd in the league and this time, won the Leinster Senior Cup and

Presidents Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world except Europe as that continent competes against the United States in a similar but ...

. The performances of his young players were noticed however and 8 of the amateur team left at the end of the season for the professional ranks; Turlough O'Connor and Jimmy Conway for

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 ...

and Larry Gilmore and Kevin Murray for

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

. He signed a three-year contract in April 1966. The predicted collapse never happened and the "Gypsies" went one better and finished runners-up in the 1966–67 season. Thomas's abilities did not go unnoticed and Boston Shamrocks enticed him across the Atlantic for the newly proposed American League. This move turned sour though as Boston failed to gain a place in the elite league and within a year, Thomas had returned to

. After the heroics of the previous seasons, Bohs finished rock bottom of the league without Thomas and were in dire straits financially. 1968/69 brought little joy on the field but off it, an historic EGM of Bohemian members in February 1969 saw the club's constitution changed to allow payment to players.

Tony O'Connell Anthony O'Connell (born 12 February 1941) is an Irish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Career Shamrock Rovers O'Connell first came to ...

, Dinny Lowry and Johnny Fullam were soon signed and in 1970 Bohs won their first major trophy for 34 years when beating

in the

Final. This success meant Bohs would enter European competition for the first time. During this time Thomas spotted

Liam Neeson William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Liam Neeson, several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, BAFT ...

and he appeared as a substitute against Shamrock Rovers in a trial game. Bohs finished fourth, third and third again in the next 3 seasons under Thomas's guidance with the young talents of Mick Martin and

Gerry Daly Gerard Anthony Daly (born 30 April 1954) is an Irish former footballer who played in the Football League for Manchester United, Derby County, Coventry City, Leicester City, Birmingham City, Shrewsbury Town, Stoke City, Doncaster Rovers as ...

flourishing. In July 1973, Thomas resigned as manager of Bohemians. He would not be out of the game for long however and later had spells back at Shamrock Rovers, where he won the League Cup in 1976. This triumph was Rovers' first trophy in seven years and it was the 7th different competition Thomas had won with the club. He also managed Athlone Town and Bray Wanderers.

International management

Sean Thomas had previously managed a League of Ireland XI when they defeated their English counterparts 2–1 at Dalymount Park in 1963. He also managed the Under 23 Republic of Ireland side on three separate occasions - all 0–0 draws with France. Thomas took over as manager of the

Republic of Ireland national football team The Republic of Ireland Men's national football team () represents the Republic of Ireland in men's international Association football, football. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI). The team made their debut at the Ir ...

in June 1973 after the resignation of Liam Tuohy. His reign as manager lasted for only one game in June 1973. The game was an international friendly versus Norway at

Ullevaal Stadion Ullevaal Stadion () is an all-seater football stadium located in Oslo, Norway. It is the home ground of the Norway national football team, and the site of the Norwegian Cup Final. From its opening in 1926 to 2009 it was the home ground of ...

and it ended in a 1–1 score draw. Thomas was replaced in October 1973 when

Johnny Giles Michael John Giles (born 6 November 1940) is an Irish former association football player and manager best remembered for his time as a midfielder with Leeds United in the 1960s and 1970s. After retiring from management in 1985, Giles served as ...

was appointed as the full-time manager.''Gifted in Green'', Adam Ward, 1999. PB) p.74

Honours as manager

Team

: 1 :: * Shamrock Rovers - 1963-64 Flag of Ireland

: 3 :: * Shamrock Rovers - 1962, 1964 * Bohemians - 1970 Flag of Ireland

League of Ireland Cup The League of Ireland Cup, also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', was an annual knockout competition in men's football in Ireland. It was contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited clubs from the lower levels of the Irish footb ...

: 1 :: * Shamrock Rovers - 1976 Flag of Ireland

League of Ireland Shield: 2 :: * Shamrock Rovers - 1962–63, 1963–64 * Top Four Cup: 1 * Bohemians - 1972 * Dublin City Cup: 1 * Shamrock Rovers - 1963-64 * Leinster Senior Cup: 1 * Shamrock Rovers - 1963-64 * LFA President's Cup: 1 * Shamrock Rovers - 1963-64

Personal

* SWAI Personality of the Year: 1965 * Bohemians - 1964/65 * PFAI Merit Award: 1992 * 1992

References

* ''Gaffers: 50 Years of Irish Football Managers'' by Trevor Keane *Shamrock Rovers programme 21/09/97. {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Sean Republic of Ireland association football managers Republic of Ireland national football team managers League of Ireland managers Sligo Rovers F.C. managers Shamrock Rovers F.C. managers Bohemian F.C. managers Home Farm F.C. managers Athlone Town A.F.C. managers Republic of Ireland men's association footballers 1999 deaths Year of birth missing Home Farm F.C. players Men's association football defenders