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 O'Driscoll watching AFC Wulfrunians in 2014 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Sean Michael O'Driscoll[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1957-07-01)1 July 1957 (age 68)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Wolverhampton, England[1] | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[2] | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1977–1978 | Willenhall Town | 33 | (6) |
| 1978–1979 | Alvechurch | ||
| 1979–1984 | Fulham | 148 | (13) |
| 1984–1995 | AFC Bournemouth | 423 | (19) |
| Total | 604 | (36) | |
| International career | |||
| 1982–1983 | Republic of Ireland | 3 | (0) |
| 1983 | Republic of Ireland U21 | 3 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2000–2006 | AFC Bournemouth | ||
| 2006–2011 | Doncaster Rovers | ||
| 2012 | Crawley Town | ||
| 2012 | Nottingham Forest | ||
| 2013 | Bristol City | ||
| 2014–2015 | England U19 | ||
| 2015–2016 | Walsall | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Sean Michael O'Driscoll (born 1 July 1957) is a former professional footballer and manager. He has previously managedAFC Bournemouth,Doncaster Rovers,Crawley Town,Nottingham Forest,Bristol City andWalsall. He was known by the nickname "Noisy" in his playing days atFulham.[3] He represented theRepublic of Ireland as a player.
As a player, O'Driscoll was a midfielder forFulham (1979–84) andAFC Bournemouth (1984–95). He also won threecaps for theRepublic of Ireland. He played as Bournemouth won the inauguralAssociate Members' Cup by beatingHull City in thefinal.[4] When he retired in 1995, he had played a club-record 423 league games for Bournemouth (his record has since been broken byNeil Young andSteve Fletcher), and subsequently joined the club's coaching staff.
In August 2000, he was appointed manager at Bournemouth, and despite limited financial resources, achieved good results, including promotion via theThird Division play-offs in the2002–03 season.
O'Driscoll left Bournemouth in September 2006 to become manager ofDoncaster Rovers during the season the club moved fromBelle Vue toKeepmoat.[5] Notable events early in his career with Doncaster include a 4–0 victory away atBrentford, winning the manager of the month award for January 2007, and also overseeing Rovers' 3–2 success overBristol Rovers in theFootball League Trophy final in 2007. This success meant that O'Driscoll had achieved the rare feat of managing two different teams to victory at theMillennium Stadium.
In O'Driscoll's first full season in charge,2007–08, he steered Doncaster to promotion into theChampionship after a 1–0 victory overLeeds United in the League One play-off final atWembley Stadium. The following season,2008–09, saw his side meet his demands of avoiding relegation when they finished 14th in the table.
For the following season and a half, O'Driscoll turned Doncaster into a comfortable mid-table team on one of the tightest budgets in the Championship. However, a plethora of injuries in the second half of the2010–11 season (which at one point even saw the club request to postpone a match withNorwich City because they were struggling to field a first team[6]) saw Doncaster go on a dreadful run of form winning just one of their final 19 matches of the season, though they still survived due to their good form over the first half of the season.[7]
O'Driscoll could not inspire a revival during the start of the following season and on 23 September 2011, with Doncaster taking just a single point from their first seven games,[8] it was confirmed that O'Driscoll, along with his assistant Richard O'Kelly, had been relieved of their duties by Doncaster Rovers.[9]
He became a coach atNottingham Forest under Steve Cotterill in the 2011-2012 Championship season. He left the club to join Crawley as manager in the summer of 2012.
O'Driscoll was appointedCrawley Town manager in May 2012.[10] In July 2012, he left the club without managing a competitive game to take over atNottingham Forest.
On 19 July 2012 O'Driscoll was appointed as manager of Nottingham Forest by the club's owners, the Al Hasawi family.[10][11] By 31 August 2012 he had signed eleven new players, including fan favouriteAdlène Guedioura. He also linked up once again with former Doncaster playersSimon Gillett,James Coppinger andBilly Sharp.
After five months in charge of the club, O'Driscoll was sacked on 26 December 2012 despite a 4–2 victory over Leeds United. This was the second time he had left Nottingham Forest in 2012, having previously been a coach during the 2011–2012 season.[12] Forest ownerFawaz Al-Hasawi had received advice from theHull City board that a manager withPremier League experience was needed to secure promotion, which lead Al-Hasawi to make the decision. He originally planned to sack O'Driscoll onChristmas Day, but Forest Chief Executive Mark Arthur refused to follow the order until the following day.[13]
O'Driscoll was announced asBristol City manager on a twelve-month rolling contract on 14 January 2013. The club were bottom of theChampionship at the time of his appointment.[14] O'Driscoll's first match in charge of Bristol City came on 19 January 2013 with a 1–0 defeat against Leeds United atElland Road.[15] He earned his first win as Bristol City manager on 26 January with a 2–1 victory againstIpswich Town atAshton Gate.[16] This sparked an initial upturn in City's fortunes, with five wins and two draws from their next ten games taking them on the verge of climbing out of the relegation zone. However, seven defeats from their last nine games saw City relegated toLeague One with three games remaining and ultimately finishing bottom of the table.
O'Driscoll left Bristol City on 28 November 2013.
On 3 September 2014 theFA announced that O'Driscoll would replace the outgoingNoel Blake in the post of England U19 manager.[17]On 6 July 2015 it was confirmed that O'Driscoll had left the position in order to take over as assistant manager atLiverpool[18]
On 6 July 2015 it was announced byLiverpool that O'Driscoll had been appointed assistant manager, replacingColin Pascoe for the2015–16 Premier League season.[19][20]
He left the position in October 2015 after the sacking ofBrendan Rodgers.[21]
On 18 December 2015, O'Driscoll was announced as head coach ofWalsall.[22] O'Driscoll's first match in charge of Walsall ended in a 2–0 victory overPort Vale.[23] On 6 March 2016, O'Driscoll was sacked by Walsall.[24]
On 10 July 2017, O'Driscoll was announced as a professional phase coach inWolves Academy.[25]
On 22 March 2019, O'Driscoll was appointed as head of coaching and learning forPortsmouth's academy.[26] O'Driscoll formally resigned from this role on 29 September 2021.[27]
On 14 December 2021, O'Driscoll joined the backroom team atNational League sideWeymouth on a non-contract basis.[28]
AFC Bournemouth
Doncaster Rovers
Individual