Frank O'Neill (Irish footballer)
Encyclopedia
Frank O'Neill is a former Irish footballer
who spent most of his career at Shamrock Rovers
. As an international he also played for the Republic of Ireland
.
. He also played for an FAI
Youth Selection against a Liverpool
County FA XI at Goodison Park
, and in 1958 he played against the youth teams of some of the leading European clubs in a tournament in Germany.
as an eighteen year old, initially as an amateur but subsequently turned professional in April 1959. He spent the next two seasons playing for Arsenal Reserves
, making just 2 appearances in the English League. On both occasions, during the 1960-61 season, he deputised for the injured Danny Clapton
. He made his senior debut for Arsenal on New Year's Eve 1960 in a 5-3 away win against Nottingham Forest
and then played again in a home game against Blackpool
.
in September 1961 after playing well on Rovers' tour of North America that summer. He scored twice on his debut against Waterford United on 17 September, in a 4-0 win in the League of Ireland Shield
. He went on to became a prominent member of the Rovers team that won the FAI Cup
six times in a row during the 1960s. He, along with Pat Courtney, is a holder of the six in a row medals. During his career with Rovers he played over 300 games. His team-mates at the club during this era included Liam Tuohy
, Johnny Fullam
, Pat Dunne, Bobby Gilbert
, Mick Leech
and Paddy Mulligan
. During the 1965-66 season O'Neill scored 6 goals during the FAI Cup run including one in the final against Limerick
. In 1967 he also scored a penalty in the final, a 3-2 win against St. Patrick's Athletic. He scored a further 2 goals during the 1968-69 cup run. During the summer of 1967, O'Neill also played for Rovers when they competed as Boston Rovers
in the United Soccer Association
league. O'Neill also scored 2 goals for Rovers, one in each game, during a European Cup Winners Cup
tie against CA Spora Luxembourg
, helping them to an 8-2 aggregate win. In total he played 18 times in European competition.
in September 1974 and scored twice on his debut.
Won the Texaco Cup
after scoring the only goal in the first leg in November 1974.
Signed for Dundalk F.C.
as assistant manager in 1978. Moved to St Patrick's Athletic in January 1980.
, O'Neill made 20 appearances and scored 1 goal for the Republic of Ireland
. He holds the record for the number of international caps won by a League of Ireland player. He made his international debut on 8 October 1961 in a World Cup qualifier
against Czechoslovakia
at Dalymount Park
. O'Neill finished on the losing side as the Republic lost 3-1. He scored his only goal for the Republic on 11 November 1966 in a 2-1 home win against Turkey
in a European qualifier
. He made his last appearance for the Republic on 10 October 1971 in another European qualifier
away to Austria
. On that day the Republic lost 6-0.
O'Neill was later assistant manager of Dundalk
between 1978 and 1979, winning the League of Ireland
and FAI Cup
double.
League of Ireland
: 2
FAI Cup
: 7
League of Ireland Shield
: 5
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
who spent most of his career at Shamrock Rovers
Shamrock Rovers F.C.
Shamrock Rovers Football Club are a professional football club from Dublin, Ireland. They compete in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland and are the most successful club in Irish football history. The club have won the League of Ireland title a record 17 times and the FAI Cup a record 24...
. As an international he also played for the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland national football team
The Republic of Ireland national football team represents Ireland in association football. It is run by the Football Association of Ireland and currently plays home fixtures at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, which opened in May 2010....
.
Early years
O'Neill joined Stella Maris at the age of twelve before moving onto Home FarmHome Farm F.C.
Home Farm Football Club is an Irish football club based in Whitehall, Dublin. Originally founded in 1928, the club joined the League of Ireland in 1972 after merging with Drumcondra. Following this merger they were briefly known as Home Farm Drumcondra...
. He also played for an FAI
Football Association of Ireland
The Football Association of Ireland is the governing body for the sport of association football in the Republic of Ireland. It should not to be confused with the Irish Football Association , which is the organising body for the sport in Northern Ireland.For the full history, statistics and records...
Youth Selection against a Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
County FA XI at Goodison Park
Goodison Park
Goodison Park is a football stadium located in Walton, Liverpool, England. The stadium has been home to Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892 and is one of the world's first purpose-built football grounds...
, and in 1958 he played against the youth teams of some of the leading European clubs in a tournament in Germany.
