 O'Neill in 2023 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1952-03-01)1 March 1952 (age 73)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Kilrea, Northern Ireland | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[3] | ||
| Position | Midfielder[2] | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Celtic (interim manager) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Rosario | |||
| 1969–1971 | Derry City | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1971 | Distillery | 7 | (3) |
| 1971–1981 | Nottingham Forest | 285 | (48) |
| 1981 | Norwich City | 11 | (1) |
| 1981–1982 | Manchester City | 13 | (0) |
| 1982–1983 | Norwich City | 55 | (11) |
| 1983–1984 | Notts County | 64 | (5) |
| 1984 | Chesterfield | 0 | (0) |
| 1985 | Fulham[4] | 0 | (0) |
| Total | 435 | (68) | |
| International career | |||
| 1971–1984 | Northern Ireland | 64 | (8) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1987–1989 | Grantham Town | ||
| 1989 | Shepshed Charterhouse | ||
| 1990–1995 | Wycombe Wanderers | ||
| 1995 | Norwich City | ||
| 1995–2000 | Leicester City | ||
| 2000–2005 | Celtic | ||
| 2006–2010 | Aston Villa | ||
| 2011–2013 | Sunderland | ||
| 2013–2018 | Republic of Ireland | ||
| 2019 | Nottingham Forest | ||
| 2025– | Celtic (interim) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professionalfootball manager and formerplayer who played as amidfielder. He is currently interim manager ofScottish Premiership sideCeltic.
After a brief early career in theIrish League, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his playing career withNottingham Forest. He won theFirst Division title in1977–78 and theEuropean Cup twice, in1979 and1980. He wascapped 64 times for theNorthern Ireland national football team, alsocaptaining the side at the1982 World Cup.
At club level, O'Neill has managedGrantham Town,Wycombe Wanderers,Norwich City,Leicester City,Celtic,Aston Villa andSunderland. He guided Leicester City to theFootball League Cup final three times, winning twice. As Celtic manager between 2000 and 2005, he led the club to seven trophies including threeScottish Premier League titles, and reached the2003 UEFA Cup Final. After joiningAston Villa he achieved three consecutive sixth-place finishes in the EnglishPremier League and guided them to the2010 Football League Cup Final.
He becameRepublic of Ireland manager in 2013 and led them to qualification for the2016 UEFA European Championship. He left the role by mutual agreement in November 2018. He was appointed as Nottingham Forest manager in January 2019 but was sacked in June of the same year. In October 2025, he returned to Celtic as interim manager followingBrendan Rodgers' resignation.
O'Neill was born inKilrea,[5]County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, in 1952. He was the sixth child of nine siblings, and has four brothers and four sisters.[5] O'Neill's father was a founding member of localGAA clubPádraig Pearse's Kilrea. His brothers Gerry and Leo played for the club as well as being on theDerry senior team which won the 1958Ulster Championship and reachedthat year's final of theAll-Ireland SFC. He played for both Kilrea and Derry at underage level as well. He also played Gaelic football while boarding atSt Columb's College, Derry,[5] and later atSt Malachy's College,Belfast.[5]
While at St Malachy's, he first came to public attention as a football player with local sideRosario and then eventually withDistillery. This breached theGaelic Athletic Association prohibition on Gaelic footballers playing "foreign sports". When St Malachy's reached the 1970MacRory Cup final, theAntrim GAA County Board refused to allow the game to go ahead at Belfast'sCasement Park.[5] The colleges involved switched the venue toCounty Tyrone to enable him to play. St Malachy's won the game.[5]
Before playing forDistillery in theIrish League, O'Neill played for the South Belfast sideRosario. (Now he also has a conference room dedicated to him in Rosario Football Club's local Youth Club.) While at Distillery, he won theIrish Cup in 1971, scoring twice in a 3–0 win overDerry City in the final.[6] His second goal was particularly impressive, a mazy run in which he dribbled past three opponents before scoring with a powerful shot.[7] As a result of winning the cup, Distillery qualified for Europe the following season. O'Neill scored againstBarcelona in theEuropean Cup Winners' Cup in a 3–1 home defeat in September 1971.[8] During this period he was spotted by ascout forNottingham Forest. He signed for the English club in October 1971, leaving Distillery and quitting his law degree studies at theUniversity of Belfast.[9]
