Sean O'Driscoll

Sean Michael O'Driscoll (born 1 July 1957) is a former professional footballer and manager. He has previously managed Bournemouth, Doncaster Rovers, Crawley Town, Nottingham Forest, Bristol City F.C. and Walsall. He was known by the nickname "Noisy" in his playing days at Fulham.[3][4] He represented the Republic of Ireland as a player.

Sean O'Driscoll
Sean O'Driscoll watching AFC Wulfrunians in July 2014
Personal information
Full name Sean Michael O'Driscoll[1]
Date of birth (1957-07-01) 1 July 1957[1]
Place of birth Wolverhampton, England[1]
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[2]
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Portsmouth (head of academy)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1977–1978 Willenhall Town 33 (6)
1978–1979 Alvechurch
1979–1984 Fulham 148 (13)
1984–1995 Bournemouth 423 (19)
Total 604 (36)
National team
1982–1983 Republic of Ireland 3 (0)
1983 Republic of Ireland U21 3 (0)
Teams managed
2000–2006 Bournemouth
2006–2011 Doncaster Rovers
2012 Crawley Town
2012 Nottingham Forest
2013 Bristol City
2014–2015 England U19s
2015 Liverpool (assistant)
2015–2016 Walsall
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

As a player, O'Driscoll was a midfielder for Fulham (1979–84) and Bournemouth (1984–95). He also won three caps for the Republic of Ireland. He played as Bournemouth won the inaugural Associate Members' Cup by beating Hull City in the final.[5] When he retired in 1995, he had played a club-record 423 league games for Bournemouth (the record has since been broken by Steve Fletcher), and subsequently joined the club's coaching staff.

Management career

Bournemouth

In August 2000, he was appointed manager, and despite limited financial resources, achieved good results, including promotion via the Third Division play-offs in the 2002–03 season.

Doncaster Rovers

O'Driscoll left Bournemouth in September 2006 to become manager of Doncaster Rovers during the season the club moved from Belle Vue to Keepmoat.[6] Notable events early in his career with Doncaster include a 4–0 victory away at Brentford, winning the manager of the month award for January 2007, and also overseeing Rovers' 3–2 success over Bristol Rovers in the Football League Trophy final in 2007. This success meant that O'Driscoll had achieved the rare feat of managing two different teams to victory at the Millennium Stadium.

In O'Driscoll's first full season in charge, 2007–08, he steered Doncaster to promotion into the Championship after a 1–0 victory over Leeds United in the League One play-off final at Wembley Stadium. The following season, 2008–09, saw his side meet his demands of not being relegated back down again. They ended up 14th, comfortably clear of relegation.

For the following season and a half, O'Driscoll turned Doncaster into a comfortable mid-table team on one of the tightest budgets in the Championship. However, a plethora of injuries in the second half of the 2010–11 season (which at one point even saw the club request to postpone a match with Norwich City because they were struggling to field a first 11.[7]) saw Doncaster go on a dreadful run of form winning just one of their final 19 matches of the season, though they still survived due to their good form over the first half of the season.[8]

O'Driscoll could not inspire a comeback during the start of the following season and on 23 September 2011 with Doncaster taking just a single point from their first seven games,[9] it was confirmed that O'Driscoll, along with his assistant Richard O'Kelly, had been relieved of their duties by Doncaster Rovers.[10]

He became Nottingham Forest coach under Steve Cotterill in the 2011-2012 Championship season. He left the club to join Crawley as manager in the summer of 2012.

Crawley Town

O'Driscoll was appointed Crawley Town manager in May 2012.[11] In July 2012 he left the club without managing a competitive game to take over at Nottingham Forest

Nottingham Forest

On 19 July 2012 O'Driscoll was appointed as manager of Nottingham Forest by the club's owners, the Al Hasawi family.[11][12] By 31 August 2012 he had signed 11 new players, including fan favourite Adlène Guedioura. He also linked up once again with former Doncaster players Simon Gillett, James Coppinger and Billy Sharp.