Arsenal
O'Neill signed for ArsenalArsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
as an eighteen year old, initially as an amateur but subsequently turned professional in April 1959. He spent the next two seasons playing for Arsenal Reserves
Arsenal F.C. Reserves
Arsenal Reserves are the reserve team of Arsenal Football Club.They have been members of the FA Premier Reserve League Southern Division since its foundation in 1999. They play their home games at Underhill Stadium, which is also the home of Barnet FC. The team mainly consists of Under-21 players...
, making just 2 appearances in the English League. On both occasions, during the 1960-61 season, he deputised for the injured Danny Clapton
Danny Clapton
Daniel Robert "Danny" Clapton was an English footballer.Born in Stepney, London, Clapton first started out as an amateur with Leytonstone before joining Arsenal in August 1953. He made his debut in a 1-0 win over Chelsea on December 25, 1954, and by the end of the 1954-55 he was Arsenal's first...
. He made his senior debut for Arsenal on New Year's Eve 1960 in a 5-3 away win against Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest F.C.
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...
and then played again in a home game against Blackpool
Blackpool F.C.
Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...
.
Shamrock Rovers
O'Neill signed for Shamrock RoversShamrock Rovers F.C.
Shamrock Rovers Football Club are a professional football club from Dublin, Ireland. They compete in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland and are the most successful club in Irish football history. The club have won the League of Ireland title a record 17 times and the FAI Cup a record 24...
in September 1961 after playing well on Rovers' tour of North America that summer. He scored twice on his debut against Waterford United on 17 September, in a 4-0 win in the League of Ireland Shield
League of Ireland Shield
The League of Ireland Shield is a defunct Irish football tournament which was introduced when the League of Ireland started in 1921 and ran uninterrupted until 1972...
. He went on to became a prominent member of the Rovers team that won the FAI Cup
FAI Cup
The Football Association of Ireland Challenge Cup, known as the FAI Ford Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland...
six times in a row during the 1960s. He, along with Pat Courtney, is a holder of the six in a row medals. During his career with Rovers he played over 300 games. His team-mates at the club during this era included Liam Tuohy
Liam Tuohy (footballer)
Liam Tuohy is a former Irish footballer and manager. During the 1950s and 1960s. Tuohy played as an outside left for Shamrock Rovers, Newcastle United, and the Republic of Ireland. In 1959 while playing for Ireland, Tuohy scored the first ever goal in the history of the European Championship...
, Johnny Fullam
Johnny Fullam
Johnny Fullam is a former Irish soccer player.Johnny began his career at Home Farm before signing for Preston North End in 1958. He scored 6 goals in 49 league appearances for Preston. In 1961 he was asked to guest on Shamrock Rovers tour of America on the understanding that he would sign for the...
, Pat Dunne, Bobby Gilbert
Bobby Gilbert
Bobby Gilbert is a former Irish footballer who played for, among others, Derry City and Shamrock Rovers. Gilbert scored in European competitions for both City and Rovers. As an international he also played for the Republic of Ireland.-Derry City:...
, Mick Leech
Mick Leech
Mick Leech was an Irish professional football player who made his name with Shamrock Rovers in the 1960s.He was signed by Paddy Ambrose and Liam Tuohy for Rovers in September 1966 from junior side Ormeau. He spent 6 weeks in the reserves before he made his first team debut against Dundalk at...
and Paddy Mulligan
Paddy Mulligan
Patrick Martin "Paddy" Mulligan is a retired Irish footballer who played mainly as a right-back.Mulligan started his senior career playing for Bohemians in 1963. However after only two games he signed for Shamrock Rovers in December 1963...
. During the 1965-66 season O'Neill scored 6 goals during the FAI Cup run including one in the final against Limerick
Limerick F.C.
Limerick Football Club is an association football club based in Limerick, Ireland. The club currently play in the First Division of the League of Ireland. The first Limerick FC was founded in 1937 and has had a number of guises through its history, known at different times as Limerick FC, Limerick...