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O'Neill went on to play an integral role in Forest's golden era. He scored on his league debut for the club, a 4–1 win overWest Bromwich Albion on 13 November 1971.[10] He went on to make a total of 17 league appearances that season, scoring twice, but could not prevent his side's relegation from the First Division in 1972.[10] However, the appointment ofBrian Clough as manager in January 1975 was the beginning of a revolution for Nottingham Forest.[11] Under Clough's management, O'Neill helped Forest gain promotion to the top flight in 1977 and win theleague title andLeague Cup a year later,[12] which was followed by further League Cup success in 1979.[13] That same year, he was dropped to the substitutes' bench for Forest's firstEuropean Cup victory overMalmö after failing to fully recover from an injury,[14][15] but he played in their 1980 win overHamburg.[16]
O'Neill signed for Norwich City in February 1981 for £250,000. However, Norwich were relegated on the last day of the season and he activated a release clause which enabled him to sign forManchester City.[17] Despite a good start, he soon became out of favour with managerJohn Bond and returned to Norwich in February 1982, where he scored six goals to help them finish third and secure promotion.[17] After another season at Norwich, he returned to Nottingham to play forNotts County where they had successive relegations.[17] Hoping to get fit for Northern Ireland's 1986 World Cup squad, O'Neill attempted to make a comeback in 1984 withChesterfield, but only played part of a reserve game before being forced off with a knee injury after 20 minutes. After leaving Chesterfield,Fulham managerRay Harford invited O'Neill to join the club in a bid to regain his fitness. O'Neill only managed to take part in two reserve games for Fulham (neither of which he completed), before retiring as a result of hiscruciate ligament injury in February 1985.[18][19]
O'Neill first represented his country in an amateur international against Scotland atThe Oval in February 1971. Then he made his senior debut in aUEFA Euro 1972 qualifying game againstSoviet Union national football team on 13 October 1971.[20] He was then a regular forNorthern Ireland, captaining the side at the1982 World Cup in Spain which reached the second group stage and defeatedthe host nation inValencia. He played 64 times and scored eight goals for Northern Ireland between 1971 and 1984.[21] He also won theBritish Home Championship twice as a player, in 1980 and 1984.[21][22][23]
After his playing career, O'Neill worked at an insurance company[17] before beginning a career in football management, initially atGrantham Town in 1987. This was followed by a brief spell at the helm ofShepshed Charterhouse.[18]
He became manager ofWycombe Wanderers in February 1990. In May of that year, he played in the Martin O'Neill XI side, along withGeorge Best, in a friendly match that was to be the last ever match held atLoakes Park. In the 1990–91 season, he took Wycombe to fifth in theFootball Conference. In the 1991–92 season, he led Wycombe to second place in the Conference, losing out toColchester United only on goal difference. Thefollowing season, he took Wycombe into the Football League for the very first time. In the1993–94 season, he guided Wycombe to a second successive promotion via the Division 3 play-offs as a 4–2 win overPreston North End took them up into Division 2.[24] In the 1994–95 season, Wycombe narrowly missed out on the Division 2 play-offs and he left the club on 13 June 1995 to become manager at Norwich City. O'Neill also won theFA Trophy with Wycombe in 1991 and 1993.[25]
Under O'Neill, Wycombe also reached theConference League Cup final twice, winning the trophy in 1991–92. The team also won three Conference Shield titles and theLondon Five-a-Sides in 1994 and 1995.[26][27] Wycombe were also beaten finalists in both theBerks & Bucks Senior Cup and Drinkwise Cup.[26][28]
O'Neill became manager of Norwich City in June 1995,[29] and left the club in December, due to differences with club chairmanRobert Chase over the potential signing of strikerDean Windass, then in his first stint atHull City, for £750,000.[30]
O'Neill joined Leicester City, immediately after leaving Norwich City. In hisfirst season, Leicester were promoted from theFootball League to thePremier League via theplay-offs. They won theFootball League Cup under him in1997,[31][32] and2000,[33] as well as reaching the1999final of the competition.[34] They finished ninth in the Premier League in1997, tenth in1998 and1999, and eighth in2000. The two League Cup triumphs saw them qualify for theUEFA Cup in1997–98 and2000–01.
In October 1998, he was favourite to take over the manager's job at Leeds United.[35]George Graham, who had just resigned from Leeds, brought his Spurs team toFilbert Street for his first game in charge. TheLeicester Mercury organised a protest and printed thousands of "Don't Go Martin" posters, which were held up by fans throughout the game, which Leicester won. Thousands of balloons were also released. O'Neill remained as Leicester manager until his contract expired.[citation needed]
O'Neill left Leicester on 1 June 2000,[36] taking over from the team ofJohn Barnes andKenny Dalglish to become manager of Celtic, who had finished runners-up toOld Firm rivalsRangers in both of their previous seasons. In the season just gone, they had finished 21 points behind the champions.
