Sean O'Driscoll

Football manager infobox
playername = Sean O'Driscoll


fullname = Sean Michael O'Driscoll
height =
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1957|7|1|df=y
cityofbirth = Wolverhampton
countryofbirth = England
currentclub = Doncaster Rovers (manager)
position = Midfielder
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1979–1984
1984–1995
clubs = Fulham
Bournemouth
caps(goals) = 148 (13)
423 (19)
nationalyears = 1982–1983
nationalteam = Republic of Ireland
nationalcaps(goals) = 003 0(0)
manageryears = 2000–2006
2006–
managerclubs = Bournemouth
Doncaster Rovers

Sean Michael O'Driscoll (born 1 July 1957) is an English-born football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of Doncaster Rovers. He joined Doncaster in September 2006 following David Penney's departure. He was previously manager at Bournemouth. Known for being a very quiet, private man, he adopted the ironic nickname "Noisy" in his playing days at Fulham. He represented the Republic of Ireland as a player.

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. 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. 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.

In 2006, after 22 years at Dean Court, he left the club to become manager at fc|Doncaster Rovers. His appointment came as a surprise for many Doncaster fans when it was announced. Newspapers and fans alike were tipping local hero Kevin Keegan to become their manager. However, as the weeks before the appointment pressed on, no statement from Keegan was forthcoming. [http://news2.thdo.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/doncaster/5300894.stm] Other names mentioned with the post had been Peter Reid and recently sacked fc|Nottingham Forest manager Gary Megson.

He made a rather steady start to his career at Belle Vue, including many draws and arguably bizarre formations (mainly due to the crowd being used to the 4-4-2 formation preferred by former manager Dave Penney for numerous years.) Notable events early in his career with Doncaster include a 4–0 victory away at fc|Brentford, winning the manager of the month award for January 2007, and also overseeing Rovers' 3–2 success over fc|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 fc|Leeds United in the League One play-off final at Wembley Stadium.

Managerial stats

:"As of 29 September 2008."

External links

*soccerbase (manager)|id=1629|name=Sean O'Driscoll
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/doncaster/5327424.stm BBC Sport Article]