Alan O'Neill

Football player infobox
playername= Alan O'Neill
fullname = Alan O'Neill
nickname = Alan
dateofbirth = Birth date and age|1957|7|2|mf=y
cityofbirth = Dublin
countryofbirth = Republic of Ireland
height =
currentclub =
position = Goalkeeper
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1975-1983
1983-1985
1985-1993
1993-1996
1996-1997
clubs = Shamrock Rovers
UCD AFC
Dundalk F.C.
Shamrock Rovers
Sligo Rovers
caps(goals) = ? (-)
? (-)
? (-)
? (-)
? (-)
nationalyears = 1979-1980
nationalteam = League of Ireland XI
nationalyears = 1978-1979
1979-1980
nationalcaps(goals) = 2 (-)
nationalteam = Republic of Ireland U21
League of Ireland
nationalcaps(goals) = 02 0(-)
02 0 (-)
pcupdate
ntupdate
manageryears = 1996
2005
managerclubs = Shamrock Rovers
Shamrock Rovers
pcupdate =
ntupdate = |

Alan O'Neill (born 2 July 1957 in Dublin) was a former Irish football player.

Alan made his League debut for Shamrock Rovers at Milltown on Sunday the 28 December 1975 in a 1-0 win over Cork Hibernians. In his second season under Sean Thomas he won his first medal, the League Cup.

After the departure of Thomas, John Giles took over at the start of the 1977/78 season.

On the 8 March 1978 at Dalymount Park Alan played in the first ever Republic of Ireland U21 game and went on to win 2 caps in total.

Alan picked up his second medal when Rovers ended a nine year barren spell in the FAI Cup with their 21st triumph in 1978.

His first taste of European competition didn't come until 1982 where, like his league debut, he kept a clean sheet on his European bow. Playing in the UEFA Cup games made up for the disappointment of missing out on the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup games four years previously through serious injury picked up on a pre season tour of Spain in August 1978.

He represented the League of Ireland representative side twice in 1979 and 1980.

Jim McLaughlin (footballer) was appointed Rovers manager in June 1983 but due to a misunderstanding that developed between them Alan signed for UCD. This came as a huge shock to Rovers fans and he got a tremendous reception when Rovers played UCD in the FAI Cup Final in 1984. UCD won the Cup after a replay and Alan was 'Man of the Match' in both games despite being hampered by an ankle injury.

He kept another clean sheet when UCD played Everton in the Cup Winners Cup that autumn, a trophy the English club went on to win.

He signed for Dundalk F.C. in the summer of 1985 where in eight seasons he won all the domestic honours.

Alan signed back for Rovers in the summer of 1993 and subsequently won another League title that season under Ray Treacy keeping fifteen clean sheets in thirty two games.

He made his 500th League of Ireland appearance at Galway United in September 1995 in a season where he ended up with the Player of the Year award [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamrock_Rovers_FC#Player_of_the_Year_Award_recipients] . After Treacy was sacked in January 1996 Alan, along with Terry Eviston, was appointed manager.

After losing the first game of the 1996/97 the Rovers faithful were stunned when Alan and Terry were sacked. Alan then signed for Sligo Rovers F.C. for one season before retiring. In total he played 6 times in European competition for the Hoops keeping 2 clean sheets.

Alan stepped in to manage for the playoff games with Dublin City at the end of the 2005 season.

Alan has 4 children: Amy, Lise-ann, Shane & Lauren.He is now the goalkeeping coach for the national U21 side.

In 2006 Alan O'Neill became a Shamrock Rovers legend [http://www.shamrockrovers.ie/pressarchive/press_release_08_Sep_2006.php] .

Honours

* League of Ireland Championship: 3
** Dundalk F.C. 1987/88, 1990/91
** Shamrock Rovers 1993/94

* FAI Cup: 3
** Shamrock Rovers 1978
** UCD 1984
** Dundalk F.C. 1988

*FAI League Cup: 3
** Shamrock Rovers - 1976
** Dundalk F.C. - 1987, 1990

*Leinster Senior Cup: 1
** Shamrock Rovers - 1982

*Player of the Year:
** Shamrock Rovers - 1995/96

Sources

* "The Hoops" by Paul Doolan and Robert Goggins (ISBN 0-7171-2121-6)