Gary O'Neil

Portsmouth

Whilst at Portsmouth, Tony Pulis gave O'Neil his first team debut as a 16-year-old on 29 January 2000 at home to Barnsley in the First Division, but then kept him out of the spotlight for the rest of the season. The following year both Pulis and his successor Steve Claridge used O'Neil sparingly, but Portsmouth's third manager of a disastrous season, Graham Rix, made O'Neil a starter for the final five matches of the season. Portsmouth went into the final game against Barnsley needing to win to have any chance of avoiding relegation to the Second Division. Portsmouth won the match 3–0 and survived, with O'Neil scoring the second goal, his first in professional football. In the 2001–02 season, O'Neil scored a volley against his boyhood club Millwall. Harry Redknapp then took over as manager at the end of the season, O'Neil was one of the few players to be retained in Redknapp's rebuilding of the squad. In Redknapp's first full season, O'Neil started 11 league matches, scoring three goals, as Portsmouth won the First Division title and promotion to the Premier League. O'Neil was loaned to Walsall at the beginning of the 2003–04 season in order to gain further first team experience. His performances for the Midlands side and Portsmouth's increasing injury problems led to a recall in November 2003. He went straight into the starting eleven for his Premier League debut against bottom of the table Leeds United at Fratton Park and scored two goals in a 6–1 win.…

O'Neil earned caps for England at U19, U20 & U21 youth level, and captained England at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship. He made nine appearances for the England under-21 team.

Early career

In August 2020, O'Neil was appointed as assistant manager to Barry Lewtas for Liverpool's under-23 squad. Following the appointment of Jonathan Woodgate as manager of Championship club Bournemouth until the end of the 2020–21 season, O'Neil joined Bournemouth as senior first team coach on 23 February 2021. He remained at the club following Woodgate's departure at the end of the season, and was a part of the coaching staff that got the club promoted to the Premier League under new manager Scott Parker in the 2021–22 EFL Championship season.

Bournemouth

On 30 August 2022, O'Neil was placed in caretaker charge by Bournemouth following Parker's dismissal. O’Neil’s first game in charge was a 0–0 draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers, before picking up his first victory in the club's following match, a 3–2 victory against Nottingham Forest on 3 September. They remained unbeaten for a further 4 games, including a 2–1 victory against Leicester on 8 October, while O'Neil garnered a nomination for Premier League Manager of the Month for the team's performances in September. He remained in caretaker charge until the season paused for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, adding another Premier League victory against Everton on 12 November during that stretch. On 27 November, having picked up 13 points from a possible 33, O'Neil was appointed as Bournemouth's permanent head coach, signing an initial 18-month contract. In the eight games immediately following O'Neil's…

O'Neil was born in Beckenham, London and grew up in Downham. He married Donna Guerin in 2006. As of March 2023, they have two daughters and a son. Their son has acted on the television series Grantchester and in 2023, joined AFC Wimbledon's academy aged 9.