 Jeffrey in 2014 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1962-10-28)28 October 1962 (age 63) | ||
| Place of birth | Newtownards, Northern Ireland | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1979–1982 | Manchester United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1982–1992 | Linfield | 369 | (69) |
| 1992–1995 | Ards | 65 | (2) |
| 1995–1996 | Larne | 22 | (1) |
| International career | |||
| 1977–1978 | Northern Ireland U15 | 8 | |
| 1981 | Northern Ireland U18 | 2 | |
| 1984–1989 | Irish Football League XI | 9 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1995–1996 | Larne | ||
| 1997–2014 | Linfield | ||
| 2016–2023 | Ballymena United | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
David JeffreyMBE (born 28 October 1962) is a Northern Irish formerfootball player and manager. He managedLinfield between 1997 and 2014 andBallymena United from 2016 to 2023. Jeffrey began his professional playing career with Linfield, following a spell in theManchester United youth team, and also played forArds andLarne.
Born inNewtownards, Jeffrey attendedDundonald High School andSullivan Upper School.[1] He lives inGlengormley, and has a career in social work alongside his management career.[2] He has two sons, Gareth and Thomas, and is a member of both theOrange Order and a flute band. He cites his parents as the biggest inspiration in his life.[3][4]
Jeffrey is a Christian. In an interview with theBelfast Telegraph in 2020, he described himself as having "an unapologetic and unashamed very strong faith in God".[5]
Jeffrey began his football career as a schoolboy withManchester United, but never played in the first team. He joinedLinfield in the summer of 1982. He played for Linfield for ten years and was club captain for much of that time. Jeffrey scored the crucial away goal againstShamrock Rovers in the1984–85 European Cup.[6] He leftWindsor Park for his hometown club,Ards, in the summer of 1992, reuniting him with former bossRoy Coyle, and in February 1995 joined Larne asplayer-coach.
In April 1996, Jeffrey returned toLinfield as assistant manager toTrevor Anderson. Jeffrey was appointed as Linfield manager on 4 January 1997 after Anderson resigned.
In the 2005–06 season, Jeffrey guided Linfield to a clean sweep of domestic trophies, missing out only on the cross-border All-Ireland Cup. On 6 June 2006, Jeffrey signed a new four-year contract, the longest contract in Linfield history. His previous deal had one season left to run.
In June 2008, Jeffrey won his 23rd manager of the month award, breaking the record for monthly awards. By January 2014, he had extended this record to 32 awards.[7]
Alongside Roy Coyle, Jeffrey is Linfield's most successful manager in history, having won 31 trophies during his 17-year tenure.[8] Roy Coyle also won 31 trophies with the Blues during his managerial career from 1975 to 1990.
On 15 February 2014, Jeffrey announced that he was to step down as manager of Linfield at the end of the 2013–14 season.[9] He was replaced by former Northern Ireland international,Warren Feeney.[10]
On 7 March 2016, it was announced that Jeffrey had been appointed the new manager ofBallymena United, following the sacking ofGlenn Ferguson.
Jeffrey guided Ballymena to winning the Northern Irish League cup in 2016–17 season and took them to the quarter-finals of the Irish Cup and a 4th place finish in the league.
Jeffrey was appointedMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the2021 Birthday Honours for services to association football and community relations in Northern Ireland.[11]
| Team | Nation | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Win % | ||||
| Linfield |  Northern Ireland | 4 January 1997[12] | 27 April 2014 | 944 | 579 | 197 | 168 | 1,958 | 845 | +1,013 | 61.33 |
| Ballymena United | Northern Ireland | 7 March 2016[13] | 10 May 2023 | 346 | 163 | 48 | 136 | 559 | 502 | +57 | 47.11 |
| Total | 1,290 | 742 | 245 | 304 | 2,517 | 1,347 | +1,070 | 57.52 | |||
Linfield
Ballymena United