Michael O'Neill

O'Neill was brought in to Coleraine by former Northern Ireland internationals Bertie Peacock and Jim Platt, making his debut in the Irish League at the age of 15 and was a regular in the side by the age of 18. After playing against Dundee United in a UEFA Cup tie in 1987 O'Neill came close to joining the Scottish club. In October 1987 he was signed by Newcastle United for a £100,000 fee. After scoring 13 goals in 22 appearances during his first season and helping Newcastle finish eighth in the First Division, O'Neill suffered from injuries and loss of form in his second season which saw Newcastle relegated to the Second Division. O'Neill joined Dundee United in August 1989 for a club record fee of £350,000. A difficult relationship with manager Jim McLean came to a head in 1991 when O'Neill refused to extend his contract and was dropped from the first team. He left the club in 1993 joining Hibernian where he had three successful seasons under the management of Alex Miller. O'Neill agreed to join Austrian club Sturm Graz on a Bosman free transfer in 1996 but changed his mind after an offer to return to English football with Coventry City where he spent just over two years. After spending time on loan to Aberdeen and Reading during the 1997–98 season O'Neill left Coventry to sign for Wigan Athletic in September 1998. He later played for St Johnstone, Portland Timbers, Clydebank, Glentoran and Ayr United.

O'Neill played for the under-21, under-23, B and full international teams of Northern Ireland. He scored four goals for the national team, including two in a 5–3 win against Austria.

O'Neill retired from playing football in 2004 and began a career in financial services. A year later he took a part-time role as assistant manager at Cowdenbeath, working with Mixu Paatelainen.

Brechin City

O'Neill became manager of Scottish side Brechin City in April 2006. He won the Second Division Manager of the Month award in both December 2007 and October 2008. O'Neill was released by Brechin City to join Shamrock Rovers on 13 December 2008.

Shamrock Rovers

At the press conference when unveiled as Rovers manager, O'Neill cited Gordon Strachan as his main managerial influence. O'Neill was awarded the Irish Soccer Writers Manager of the Month award for July 2009 and eventually guided Shamrock Rovers to second place in the 2009 League of Ireland. In October 2010, he guided the club to win the 2010 League of Ireland title, their first league championship since 1994. O'Neill led Rovers to the 2011 Setanta Sports Cup and then made history by being the first manager of a League of Ireland team to reach the group stages of a European competition. Rovers defeated Partizan Belgrade in the play-off round of the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League. Shamrock Rovers retained their league title in the 2011 season. New contract talks between O'Neill and Shamrock Rovers stalled and he left the club in December 2011. O'Neill won the Soccer Writers Association Personality of the Year award for 2011.

Northern Ireland

O'Neill was appointed manager of Northern Ireland on…

Michael Andrew Martin O'Neill was born on 5 July 1969 in Portadown, County Armagh, to parents Dessie and Patricia O'Neill. His father, Dessie played hurling as a goalkeeper for All Saints, Antrim GAA, and Ulster whilst his brother Sean, was a track athlete who competed from Northern Ireland in the Men's 800 metres at the 1982 Commonwealth Games. Raised Catholic, he briefly attended Presentation Convent Primary School before the family moved to Ballymena, County Antrim. In Ballymena he attended All Saints Primary School and later St Louis Grammar School, where he won the Northern Ireland Schools FA Cup in 1980 against St Oliver Plunkett whose side included Jim Magilton. He was also a promising Gaelic Football player, representing Antrim GAA minors. He also played association football at youth level for Ballymena's Star United FC for four years before joining Chimney Corner as a 14-year-old. His manager Alec McKee did not think it was right to try to integrate a young teenager into his first team and thought he should play for Coleraine's reserve side.