Brian McIver is a

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

who has been in charge of two

county team A county is a geographic region within Gaelic games, controlled by a county board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and originally based on the 32 counties of Ireland as they were in 1884. While the administrative geography of Ireland has ...

s and been part of another that played in an

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship (SFC) () is the premier inter-county competition in Gaelic football. County (Gaelic games), County teams compete against each other and the winner is declared All-Ireland Champions. Organised by the ...

final. He was the 2007 National Football League-winning manager. A Tyrone native, McIver led Ballinderry Shamrocks to an

All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship The All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship is an annual Gaelic football tournament which began in season 1970–71. It is the top-tier competition for the senior football clubs of Ireland and London. The current champions are Cuala of D ...

. Appointed manager of Donegal (in what was his first involvement at inter-county level), McIver led Donegal to an

Ulster Senior Football Championship The Ulster Senior Football Championship is an inter-county competition for Gaelic football teams in the Irish province of Ulster. It is organised by the Ulster Council of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and begins in April. The final is ...

final in his first championship campaign. He then led Donegal to a

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

title in 2007. His time as Donegal manager also saw him give a 17-year-old Michael Murphy his debut and he gave Neil McGee, Frank McGlynn, Rory Kavanagh and Anthony Thompson their first championship starts. McIver received a degree from Coleraine, a PGCE from Queen's University and a master's from

Jordanstown Jordanstown () is a townland (of 964 acres) and electoral ward in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is within the urban area of Newtownabbey and the Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council area. It is also situated in the civil parish of Car ...

. He headed to St Mary's, where his involvement with

Paddy Tally Paddy Tally (born 1970s) is a Gaelic football manager and coach. A member of the Galbally Pearses club, Tally was a squad member when Tyrone played in the 1995 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final. He was Tyrone coach when that team ...

began. Tally got involved with Down and brought McIver in along with him. McIver was part of the Down backroom team for the 2010 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final. McIver said in 2022 that he still thought Down would have won that game if Ambrose Rogers hadn't injured himself. McIver was appointed

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

manager in 2012, being announced in the same month

Jim McGuinness Jim McGuinness (born 16 November 1972) is a Gaelic football coach, and former player, who won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship as a player with, and later manager of, the Donegal county team. Since 2023, he has been manager, for ...

led McIver's former Donegal players to an

title.

Joe Brolly Joe Brolly (born Padraig Joseph Brolly; 25 June 1969) is an Irish Gaelic football analyst, coach, selector, former player and barrister who played at senior level for the Derry county team. He is from Dungiven. Brolly played for Derry in the ...

was particularly critical of McIver's management. McIver brought Derry to a Division 1 final in 2014. He quit the Derry management role in 2015, criticising Conor Lane on live television in his parting interview while confirming his departure. Earlier that season, he had criticised David Coldrick and then Ciaran Brannigan. But McIver remained as Oak Leaf Director of Football. He spent three years as Oak Leaf Director of Football after quitting as Derry manager. He was reported to be stepping down after four years in 2019. McIver's son

Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

is a Gaelic footballer, and McIver has managed him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McIver, Brian Year of birth missing (living people) Living people All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship winning managers Gaelic football managers Alumni of Queen's University Belfast