Wayne St John O'Sullivan (born 25 February 1974) is an Irish retired professional

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 ...

. Since retiring as a player he has worked as a coach. Born in Cyprus, O'Sullivan played youth football for

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

before making his professional debut with the club. In 2001, he moved to Australia, where he played in the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

and

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

, as well as one season in Singapore. O'Sullivan represented Republic of Ireland at youth level. O'Sullivan was former coach for Bonnyrigg White Eagles F.C. in National Premier League NSW 2 side, also for A-League caretaker coach for

Central Coast Mariners FC Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League, A-League Men, under Professional sports lea ...

and for W-League side

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from the Australi ...

. O'Sullivan is the current coach for

Barker College Barker College is an independent Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican Mixed-sex education, co-educational Pre-school education, early learning, primary and secondary Day school, day and Boarding school, boarding school, located in Hornsby, New ...

Playing career

Club

O'Sullivan was part of the regular first eleven for

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

. At the time Plymouth were placed low in the Nationwide Division 3 (now

Football League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English Football League (EFL ...

), he along with Paul McGregor and Martin Phillips were considered the most consistent players at the time. But in the summer of 2000 he headed to Australia to continue his playing career. Following the demise of the old

competition and the creation of the

, O'Sullivan signed with

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Mar ...

in late 2004 to play in the newly formed A-League. At the club, he was a favourite among fans for his tenacity and energy on the field. After an inconsistent 2006–07 season with The Mariners, during which he was often deployed as a right-back, instead of his preferred right-midfield position, the hard-working midfielder/defender was released. Although there is some controversy surrounding

Lawrie McKinna Lawrie McKinna (born 8 July 1961) is a Scottish-Australian politician and former soccer player and coach. He is currently serving as Mayor for the Central Coast Council and is serving for the East Gosford Ward, heaving led "Team Central Coast" ...

's decision to release O'Sullivan, it was believed by many in the Mariners camp that he was past his best and for the club to continue to grow in a developing league, his release was necessary.

International

O'Sullivan came on as a substitute for Republic of Ireland under-21 in a win over

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

1996 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification The 1996 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification began in 1994 and finished in early 1996. The final tournament was held in 1996 in Spain. The 44 national teams were divided into 8 groups (four groups of 5 + four groups of 6). The grou ...

on 10 October 1995. He made a total of two appearances for the side.

Management career

After being released by Central Coast Mariners, O'Sullivan had spent months trying to find a spot in another football team to continue his playing career, but was not successful. On Friday, 18 May 2007, O'Sullivan was named Assistant Coach for

club

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League Men, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the 2007–08 ...

on a two-year deal. He worked alongside

Ricki Herbert Ricki Lloyd Herbert (born 10 April 1961) is a New Zealand former footballer and manager. He is the current director of football at Hamilton Wanderers AFC. Herbert was formerly head coach of the New Zealand national team, stepping down after ...

Luciano Trani Luciano Trani (born 10 August 1966 in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian former soccer player who currently serves as the assistant manager of A-League Men club Brisbane Roar FC. Coaching career Trani began coaching at the Victorian Premier ...

and former

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 Foot ...

goalkeeper Jonathan Gould. On Thursday, 21 November 2013, O'Sullivan was named Assistant Coach for the

on a contract until the end of the 2014–15 A-League season, working alongside newly appointed coach

Phil Moss Phil Moss (born 5 October 1971) is an English-born Australian association football manager and former player who was most recently assistant coach of Sydney FC. Early life Moss was born in London, England to Jewish parents and arrived in Austr ...

. Following the immediate departure of Central Coast Mariner's Head Coach

Paul Okon Paul Michael Okon (born 5 April 1972) is a former Australian soccer player who played as a defender or midfielder. He previously captained the Australia national team and has represented Australia Olympic Football Team at the 1992 Summer ...

, O'Sullivan was named as the caretaker coach until the end of the 2017–18 A-League season. On Thursday, 16 My 2019, O'Sullivan was appointed as new coach for the remainder of the 2019

National Premier Leagues NSW 2 The Football NSW League is an Australian soccer league based in New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It b ...

season with the

Bonnyrigg White Eagles FC Bonnyrigg White Eagles FC is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in Bonnyrigg, Sydney, New South Wales, currently playing in the NSW League One. The club was founded in 1968 as Avala Sports Club and took its current name in 1992. ...

External links

Swindown Town FC

A-league Profile

Cardiff City FC

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osullivan, Wayne 1974 births Living people Republic of Ireland men's association footballers A-League Men players National Soccer League (Australia) players Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Cardiff City F.C. players Central Coast Mariners FC players Exeter City F.C. players North West Sydney Spirit FC players Parramatta Power SC players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Geylang International FC players Lake Macquarie City FC players Central Coast Mariners FC non-playing staff Expatriate men's footballers in Singapore Singapore Premier League players Men's association football midfielders Bonnyrigg White Eagles FC managers Republic of Ireland association football managers A-League Women managers Central Coast Mariners FC managers English Football League players