O'Neill's firstOld Firm game, in late August 2000, ended in a 6–2 victory for Celtic.[37] It was their biggest victory over Rangers since the1957 Scottish League Cup Final. His second Old Firm game saw a reversal of fortunes, however, as Celtic suffered a 5–1 defeat.[37] In that first season, O'Neill won a domestic treble with Celtic, the first time this had been achieved since 1968–69. He was then touted as a potential successor toAlex Ferguson, who had announced he was to leaveManchester United in 2002.[38] Celtic then retained the league title in 2001–02, the first time since 1982 that Celtic had managed that feat. Celtic also qualified for the Champions League group stage, winning all of their home games but losing all of their away games.
He then guided Celtic to the2003 UEFA Cup Final inSeville, which Celtic lost 3–2 in extra time to aPorto side managed byJosé Mourinho.[39] This was Celtic's first European final since 1970 and they beat Blackburn, Celta Vigo, Stuttgart, Liverpool and Boavista on the way to the final. He was named on the five-man shortlist forUEFA Team of the Year in the manager category in 2003[40] The following season Celtic regained the league title from rivals Rangers and reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup, with their run seeing them knock out Barcelona.
On 25 May 2005, Celtic announced that O'Neill would resign as manager to care for his wife, Geraldine, who hadlymphoma. His last competitive game in charge of Celtic was the Scottish Cup final 1–0 victory overDundee United on 28 May 2005, decided by an eleventh-minute goal byAlan Thompson.[41]
Under O'Neill, Celtic won 213, drew 29 and lost 40 of 282 games played, making him the most successful Celtic manager since Jock Stein. In his five seasons at Celtic Park, O'Neill won three Scottish Premier League titles, three Scottish Cups, and a League Cup. The two league titles he lost were by margins of a goal and a point, respectively. He also oversaw a record seven consecutive victories in Old Firm derbies, and in the 2003–04 season Celtic created a British record of 25 consecutive league victories.[42] His win rate of 75.5% is the highest of any manager in the club's history.[43]
O'Neill was introduced as theAston Villa manager at a press conference on 4 August 2006. At this, he stated: "It's absolutely fantastic to be back and with a club such as this. This is a fantastic challenge. I am well aware of the history of this football club. Trying to restore it to its days of former glory seems a long way away – but why not try? It is nearly 25 years since they won theEuropean Cup but that is the dream."[44]
Villa had the year's longest unbeaten start of anyPremier League side in 2006–07, going 9 games without a league defeat until 28 October. Villa suffered a mid-season slump but recovered late in the season, winning their three away games in April to end the season how it began with a run of 9 unbeaten fixtures. For this O'Neill was named thePremier League Manager of the Month for April.[45] Villa's final points tally was 50,[46] an improvement of 8 over the previous season and finished 11th, 5 places higher than the previous season.[47] In October 2007, Aston Villa ownerRandy Lerner said that he would not stop O'Neill from leaving Villa if he was offered the vacant post of England manager.[48] O'Neill later dismissed the reports, calling them "unfair speculation".[49]
Aston Villa just missed out on a UEFA Cup spot on the final day of the 2007–08 season and qualified for theIntertoto Cup by finishing sixth. They scored 71 goals, (their second best ever tally in the Premier League and best tally since winning the title in 1981), gained 60 points which was Villa's highest points tally since 1996–97, and were the third highest goalscorers.[50]
After 25 games of the2008–09 season, having qualified for the UEFA Cup as joint winners of the Intertoto Cup, the club were third in the table on 51 points, two points above Chelsea on level games and seven points above Arsenal in fifth place and on course for a place in the Champions League for the first time since 1983. O'Neill decided to prioritise Champions League qualification above all else, fielding a virtual reserve side for a UEFA Cup game against CSKA Moscow which was subsequently lost.[51] Following this, Villa failed to win any of the next 8 league games and improving form for Arsenal & Chelsea meant that Villa failed to reach the top 4.
At the start of the 2009–10 season, Villa failed to qualify for the group stage of the newly namedEuropa League, but continued their progress in the league with wins againstManchester United,Chelsea andLiverpool.[52] Arsenal defeated Villa 3–0 at Emirates Stadium, and drew at home.[52]
Once again Villa finished sixth for the third season running, and once again improved their points tally finishing with 64 points; their poor home form (they drew eight times at home) denied them a chance to qualify for theUEFA Champions League.
