Frank O'Neill (born 13 April 1940) is an Irish former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who spent most of his career at

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

. As an international he also played for the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

Playing career

Early years

O'Neill joined Stella Maris at the age of twelve before moving onto Home Farm. He also played for an FAI Youth Selection against a

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

County FA XI at

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a Association football, football stadium in Walton, Liverpool, Walton, Liverpool, England, it was the home of Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton from 1892 until 2025. It is now the home of Everton F.C. (women), Everton's ...

, and in 1958 he played against the youth teams of some of the leading European clubs in a tournament in Germany.

Arsenal

O'Neill signed for

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

as an eighteen-year-old, initially as an amateur but subsequently turned professional in April 1959. He spent the next two seasons playing for

Arsenal Reserves Arsenal Football Club Academy, metonymically known as Hale End, is the youth system of Arsenal Football Club based in Hale End, London, England. The academy teams play in the Professional Development League, the highest level of youth football ...

, making just 2 appearances in the English League. On both occasions, during the 1960–61 season, he deputised for the injured Danny Clapton. He made his senior debut for Arsenal on New Year's Eve 1960 in a 5–3 away win against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

and then played again in a home game against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

Shamrock Rovers

O'Neill signed for

for £3000 in September 1961 after playing well on Rovers' tour of North America that summer. He scored twice on his debut against

Waterford United Waterford Football Club formerly Waterford United Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Waterford who play in the League of Ireland Premier Division. The club was founded and elected to the league in 1930. Originally the ...

on 17 September, in a 4–0 win in the League of Ireland Shield. He went on to become a prominent member of the Rovers team that won the

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...

six times in a row during the 1960s. He, along with Pat Courtney, is a holder of the six in a row medals. During his career with Rovers he played over 300 games. His teammates at the club during this era included Liam Tuohy, Johnny Fullam, Pat Dunne, Bobby Gilbert,

Mick Leech Mick Leech (born 6 August 1948) is an Irish former professional football player who made his name with Shamrock Rovers in the 1960s. He was signed by Paddy Ambrose and Liam Tuohy for Rovers in September 1966 from junior side Ormeau. He spent ...

and

Paddy Mulligan Patrick Martin Mulligan (born 17 March 1945) is an Irish retired footballer who played mainly as a right-back. Playing career Mulligan started his senior career playing for Bohemians in 1963. However, after only two games he signed for Shamroc ...

. During the 1965–66 season O'Neill scored 6 goals during the FAI Cup run including one in the final against

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

. In 1967, he also scored a penalty in the final, a 3–2 win against

St. Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club, commonly known as Pat's or The Athletic, is a professional Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the League of Ireland Premier Division. Founded in May 1929, they played ...

. He scored a further 2 goals during the 1968–69 Cup run. During the summer of 1967, O'Neill also played for Rovers when they competed as

Boston Rovers Boston Shamrock Rovers (also known as Boston Rovers) were an American soccer team that competed in the United Soccer Association (USA) league in 1967. The team was based in Lynn, Massachusetts and played their home games at the Manning Bowl. ...

in the

United Soccer Association The United Soccer Association (USA) was a professional association football, soccer league featuring teams based in the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League ( ...

league. O'Neill also scored 2 goals for Rovers, one in each game, during a

European Cup Winners Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renamed the UEFA Cup Winne ...

tie against

CA Spora Luxembourg CA Spora Luxembourg was a football club, based in Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. It is now a part of Racing FC Union Luxembourg. History Spora was founded in 1923 as an amalgam of Racing Club Luxembourg and Sporting Club Luxembour ...

, helping them to an 8–2 aggregate win. In total he played 18 times in European competition.

Other clubs

Frank signed for

in September 1974 and scored twice on his debut. He won the

Texaco Cup The Texaco Cup, officially known as the International League Board Competition, was an association football competition started in 1970, involving sides from England, Scotland, and Ireland that had not qualified for European competitions. It w ...

after scoring the only goal in the first leg in November 1974. O'Neill signed for

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

as assistant manager in 1978. He moved to

St Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club, commonly known as Pat's or The Athletic, is a professional List of association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland, Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the League ...

in January 1980.

Republic of Ireland

Between 1961 and 1971, while playing for

, O'Neill made 20 appearances and scored 1 goal for the

. He holds the record for the number of international caps won by a League of Ireland player. He made his international debut on 8 October 1961 in a World Cup qualifier against

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park (Irish language, Irish: ''Páirc Chnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a Association football, football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., ...

. O'Neill finished on the losing side as the Republic lost 3–1. He scored his only goal for the senior national team on 11 November 1966 in a 2–1 home win against

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

in a European qualifier. He made his last appearance for the Republic of Ireland on 10 October 1971 in another European qualifier, a 6–0 loss away to

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Managerial career

He served as player-manager for Shamrock Rovers after being appointed to the position on 19 October 1969. He guided the club to the league title play-off at the end of the 1970–71 season. O'Neill was later assistant manager of

between 1978 and 1979, winning the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

and

double.

Honours

: 2 :: *

1963–64 *

1978–1979

: 7 :: *

1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969 League of Ireland Shield: 5 :: *

1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1967–68 *

Dublin City Cup The Dublin City Cup is a defunct Irish football tournament which was played for by all League of Ireland sides (and not just those from Dublin city as the name suggests). It ran from 1933 and ran uninterrupted until 1973. In the 1975–76 se ...

: 2 *

1963–64, 1966–67 *

Blaxnit Cup The Blaxnit Cup, is a defunct club football competition which featured teams from both football associations on the island of Ireland, in a similar format to the later Setanta Cup. It was inaugurated in 1967 as a cross-border competition between ...

1967–68 * Top Four Cup *

1965–66 * Leinster Senior Cup: 2 *

1964, 1968/69 *

1974/75

References

Sources

* *''Who's Who of Arsenal'' (2007): Tony Matthew

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill, Frank 1940 births Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Home Farm F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. managers Waterford F.C. players Athlone Town A.F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players League of Ireland players League of Ireland managers Shelbourne F.C. managers United Soccer Association players Boston Shamrock Rovers players Association footballers from County Dublin Living people League of Ireland XI players Association footballers from Dublin (city) Stella Maris F.C. players Men's association football forwards Republic of Ireland association football managers English Football League players 20th-century Irish sportsmen