It is hardly surprising that the majority of success in the SSE Airtricity League has been achieved by Irish managers. From Liam Buckley to Pat Fenlon and Stephen Kenny, the managers with the most winners' medals have tended to carry Irish passports.
It is hardly surprising that the majority of success in the SSE Airtricity League has been achieved by Irish managers. From Liam Buckley to Pat Fenlon and Stephen Kenny, the managers with the most winners' medals have tended to carry Irish passports.
However, there have been some notable managerial imports over the years. And in light of Limerick's appointment of Neil MacDonald, we decided to take a closer look at the Englishmen who have come across the Irish Sea to lead our clubs.
One of the most notable names on the list is Sam Allardyce, who began his managerial career on the island. ‘Big Sam’ acted as player/manager for Limerick, guiding the Super Blues to promotion in the early 90’s. While his career here was short, his ventures in English football have gained him a sterling reputation with promotion clinched with three different clubs.
You have to go far back to remember David Jack, who was a prolific goal scorer in the early 1900’s. He scored 267 career goals for Arsenal, Plymouth Argyle and Bolton Wanderers respectively. The first ever five-figure paid footballer, Bolton-born Jack landed here to lead Shelbourne from 1953-55.
Another former Arsenal player, Dave Bacuzzi, made quite a name for himself in the Rebel City as he guided Cork Hibernians to League success in 1971 and then to FAI Cup glory in both 1972 and 1973. And that is not forgetting the other silverware collected with the League of Ireland Shield, Munster Senior Cup, Dublin City Cup and Blaxnit Cup. He also won the FAI Cup as Home Farm boss.
More recently however was Ian Baraclough, who took charge at Sligo Rovers in February 2012. The former Scunthorpe United boss was hugely popular as he led Sligo to League success in 2012, an FAI Cup triumph in 2013, and Setanta Sports Cup superiority in 2014.
Before him, there was Paul Cook, who had a five-year stint in charge of Sligo, and also enjoyed happy times with one League of Ireland Cup and two FAI Cups - both of which were decided by penalty shoot-outs.
The Bit O'Red have actually a strong history of recruiting English managers as Alan Fletcher, Dick Groves, Ken Turner, Steve Cotterill, Jimmy Mullen, Nicky Reid, Rob McDonald, John Coleman, Micky Adams and Dave Robertson are amongst those to have been in charge.
A number of English managers have had stints at more than one League club, such as the aforementioned Bacuzzi but also Ian Foster (Galway United and Dundalk) and Eddie May (Drogheda United and Dundalk), while others had short spells, like Brian Laws at Shamrock Rovers. But, largely, English managers have fared well in this League.
Colm Phelan
