Damien Richardson (footballer)

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Damien Richardson
Personal information
Full name Damien John Richardson
Date of birth (1947-08-02) 2 August 1947 (age 76)
Place of birth Dublin, Ireland
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1963–1972 Shamrock Rovers 110 (41)
1972–1981 Gillingham 323 (94)
1984–1985 Canterbury City 28 (0)
International career
1971–1979 Republic of Ireland 3 (0)
1968 League of Ireland XI 1 (0)
Managerial career
1989–1992 Gillingham
1993–1995 Cork City
1995 Cobh Ramblers
1995–1998 Shelbourne
1999–2002 Shamrock Rovers
2005–2007 Cork City
2010–2011 League of Ireland XI
2014 Drogheda United
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Damien John Richardson (born 2 August 1947 in Dublin) is an Irish football manager and former player. His most recent job was as manager of Drogheda United. Richardson formerly managed Gillingham in England and Cobh Ramblers, Shelbourne and Shamrock Rovers in Ireland. He is also known for his media work, including Monday Night Soccer.

Player

As a player Richardson's career was divided between

UEFA Cup Winners Cup. He received the first of three international caps for the Irish national team while at Shamrock Rovers, making his debut against Austria in Linz in October 1971. He scored in his final appearance for Rovers on 22 October 1972 at Milltown
.

He moved to the English

Fourth Division side Gillingham at the age of 25. He played for the Priestfield Stadium side for the next nine years before being released in 1981. During his time there he scored 100 goals and was named Player of the Season for 1974–75.[1][2]

Manager

Richardson's managerial career began in 1989 where he managed Gillingham, having previously served as the club's youth team manager. A rather lacklustre career there ended in 1992, and he returned to Ireland in 1993 to manage

Cork City. He proved an instant success bringing the club within striking distance of retaining the league title. However, after 18 months he left the club after a dispute with then chairman Pat O'Donovan
.

Following Cork City, he moved on another Cork side Cobh Ramblers before taking up the management position at Shelbourne. His time at Shelbourne saw two Cup successes (1995–96 and 1996–97), one League of Ireland Cup (1995–96) and a runner up position in the League (1997–98) in three seasons. His failure to win the league ultimately cost him his job.

He moved to his old club Shamrock Rovers, where his tenure for three seasons failed to result in a trophy. Ultimately, Richardson and club chairman Joe Colwell disagreed on the direction of the club, and parted ways in April 2002.[3] Colwell wanted to focus on building a new stadium for the club, while Richardson wanted to focus on a full-time panel of players.

In 2005 Richardson returned to

Drogheda United. The 2006 and 2007 seasons saw 4th-place positions for his club in both years. In 2007 Richardson led Cork City to FAI Cup victory, but left shortly afterwards following some controversy, and a financial settlement agreement.[6]

In 2010 Damien was selected by the FAI to manage a

Dublin Super Cup
at the Aviva Stadium.

Richardson was named as the manager of Drogheda United on 26 July 2014 for the remainder of their league campaign.

Media work

In 2002, Richardson left football management to become a TV soccer pundit with

Raidió Teilifís Éireann, and is also a regular contributor to RTÉ Radio's coverage of Republic of Ireland international matches. He contributed to RTÉ Sport's coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[7][8]

Richardson writes a regular blog for the RTÉ / MNS website, and continues to write a weekly column for a Cork newspaper since his time as manager of Cork City.

Richardson has also supported Red FM's national award-winning "Break the Cycle" anti-speeding campaign. In addition to his media work, he occasionally teaches football team management seminars. Richardson also once played the

bodhran on an album (A Kentish Garland) by Tundra, a folk music group from Kent.[9]

Honours

As a player

Shamrock Rovers

Individual

  • Gillingham Player of the Season: 1974–75[2]

As a manager

Shelbourne
Cork City

Individual

  • SWAI Personality of the Year: 2005

Family

Richardson's father George also played and managed in the League of Ireland. He played for

St Patrick's Athletic
in the 1970s.

References

  1. ^ "GILLINGHAM : 1950/51 – 2013/14". Neilbrown.newcastlefans.com. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  2. ^ a b Gillingham Football Club 1975-76 Supporters Handbook. 1975. p. 25. Damien Richardson is current Player-of-the-Year. He earned the award with some great performances last season.
  3. ^ The Irish Times https://web.archive.org/web/20121022233634/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/2002/0418/Pg023.html. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2011. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ^ "Irish Examiner - 2005/03/03: Richardson ready to step in for Dolan". Archived from the original on 1 July 2007. Retrieved 22 June 2005.
  5. ^ The Irish Times https://web.archive.org/web/20121010123255/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/2005/0910/Pg030.html. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2009. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ^ "Richardson and Cork agree exit deal". RTÉ News. 20 December 2007. Archived from the original on 23 December 2007.
  7. ^ Black, Fergus (2 June 2010). "RTÉ hopes Ossie and squad will spur fans to back home team". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
  8. ^ O'Malley, Carl (2 June 2010). "RTÉ roll out big guns for their 56 live games". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
  9. ^ McSweeney, Joseph (26 July 2014). "Tundra Release list". Mainlyforfolk.info. Retrieved 26 July 2014.

Bibliography