. In 1967 he also scored a penalty in the final, a 3-2 win against St. Patrick's Athletic. He scored a further 2 goals during the 1968-69 cup run. During the summer of 1967, O'Neill also played for Rovers when they competed as Boston Rovers
Boston Rovers
Boston Rovers were a United States soccer team that competed in the United Soccer Association league in 1967. The team was based in Lynn, Massachusetts and played their home games at the Manning Bowl. The USA league was actually made up of visiting club teams from Europe and South America...
in the United Soccer Association
United Soccer Association
The United Soccer Association is a former professional soccer league featuring teams from the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League to form the North American Soccer League. All the teams in the league were imported...
league. O'Neill also scored 2 goals for Rovers, one in each game, during a European Cup Winners Cup
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1966-67
The season 1966-67 of the European Cup Winners' Cup football club tournament was won by Bayern Munich in an extra time final victory against Rangers F.C....
tie against CA Spora Luxembourg
CA Spora Luxembourg
CA Spora Luxembourg was a football club, based in Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. It is now a part of Racing FC Union Luxembourg.-History:...
, helping them to an 8-2 aggregate win. In total he played 18 times in European competition.
Other clubs
Frank signed for Waterford UnitedWaterford United
Waterford United is an Irish football club playing in the First Division of the League of Ireland. The club was founded and elected to the league in 1930 and hails from Waterford. Originally the club was based at Kilcohan Park greyhound stadium, but have now moved to the Waterford Regional Sports...
in September 1974 and scored twice on his debut.
Won the Texaco Cup
Texaco Cup
The Texaco Cup was an association football competition involving clubs from England, Ireland and Scotland that had not qualified for European competitions. Irish clubs withdrew from the competition after 1971-72 due to political pressure, and in 1973-74 and 1974-75 competed in a separate Texaco Cup...
after scoring the only goal in the first leg in November 1974.
Signed for Dundalk F.C.
Dundalk F.C.
Dundalk Football Club is a professional Irish football club based in Dundalk, County Louth. The club currently play in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. Founded in 1903, they are the second most successful team, in terms of trophies won, in the history of the League of Ireland. The...
as assistant manager in 1978. Moved to St Patrick's Athletic in January 1980.
Republic of Ireland
Between 1961 and 1971, while playing for Shamrock RoversShamrock Rovers F.C.
Shamrock Rovers Football Club are a professional football club from Dublin, Ireland. They compete in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland and are the most successful club in Irish football history. The club have won the League of Ireland title a record 17 times and the FAI Cup a record 24...
, O'Neill made 20 appearances and scored 1 goal for the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland national football team
The Republic of Ireland national football team represents Ireland in association football. It is run by the Football Association of Ireland and currently plays home fixtures at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, which opened in May 2010....
. He holds the record for the number of international caps won by a League of Ireland player. He made his international debut on 8 October 1961 in a World Cup qualifier
1962 FIFA World Cup qualification
Sweden and Switzerland finished level on points, and a play-off on neutral ground was played to decide who would qualify.Switzerland qualified for FIFA World Cup 1962 in Chile-UEFA Group 2:--------------------...
against Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia national football team
The Czechoslovakia national football team was the national association football team of Czechoslovakia from 1922 to 1993. At the dissolution of Czechoslovakia at the end of 1992, the team was participating in UEFA qualifying Group 4 for the 1994 World Cup; it completed this campaign under the name...
at Dalymount Park
Dalymount Park
Dalymount Park is an Irish football stadium situated on Dublin's Northside. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., who have played there since the early 20th century. Affectionately known as 'Dalyer' by fans, it was also historically the "home of Irish football" holding Irish internationals and FAI Cup...
. O'Neill finished on the losing side as the Republic lost 3-1. He scored his only goal for the Republic on 11 November 1966 in a 2-1 home win against Turkey
Turkey national football team
The Turkey national football team represents Turkey in association football and is controlled by the Turkish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Turkey. They are affiliated with UEFA...
in a European qualifier
1968 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying
The qualifying round for the 1968 European Football Championship consisted of 31 teams divided into eight groups; seven of four teams and one of three teams. Each group winner progressed to the quarter-finals. The quarter-finals were played in two legs on a home-and-away basis...
. He made his last appearance for the Republic on 10 October 1971 in another European qualifier
1972 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying
The qualifying round for the 1972 European Football Championship consisted of 32 teams divided into eight groups of four teams. Each group winner progressed to the quarter-finals. The quarter-finals were played in two legs on a home-and-away basis...
away to Austria
Austria national football team
The Austria national football team is the association football team that represents the country of Austria in international competition and is controlled by the Austrian Football Association ....
