| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Robert Irvine Coyle | ||
| Date of birth | (1946-01-31)31 January 1946 (age 79) | ||
| Place of birth | Belfast, Northern Ireland | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| East Belfast | |||
| Ballyclare Comrades | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1966–1969 | Ballymena United | 38 | (3) |
| 1969–1972 | Glentoran | 128 | (6) |
| 1972–1974 | Sheffield Wednesday | 40 | (0) |
| 1974–1975 | Grimsby Town | 24 | (1) |
| 1975–1980 | Linfield | 125 | (4) |
| Total | 355 | (14) | |
| International career | |||
| 1973 | Northern Ireland | 5 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1975–1990 | Linfield | ||
| 1990–1991 | Ards | ||
| 1991–1993 | Derry City | ||
| 1993–1997 | Ards | ||
| 1997–2006 | Glentoran | ||
| 2006–2007 | Newry City | ||
| 2012 | Glentoran (caretaker) | ||
| 2015 | Glentoran (caretaker) | ||
| 2016 | Glentoran (caretaker) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Robert Irvine Coyle (born 31 January 1946) is a formerNorthern Ireland international footballer. Coyle is the most successfulmanager in the history of theIrish Football League.[1] He is the Director of Football at Glentoran.
Coyle was a "teak tough" wing-half withBallymena United,Glentoran,Sheffield Wednesday andGrimsby Town. He won twoIrish League titles and played in Europe six times while with Glentoran before winning fiveNorthern Ireland international caps while playing for Sheffield Wednesday.[2]
Roy Coyle became player-manager ofLinfield in 1975. In his first couple of years at the club, Coyle got Linfield into the Irish Cup final but lost toCarrick Rangers A year later they lost in the Irish Cup final again, but this time toColeraine F.C. The Linfield board decided to give Coyle another chance and that decision proved to be one of the best decisions ever made in Irish League football. Roy Coyle won 31 trophies with Linfield and left the club in 1990 after his contract was terminated.
In 1990, Coyle was appointed manager of County Down clubArds after leaving Linfield but he resigned the following year.
Coyle was appointed manager ofDerry City in 1991. He stayed for two years and won theLeague of Ireland Cup as well as guiding the team to the runner-up position in 1991–92. In 1993, Coyle left and returned to Ards.
Coyle returned to the County Down side in 1993 and won two trophies, theCounty Antrim Shield and theIrish League Cup. Coyle stayed at the club for four years.
Roy Coyle shocked the Irish League by becoming the new manager of Glentoran after the sacking ofTommy Cassidy. Even though Coyle played for Glentoran, it took some of the fans a while to get used to him after managing their bitter rivals Linfield. Coyle brought that success he had with Linfield and became Glentoran's most successful manager ever by winning 16 trophies with Glentoran. In 2006, after winning the league, Glentoran started to have a string of poor results. The fans started to turn against Coyle and the players. Then an away match toArmagh City saw Glentoran crashing to a 5–2 defeat at Holm Park. At the final whistle, Glentoran fans booed the players and as Coyle walked by, some of the fans nearby shouted "Coyle Out!" Coyle resigned that evening. He was replaced by Newry City managerPaul Millar.
Coyle swapped clubs with Paul Millar who went to be Glentoran's new manager. Coyle only stayed for a couple of months and decided to retire. A year later Coyle was linked to a move toGlenavon but the job went to former Cliftonville and Coleraine manager Marty Quinn.
Coyle returned to Glentoran as the Club's Director Of Football when Scott Young was appointed as the new First Team Manager for the East Belfast club. Coyle took charge of the team during Glentoran's Europa League qualifications while Young was completing his coaching badges. On 14 January 2012, Young resigned from the club, and Coyle was put in charge for Glentoran's game away toBallymena United a match where the Glens won 3–0 in his first game back at the helm. Coyle also agreed to be caretaker manager at the club until they appointed a new manager. Coyle was in charge of first team duties until 22 February when formerCliftonville managerEddie Patterson was appointed new Glentoran boss. Coyle returned to his duties as Director of Football.
After Eddie Patterson was sacked as Glentoran Manager on 17 October 2015,[3] Coyle, still at the club in his role as Director of Football took the reins as Caretaker Manager once again whilst the club searched for a new manager. In August 2016 when Alan Kernaghan resigned as Glentoran manager, Coyle also returned to the role of Caretaker Manager.
| Team | Nation | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Win % | ||||
| Linfield |  Northern Ireland | November 1975 | April 1990 | 748 | 504 | 122 | 133 | 1,677 | 724 | +953 | 67.38 |
| Ards | Northern Ireland | May 1990 | June 1991 | 49 | 21 | 10 | 18 | 81 | 65 | +16 | 42.86 |
| Derry City |  Ireland | June 1991 | September 1993 | 68 | 29 | 25 | 14 | 77 | 49 | +28 | 46.03 |
| Ards | Northern Ireland | October 1993 | November 1997 | 191 | 76 | 32 | 80 | 329 | 316 | +13 | 39.79 |
| Glentoran | Northern Ireland | November 1997 | February 2006 | 446 | 279 | 77 | 90 | 891 | 410 | +481 | 62.56 |
| Glentoran (caretaker) | Northern Ireland | January 2012 | February 2012 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 50 |
| Glentoran (caretaker) | Northern Ireland | October 2015 | November 2015 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 66.67 |
| Glentoran (caretaker) | Northern Ireland | August 2016 | August 2016 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | -4 | 40 |
| Total | 1,514 | 915 | 268 | 339 | 2,971 | 1,504 | +1467 | 60.44 | |||
Coyle is the most successful manager inIrish League history and has won 50 trophies in a success-filled career, mostly withLinfield andGlentoran
| Preceded by | Newry City FC manager 2006-2007 | Succeeded by |