- Damien Richardson
-
For the American football player, see Damien Richardson (American football).
Damien Richardson Personal information Full name Damien John Richardson Date of birth 2 August 1947 Place of birth Dublin, Republic of Ireland Playing position Striker Club information Current club None Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 1963–1972 Shamrock Rovers ? (41) 1972–1981 Gillingham 323 (94) National team 1971–1979 Republic of Ireland 3 (0) 1968 League of Ireland XI 1 (0) Teams managed 1989–1992 Gillingham 1993–1995 Cork City 1995 Cobh Ramblers 1995–1998 Shelbourne 1999–2002 Shamrock Rovers 2005–2007 Cork City * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).Damien John Richardson (born 2 August 1947, Dublin) is an Irish football manager and former player. He currently has no club attachments, having left Cork City at the end of the 2007 season.[1] Richardson formerly managed Gillingham in England and Cobh Ramblers, Shelbourne and Shamrock Rovers in Ireland.
Richardson's father George managed St. Patrick's Athletic in the 1970s.
Richardson is also recognisable for his media work, including Monday Night Soccer.
Contents
Player
As a player Richardson's career was divided between Shamrock Rovers and Gillingham. He made his Rovers debut in a 2–1 friendly win over Sunderland at Roker Park on 10 August 1963. His competitive debut came eight days later as Rovers beat Shelbourne 3–0 at Tolka Park in a Dublin City Cup clash. While at Rovers he twice won the FAI Cup in 1968 and 1969 (scoring in the final replay) as well as getting an Inter League cap and represented the club 5 times in the UEFA Cup Winners Cup. He received the first of three international caps for the Irish national team while at Shamrock Rovers, making his debut against Austria in Linz in October 1971. He scored in his final appearance for Rovers on 22 October 1972 at Milltown.
He moved to the English Fourth Division side Gillingham at the age of 25. He played for the Priestfield Stadium side for the next nine years before being released in 1981. During his time there he scored 100 goals.[2]
Manager
Richardson's managerial career began in 1989 where he managed Gillingham, having previously served as the club's youth team manager. A rather lacklustre career there ended in 1992, and he returned to Ireland in 1993 to manage Cork City. He proved an instant success bringing the club within striking distance of retaining the league title. However, after 18 months he left the club after a dispute with then chairman Pat O'Donovan.
Following Cork City, he moved on another Cork side Cobh Ramblers before taking up the management position at Shelbourne. His time at Shelbourne saw two Cup successes (1995/96 and 1996/97), one League of Ireland Cup (1995/96) and a runner up position in the League (1997/98) in three seasons. His failure to win the league ultimately cost him his job.
He moved to his old club Shamrock Rovers, where his tenure for three seasons failed to result in a trophy. Ultimately, Richardson and club chairman Joe Colwell disagreed on the direction of the club, and parted ways in April 2002.[3] Colwell wanted to focus on building a new stadium for the club, while Richardson wanted to focus on a full-time panel of players.
In 2005 Richardson returned to League of Ireland management when Cork City's manager Pat Dolan was dramatically sacked before the start of pre-season friendlies. Cork City Chairman Brian Lennox signed the 57 year old Richardson to a two year contract at Turners Cross 15 days before the first competitive match of the season. Richardson commented that the Cork City job was the only one that could have brought him back to League of Ireland management.[4] Despite being hospitalised in September [5] in his first season in charge Cork City were crowned League of Ireland champions for the second time in the club's history. Cork City also reached the final of the FAI Cup but were defeated by Drogheda United. The 2006 and 2007 seasons saw 4th place positions for his club in both years. In 2007 Richardson led Cork City to FAI Cup victory, but left shortly afterwards following some controversy, and a financial settlement agreement.[6]
In 2010 Damien was selected by the FAI to manage an Airtricity League XI to play a full-strength Manchester United side in the opening match of the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
Media work
In 2002, Richardson left football management to become a TV soccer pundit with TV3 in Ireland, before returning to the game in 2005. He is now a regular pundit on Monday Night Soccer on Raidió Teilifís Éireann, and is also a regular contributor to RTÉ Radio's coverage of Republic of Ireland international matches. He contributed to RTÉ Sport's coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[7][8]
Richardson writes a regular blog for the RTÉ / MNS website, and continues to write a weekly column for a Cork newspaper since his time as manager of Cork City.
Richardson has also supported Red FM's national award winning "Break the Cycle" anti-speeding campaign. In addition to his media work, he occasionally teaches football team management seminars. Richardson also once played the bodhran on an album by Tundra, a folk music group from Kent.[citation needed]
Honours
As a player
- FAI Cup: 2
- Shamrock Rovers 1968, 1969
- Top Four Cup
- Shamrock Rovers 1966
- Dublin City Cup
- Shamrock Rovers 1966/67
- Blaxnit Cup
- Shamrock Rovers 1967/68
- Leinster Senior Cup
- Shamrock Rovers 1968/69
As a manager
- League of Ireland: 1
- Cork City 2005
- FAI Cup: 3
- Shelbourne F.C. 1996, 1997
- Cork City 2007
- League of Ireland Cup: 1
- Shelbourne 1995/96
- SWAI Personality of the Year
- Cork City F.C. – 2005
References
- ^ Cork City FC News
- ^ List of Gillingham players' appearance/goals statistics 1959 to date
- ^ http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/2002/0418/Pg023.html
- ^ "Even before I went to Cork in 1993 I always thought there was enormous potential at the club."[1]
- ^ http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/2005/0910/Pg030.html#Ar03001:13640A14641714640A16241710333613037B13033614437B14433616537B16533618C37B18C3361AD37B1AD3361CA37B1C83361EE37B1EE33620B37B20B33625737B16540A16D41716D40A17141717140A17741717740A17E41717E40A18441718440A18A41718A40A19141719140A19641719640A1A541711041711942511941711D42511D41712342512441712B42512B41713142513241713742513741713E42513E417144425144417153425
- ^ RTÉ Sport: Richardson and Cork agree exit deal
- ^ Black, Fergus (2 June 2010). "RTÉ hopes Ossie and squad will spur fans to back home team". Irish Independent. http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/tv-radio/rte-hopes-ossie-and-squad-will-spur-fans-to-back-home-team-2203365.html. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
- ^ O'Malley, Carl (2 June 2010). "RTÉ roll out big guns for their 56 live games". The Irish Times. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/sport/2010/0602/1224271676683.html. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
Bibliography
- The Hoops by Paul Doolan and Robert Goggins (ISBN 0-7171-2121-6)
- Triggs, Roger (2001). The Men Who Made Gillingham Football Club. Tempus Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-7524-2243-X.
Preceded by
Colin MurphyShelbourne Manager
1995–1998Succeeded by
Dermot KeelyCategories:- 1947 births
- Republic of Ireland association footballers
- Shamrock Rovers F.C. players
- Shamrock Rovers F.C. managers
- Gillingham F.C. players
- Republic of Ireland football managers
- Cork City F.C. managers
- Gillingham F.C. managers
- League of Ireland players
- Shelbourne F.C. managers
- League of Ireland managers
- Republic of Ireland international footballers
- Living people
- FAI Cup: 2
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