Aston Villa reached their first final under O'Neill, and their first final in ten years on 28 February 2010 againstManchester United in theLeague Cup, but lost 2–1.[53]
On 9 August 2010, O'Neill resigned as manager of Aston Villa with immediate effect.[54]On his departure, O'Neill said: "I have enjoyed my time at Aston Villa immensely. It's obviously a wrench to be leaving such a magnificent club."[55] O'Neill was reportedly unhappy about the funds available for transfers,[56] but his departure just five days before the start of the new season still came as a shock to the club and its players.[56] Lerner issued a statement two days later, saying he and O'Neill "no longer shared a common view as to how to move forward, but the two remain good friends."[57]
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On 3 December 2011, O'Neill signed a three-year contract with thePremier League clubSunderland, the team he had supported as a boy.[58] In O'Neill's first game in charge, Sunderland came from 1–0 down to beatBlackburn Rovers 2–1 at theStadium of Light. Under O'Neill, Sunderland began to improve dramatically with four wins from his first six games, including one over league leadersManchester City.[59] Sunderland continued to perform well in the first few months under O'Neill. They rose to ninth in the league and continued their challenge for aEuropa League spot. On 18 February, they beatArsenal 2–0 to knock them out of theFA Cup fifth round. A week after this, they lost 4–0 toWest Bromwich Albion.[60] The next week was O'Neill's firstTyne–Wear derby. The 'fiercely contested' match finished 1–1 with two red cards for Sunderland.[61] The following week, Sunderland defeated Liverpool 1–0 at the Stadium Of Light. Sunderland's form declined towards the end of the season and they finished in 13th place.
The following season, O'Neill had boughtSteven Fletcher andAdam Johnson in an attempt to build on his previous 13th place and push on for the top ten. He claimed a solid 0–0 draw at theEmirates againstArsenal in the first game of the season. Sunderland went unbeaten for the first five games before a 3–0 defeat atManchester City. They then claimed a 1–1 draw in O'Neill's firstTyne-Wear derby at theStadium of Light after a lateDemba Ba own goal. Sunderland then suffered a 0–1 home defeat toAston Villa and a 1–0 defeat toMiddlesbrough in the League Cup. Sunderland slipped into the relegation zone following a 1–3 home defeat toChelsea. Sunderland's form started to improve over the winter as they climbed the table following an impressive run of results, including another 1–0 success overManchester City and a 2–3 success overWigan as they reached a season high of eleventh. However, this proved to be O'Neill's last victory, as Sunderland endured a run of eight games without a win.
O'Neill was dismissed by Sunderland on 30 March 2013 following a 1–0 defeat by Manchester United, which left the team one point above the Premier League relegation zone with seven games left to play in the season. Sunderland had failed to secure victory in the eight matches leading up to O'Neill's departure, winning only three points out of a possible 24 during that spell.[62][63][64]
O'Neill was confirmed as the newRepublic of Ireland national football team manager on 5 November 2013. He was joined by former team captainRoy Keane as his assistant manager.[65]His first game in charge on 15 November 2013 againstLatvia was a 3–0 win at theAviva Stadium.[66] On 19 November 2013, O'Neill's first away game as manager saw the team draw 0–0 againstPoland at theStadion Miejski inPoznań.[67] His first loss as manager came on 5 March 2014, a 2–1 scoreline in a home friendly againstSerbia.[68]
On 16 November 2015, the Republic of Ireland qualified forUEFA Euro 2016 after defeatingBosnia and Herzegovina 3–1 on aggregate in theplay-offs.[69]
In March 2016, O'Neill made comments made about the physical appearance of players' female partners, which were criticised as sexist. Orla O'Connor of the National Women's Council of Ireland said: "There is no place for sexist comments of this nature in Irish football, particularly at this level".[70]
On 7 June 2016, O'Neill signed a contract extension until the2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[71] On 22 June 2016, Ireland defeatedItaly 1–0 in their finalgroup game of Euro 2016 to qualify for theknock-out stages and round of 16 match againstFrance.[72][73]
In June 2016, O'Neill informed a gathering of Ireland football fans at a public event that he had two others accompany assistant Keane and him on a recent visit toSan Francisco, as he was worried people might think they were "queers". The Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN) and the National LGBT Federation condemned the comments and called on him to apologise. He apologised for the derogatory remark several days later.[74][75]
On 9 October 2017, Ireland defeatedWales 1–0 inCardiff to qualify for thequalification play-offs.[76] In the first leg of the play-offs on 11 November, Ireland drew 0–0 againstDenmark inCopenhagen.[77] In the second leg on 14 November inDublin, Ireland lost 5–1 to Denmark after taking the lead in the game.[78] In January 2018, O'Neill signed a new two-year contract with the FAI after previously verbally agreeing to the contract in October 2017.[79]
On 6 September 2018, an understrength Ireland lost 4–1 toWales in their opening game in theUEFA Nations League.[80][81] Ireland went on to finish bottom of theirgroup, picking up just two points in two 0–0 draws againstDenmark and were relegated toUEFA Nations League C for the2020–21 UEFA Nations League (although were later restored toLeague B following a format change).[82] On 21 November 2018, O'Neill parted company with the FAI by mutual consent, alongside Keane.[83][84]
It was announced on 15 January 2019 that O'Neill had become the manager ofNottingham Forest, succeedingAitor Karanka with the team 9th in theEFL Championship.[85] Having finished the season in the same position in the table, he was sacked as manager on 28 June 2019, andSabri Lamouchi was appointed in his place.[86]
On 27 October 2025, O'Neill returned to Celtic as interim manager followingBrendan Rodgers' resignation.[87] Two days later, in his first game back in charge, Celtic beatFalkirk 4–0 at Celtic Park.[citation needed]
Despite never completing his law degree at Queen's University Belfast, O'Neill remains a follower of criminology. His interest began with theJames Hanratty case of 1961.[88]
He has worked in television as an analyst forBBC andITV at theWorld Cup, theEuropean Championship and onUEFA Champions League matches.