. On that day the Republic lost 6-0.
Managerial career
He served as player-manager for Rovers after being appointed to the position on 19 October 1969. He guided the club to the league title play-off at the end of he 1970-71 season.O'Neill was later assistant manager of Dundalk
Dundalk F.C.
Dundalk Football Club is a professional Irish football club based in Dundalk, County Louth. The club currently play in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. Founded in 1903, they are the second most successful team, in terms of trophies won, in the history of the League of Ireland. The...
between 1978 and 1979, winning the League of Ireland
League of Ireland
The League of Ireland is the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland. Founded in 1921, as a league of eight clubs, it has expanded over time into a two-tiered league of 22 clubs. It is currently split into the League of Ireland Premier Division and the League of Ireland...
and FAI Cup
FAI Cup
The Football Association of Ireland Challenge Cup, known as the FAI Ford Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland...
double.
Honours
League of IrelandLeague of Ireland
The League of Ireland is the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland. Founded in 1921, as a league of eight clubs, it has expanded over time into a two-tiered league of 22 clubs. It is currently split into the League of Ireland Premier Division and the League of Ireland...
: 2
-
-
- Shamrock RoversShamrock Rovers F.C.Shamrock Rovers Football Club are a professional football club from Dublin, Ireland. They compete in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland and are the most successful club in Irish football history. The club have won the League of Ireland title a record 17 times and the FAI Cup a record 24...
1963-64 - Dundalk F.C.Dundalk F.C.Dundalk Football Club is a professional Irish football club based in Dundalk, County Louth. The club currently play in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. Founded in 1903, they are the second most successful team, in terms of trophies won, in the history of the League of Ireland. The...
1978-1979
- Shamrock Rovers
-
FAI CupFAI Cup
The Football Association of Ireland Challenge Cup, known as the FAI Ford Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland...
: 7
-
-
- Shamrock Rovers 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969
-
League of Ireland ShieldLeague of Ireland Shield
The League of Ireland Shield is a defunct Irish football tournament which was introduced when the League of Ireland started in 1921 and ran uninterrupted until 1972...
: 5
-
-
- Shamrock Rovers 1962-63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1967–68
-
- Dublin City CupDublin City CupThe Dublin City Cup is a defunct Irish football tournament which was played for by all League of Ireland sides . It ran from 1933 and ran uninterrupted until 1973. In season 1975/76 it was revived and played for by sides who did not reach the League of Ireland Cup quarter finals...
: 2 - Shamrock Rovers 1963-64, 1966–67
- Blaxnit CupBlaxnit CupThe Blaxnit Cup, is a defunct club football competition which featured teams from both football associations on the island of Ireland, in a similar format to the current Setanta Cup...
- Shamrock Rovers 1967-68
- Top Four CupTop Four CupTop Four Cup was a football competition played between the top four clubs in the League of Ireland from 1956 to 1974.-Final Results:1955/56 - Shamrock Rovers F.C. 1 - 0 Waterford F.C.1956/57 - Evergreen United 2 - 1 Drumcondra F.C....
- Shamrock Rovers 1965-66
- Leinster Senior CupLeinster Senior Cup (football)The Leinster Senior Cup is an association football cup competition organised by the Leinster Football Association. It contested by the top League of Ireland sides based in the province in Leinster along with four Leinster Senior League sides and the two Leinster Junior Cup finalists. The Cup was...
: 2 - Shamrock Rovers 1964, 1968/69
- Texaco CupTexaco CupThe Texaco Cup was an association football competition involving clubs from England, Ireland and Scotland that had not qualified for European competitions. Irish clubs withdrew from the competition after 1971-72 due to political pressure, and in 1973-74 and 1974-75 competed in a separate Texaco Cup...
- Waterford UnitedWaterford UnitedWaterford United is an Irish football club playing in the First Division of the League of Ireland. The club was founded and elected to the league in 1930 and hails from Waterford. Originally the club was based at Kilcohan Park greyhound stadium, but have now moved to the Waterford Regional Sports...
1974/75
Sources
- The Hoops by Paul Doolan and Robert Goggins (ISBN 0-7171-2121-6)
- Who’s Who Of Arsenal (2007): Tony Matthews http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/184596232X