| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | James Martin Gilligan[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1964-01-24)24 January 1964 (age 61)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Hammersmith, England[1] | ||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2] | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1978–1981 | Watford | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1981–1985 | Watford | 27 | (6) |
| 1982 | →Lincoln City (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 1985–1986 | Grimsby Town | 24 | (4) |
| 1986–1987 | Swindon Town | 17 | (5) |
| 1986 | →Newport County (loan) | 5 | (1) |
| 1987 | Lincoln City | 11 | (1) |
| 1987–1989 | Cardiff City | 99 | (35) |
| 1989–1990 | Portsmouth | 32 | (5) |
| 1990–1993 | Swansea City | 62 | (23) |
| International career | |||
| 1981 | England Youth | 3 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1991–1999 | Watford (youth coach) | ||
| 1999–2001 | Nottingham Forest (reserves) | ||
| 2003–2005 | Milton Keynes Dons (assistant manager) | ||
| 2011–2014 | Nike Football Academy | ||
| 2014–2016 | Nottingham Forest (first team coach) | ||
| 2018–2020 | Nottingham Forest (U23 lead coach) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
James Martin Gilligan (born 24 January 1964) is an English former professionalfootballer. He is atWatford in the role of Head of Technical Development[3] and has also coached atNottingham Forest,Wimbledon,Milton Keynes Dons and withThe FA. He holds aUEFA Pro License.
His sonRyan Gilligan is also a professional footballer.
Born inHammersmith, Gilligan later moved toStevenage. He started his career as an apprentice atWatford after joining the club at the age of thirteen. He was spotted playing for aHertfordshire FA XI by Watford scoutTom Walley and aChelsea scout. Both scouts approached his parents, who accepted Watford's offer and he signed schoolboy terms with the club following his fourteenth birthday.[4]
He turned professional in August 1981, making a goalscoring debut againstAldershot.[4] He helped Watford defeatManchester United to win the FA Youth Cup in 1982 whilst also gaining representative honours, appearing for the England Youth team. In October 1982, he joinedLincoln City on loan for one month in an attempt to gain first-team experience, but made only three substitute appearances during a spell he later described as "disappointing".[4] Returning to Watford, he began making intermittent appearances for the first team, the undoubted highlight being scoring Watford's first goal in Europe in their very first game againstKaiserslautern in the 1983–1984UEFA Cup; he would later score in the quarter final defeat toSparta Prague. However, he never established a regular starting role in his four seasons as a professional.
Having come toGrimsby Town's attention when scoring against them in anFA Cup Fourth Round tie in January 1985, Gilligan moved to Grimsby in the August 1985 for a fee of £100,000.[5] However, his season atBlundell Park was disappointing: he managed just six goals in the season at the club, including two in a League Cup match againstYork City.[6] Grimsby cut their losses in the summer of 1986 by allowing him to move on toSwindon Town for a fee of £30,000. Once again, he struggled to make an impression and in January 1987 joinedNewport County on loan before moving toLincoln City in March 1987. Gilligan failed to fire for the Red Imps, scoring a solitary goal as Lincoln slipped to relegation from theFootball League.
A fee of £17,500 saw him joinCardiff City where he enjoyed the most productive spell of his career. He scored on his debut in a 1–1 draw withLeyton Orient and went on to finish as the club's top scorer in his first year.[7] Virtually ever present during his two years at the club he scored vital goals in several competitions including the second goal during a 2–0Welsh Cup final victory overWrexham and a hat-trick againstDerry City in theEuropean Cup Winners Cup.
After two defeats in the opening two games of the 1989–90 season, Cardiff's managerFrank Burrows accepted an offer to become assistant manager toJohn Gregory atPortsmouth. The pair soon tabled an offer of £215,000 for Gilligan which the Cardiff board readily accepted. After a year on the South Coast, Gilligan returned to South Wales to play forSwansea City before injury finished his league career.[8] In March 1993, he resumed playing in the non-league withBoreham Wood before moving on to Stamco.
Following his retirement, Gilligan returned toWatford, heading up their Football in the Community scheme. After spells as youth development manager and youth team manager, he was appointed Watford's assistant academy director. He left Watford in 1999 withDavid Platt appointing him reserve team manager atNottingham Forest. In July 2001, following Platt's departure and the appointment ofPaul Hart to the manager's position, Gilligan left his role at Nottingham Forest.[9] A month later, he was appointed manager ofBoreham Wood,[10] succeedingGraham Roberts in the role. However, less than three months later he resigned from the role.[11] He joined the PFA as a regional coach educator, whilst also helping out David Platt with theEngland U21s, before being appointed technical director atWimbledon in February 2003.[12] Integral to Gilligan's appointment wasStuart Murdoch whom Gilligan had forged a friendship with from his coaching days at Watford. With Wimbledon suffering financial difficulties and the move to Milton Keynes, Gilligan moved up the ranks atMilton Keynes Dons, becoming assistant manager to Murdoch. Following Murdoch's sacking in November 2004, he was placed in temporary charge.[13] He remained in charge until the appointment ofDanny Wilson in December, a move which saw Gilligan depart the Dons shortly afterwards.[14]
In August 2007, Gilligan left his post atThurrock to become a scout forStuart Pearce and theEngland U21 team, as well as the England National Team.[15] He played a central role in developing England's scouting structures and a modern player selection system. In May 2010 it was announced that Gilligan would take up the role of Head of Youth forStevenage from 1 July.[16]
In July 2011, Gilligan moved to become head coach of theNike Football Academy.[17] Gilligan remained in charge of the Nike Academy for three seasons, and is widely credited with discovering and developing players who have gone on to play at theFIFA World Cup, such asTom Rogic andSeon-Min Moon. Gilligan and his team scouted and coached over 130 players, out of whom 40 made it from amateur level to professional during this period, includingAbdul Waris,David Accam,Petar Golubovic,Anfernee Dijksteel,Jorge Grant,Kevin Salazar and others. They also played competitive fixtures againstArsenal,FC Barcelona,Inter Milan and others, and grew a sizeable YouTube presence.[18] During this period, Gilligan's coaching methods and motivational half-time talks gained publicity in media such aFourFourTwo magazine.[19]
In March 2014 Gilligan was appointed Lead Professional Development Coach atNottingham Forest.[20] In July 2015, Gilligan progressed to take charge of first team coaching and spent some time in charge of first team affairs as caretaker. After a spell at The FA as national coach educator, he returned to Forest as U23 Lead Coach.
In June 2019, he gained the UEFA Pro License, the highest coaching qualification, from The FA, having completed the course alongsideSteven Gerrard andPeter Schmeichel.