O'Neill was appointed aMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the1983 New Year Honours for services to association football,[89] and promoted toOfficer of the same Order (OBE) for services to football in the2004 New Year Honours.[90][91] In 2002, Norwich supporters voted him into the club'sHall of Fame.
He was awarded the Nottingham Lifetime Achievement Award on 3 November 2013 for his services to football and achievements withNottingham Forest.[92]
In November 2022, O'Neill's memoir,On Days Like These: The Incredible Autobiography of a Football Legend, was published.[93]
In June 2024, O'Neill began co-hostingThe Football Authorities podcast alongside his friendClive Tyldesley. The podcast provides an in-depth analysis of football's major stories. The podcast also features a segment where listeners' questions are addressed.[94]
O'Neill and his wife Geraldine have two daughters.[95]
In his youth, O'Neill supportedSunderland andCeltic. His favourite player was Sunderland captain and centre-halfCharlie Hurley, who won Sunderland's Man of the Century award in 1979.[96]
Scores and results list Northern Ireland's goal tally first.
| Goal | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 28 March 1973 | Coventry |  Portugal | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1974 World Cup qualification |
| 2 | 16 May 1973 | Glasgow |  Scotland | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1973 British Home Championship |
| 3 | 30 October 1974 | Stockholm |  Sweden | 2–0 | 2–0 | Euro 1976 qualifying |
| 4 | 13 May 1978 | Glasgow | Scotland | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1978 British Home Championship |
| 5 | 15 June 1980 | Melbourne |  Australia | 1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly match |
| 6 | 30 March 1983 | Belfast |  Turkey | 2–0 | 2–1 | Euro 1984 qualifying |
| 7 | 21 September 1983 | Belfast |  Austria | 3–1 | 3–1 | Euro 1984 qualifying |
| 8 | 12 September 1984 | Belfast |  Romania | 3–1 | 3–2 | 1986 World Cup qualification |
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| Wycombe Wanderers | 7 February 1990 | 13 June 1995 | 262 | 140 | 63 | 59 | 053.4 |
| Norwich City | 13 June 1995 | 17 December 1995 | 20 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 045.0 |
| Leicester City | 21 December 1995 | 1 June 2000 | 223 | 85 | 68 | 70 | 038.1 |
| Celtic | 1 June 2000 | 31 May 2005 | 282 | 213 | 29 | 40 | 075.5 |
| Aston Villa | 5 August 2006 | 9 August 2010 | 190 | 80 | 60 | 50 | 042.11 |
| Sunderland | 3 December 2011 | 30 March 2013 | 66 | 21 | 20 | 25 | 031.8 |
| Republic of Ireland | 5 November 2013 | 21 November 2018 | 55 | 19 | 20 | 16 | 034.5 |
| Nottingham Forest | 15 January 2019 | 28 June 2019 | 19 | 8 | 3 | 8 | 042.1 |
| Celtic (interim) | 27 October 2025 | present | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 080.0 |
| Total | 972 | 491 | 239 | 242 | 050.5 | ||
Distillery
Nottingham Forest
Northern Ireland
Wycombe Wanderers
Leicester City
Celtic
Aston Villa
Individual
International tournaments | |||||||
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| International | |
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| National | |