After just five months in charge of the club, just hours after a 4–2 victory over Leeds United, O'Driscoll was sacked on 26 December 2012. He has left Nottingham Forest twice in one year after previously being the club's coach during the 2011–2012 season.[13]

Bristol City

O'Driscoll was announced as Bristol City manager on a 12-month rolling contract on 14 January 2013. The club were bottom of the Football League Championship at the time of his appointment.[14] O'Driscoll's first match in charge of Bristol City came on 19 January 2013, a 1–0 defeat against Leeds United at Elland Road.[15] He earned his first win as Bristol City manager on 26 January 2013, a 2–1 victory against Ipswich Town at Ashton Gate.[16] This sparked an initial upturn in City's fortunes, with 5 wins and 2 draws from their next 10 games taking them on the verge of climbing out of the relegation zone. However the form was not sustained, with 7 defeats, 2 draws and no wins from their last 9 games seeing City relegated to League One with 3 games to spare and finishing bottom of the table.

The start of the 2013 season saw the club at the bottom of the division with 6 points from 6 draws, no wins and 5 losses. Bristol City parted company with O'Driscoll on 28 November.

England U19s

On 3 September 2014 the FA announced that Sean O'Driscoll would replace the outgoing Noel Blake in the post of England U19 manager.[17] On 6 July 2015 it was confirmed that Sean had negotiated his release from this role in order to take over as assistant manager at Liverpool F.C [18]

Liverpool (assistant)

On 6 July 2015 it was announced by Liverpool that Sean O'Driscoll had been appointed assistant manager, replacing Colin Pascoe for the 2015–16 Premier League season. Upon being appointed, O'Driscoll said he was excited to be joining one of the world's most iconic football clubs.[19][20]

He left the position in October 2015 after the sacking of Brendan Rodgers.[21]

Walsall

On 18 December 2015, O'Driscoll was announced as head coach of Walsall.[22] O'Driscoll's first match in charge of Walsall ended in a 2–0 victory over Port Vale.[23] On 6 March 2016, O'Driscoll was sacked by Walsall. [24]

Wolves

On 10 July 2017, O'Driscoll was announced as a professional phase coach in Wolves Academy. [25]

Portsmouth

On 22 March 2019, O'Driscoll was appointed as head of coaching and learning for the Portsmouth's academy.[26]

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See also

References
  1. "Sean O'Driscoll". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
  2. Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.
  3. Walker, Michael (17 September 2010). "He's no Sean of the dead! Doncaster boss O'Driscoll explains the secret of his success at the Keepmoat". www.dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  4. "Bristol Post - latest local news, sport & business from Bristol". Thisisbristol.co.uk. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
  5. "Cup win was simply red-markable for club legend Mozzy". afcb.co.uk. 24 May 2019. Retrieved 11 June 2019.
  6. "O'Driscoll named Doncaster boss". BBC Sport. BBC. September 2006. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  7. "Norwich City dismiss postponing Doncaster game". BBC Sport. 22 February 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  8. "Doncaster Rovers 2010–2011 : Results Doncaster game". statto.com. Archived from the original on 6 September 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  9. "Doncaster Rovers 2011–2012 : Results & Fixtures". statto.com. Archived from the original on 16 September 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
  10. Archived 25 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  11. "Sean O'Driscoll appointed new Nottingham Forest manager". BBC Sport. BBC. 19 July 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  12. "O'Driscoll returns as boss of Nottingham Forest". Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  13. "Club Statement". Nottinghamforest.co.uk. 26 December 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
  14. Staff (14 January 2013). "Sean O'Driscoll: Bristol City appoint ex-Nottingham Forest boss". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
  15. "Leeds United 1–0 Bristol City". BBC Sport. 19 January 2013.
  16. "Bristol City 2–1 Ipswich". BBC Sport. 26 January 2013.
  17. "Sean O'Driscoll appointed new England U19s head coach". Thefa.com. 3 September 2014. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
  18. "Liverpool: Sean O'Driscoll named Brendan Rodgers' assistant". BBC Sport. 6 July 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
  19. "O'Driscoll appointed Liverpool Assistant Manager". Liverpool F.C. 6 July 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  20. "Sean O'Driscoll named Brendan Rodgers' assistant". BBC Sport. 6 July 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2015.
  21. "Liverpool coaches Sean O'Driscoll and Gary McAllister leave club". Guardian. 8 October 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  22. "Sean O'Driscoll: Walsall name new head coach to replace Dean Smith". BBC. 18 December 2015. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  23. "O'Driscoll Starts Walsall reign with win". BBC. 20 December 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  24. "Sean O'Driscoll: Walsall part company with head coach after 16 games". BBC Sport Online. 6 March 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  25. "Sean O'Driscoll: becomes coach at Wolves Academy".
  26. O'Driscoll Appointed In Academy Role, portsmouthfc.co.uk, 22 March 2019
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