Martin O'Neill

Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill was born on 1 March 1952 in Kilrea, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. He was the sixth child of nine siblings, and has four brothers and four sisters. O'Neill's father was a founding member of local GAA club Pádraig Pearse's Kilrea. His brothers Gerry and Leo played for the club as well as being on the Derry senior team which won the 1958 Ulster Championship and reached that year's final of the All-Ireland SFC. He played for both Kilrea and Derry at underage level as well. He also played Gaelic football while boarding at St Columb's College, Derry, and later at St Malachy's College, Belfast. While at St Malachy's, he first came to public attention as a football player with local side Rosario and then eventually with Distillery. This breached the Gaelic Athletic Association prohibition on Gaelic footballers playing "foreign sports". When St Malachy's reached the 1970 MacRory Cup final, the Antrim GAA County Board refused to allow the game to go ahead at Belfast's Casement Park. The colleges involved switched the venue to County Tyrone to enable him to play. St Malachy's won the game.

Early career

Before playing for Distillery in the Irish League, O'Neill played for the South Belfast side Rosario. While at Distillery, he won the Irish Cup in 1971, scoring twice in a 3–0 win over Derry City in the final. His second goal was particularly impressive, a mazy run in which he dribbled past three opponents before scoring with a powerful shot. As a result of winning the cup, Distillery qualified for Europe the following season. O'Neill scored against Barcelona in the European Cup Winners' Cup in a 3–1 home defeat in September 1971. During this period he was spotted by a scout for Nottingham Forest. He signed for the English club in October 1971, leaving Distillery and quitting his law degree studies at the University of Belfast.

Nottingham Forest

O'Neill went on to play an integral role in Forest's golden era. He scored on his league debut for the club, a 4–1 win over West Bromwich Albion on 13 November 1971. He went on to make a total of 17 league appearances that season, scoring twice, but could not prevent his side's relegation from the First Division in 1972. However, the appointment of Brian Clough as manager in January 1975 was the beginning of a revolution for Nottingham Forest. Under Clough's management, O'Neill helped Forest gain promotion to the top flight in 1977 and win the league title and League Cup a year later, which was followed by further League Cup success in 1979. That same year, he was dropped to the substitutes' bench for…

After his playing career, O'Neill worked at an insurance company before beginning a career in football management, initially at Grantham Town in 1987. This was followed by a brief spell at the helm of Shepshed Charterhouse.

Wycombe Wanderers

He became manager of Wycombe Wanderers in February 1990. In May of that year, he played in the Martin O'Neill XI side, along with George Best, in a friendly match that was to be the last ever match held at Loakes Park. In the 1990–91 season, he took Wycombe to fifth in the Football Conference. In the 1991–92 season, he led Wycombe to second place in the Conference, losing out to Colchester United only on goal difference. The following season, he took Wycombe into the Football League for the very first time. In the 1993–94 season, he guided Wycombe to a second successive promotion via the Division 3 play-offs as a 4–2 win over Preston North End took them up into Division 2. In the 1994–95 season, Wycombe narrowly missed out on the Division 2 play-offs and he left the club on 13 June 1995 to become manager at Norwich City. O'Neill also won the FA Trophy with Wycombe in 1991 and 1993. Under O'Neill, Wycombe also reached the Conference League Cup final twice, winning the trophy in 1991–92. The team also won three Conference Shield titles and the London Five-a-Sides in 1994 and 1995. Wycombe were also beaten finalists in both the Berks & Bucks Senior Cup and Drinkwise Cup.

Norwich City

O'Neill became manager of Norwich…

O'Neill first represented his country in an amateur international against Scotland at The Oval in February 1971. Then he made his senior debut in a UEFA Euro 1972 qualifying game against Soviet Union national football team on 13 October 1971. He was then a regular for Northern Ireland, captaining the side at the 1982 World Cup in Spain which reached the second group stage and defeated the host nation in Valencia. He played 64 times and scored eight goals for Northern Ireland between 1971 and 1984. He also won the British Home Championship twice as a player, in 1980 and 1984.