Gerard Lyttle (born 27 November 1977) is a Northern Irish

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and former football player, who is the assistant manager of

NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and Irish Premiership colloquially, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football L ...

club

Cliftonville Cliftonville is a coastal area of Margate in the Thanet District, Thanet district of Kent, England. It includes the Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay estate, built in the 1930s with wide avenues and detached and semi-detached houses with driveways, gar ...

Playing career

A right-sided or central

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, he began his youth career with Star Of The Sea before signing a professional contract with

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in December 1994 where he entered the youth team pool. After a further transitional season in 1994–95, Lyttle made more frequent U-18 appearances the following year and moved up to the reserves ahead of the 1996–97 season. Following a season at that level, Lyttle moved on loan to

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

in July 1997. His time at the club was cut short by injury and he returned to Celtic to make more reserve appearances throughout 1997–98. Lyttle departed Celtic in 1998 and signed for

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

. As he again struggled to make inroads into the first team after a single League Cup outing in August 1998 against

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, Lyttle was sent to non-league Kingstonian, but again managed only a single appearance on 4 December 1999. After seeing out 1999–00 with a spell at

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

, a return to Northern Ireland beckoned at the end of the season. Lyttle went on to play for Irish League sides Ballymena United, Newry City,

, Lisburn Distillery and Cliftonville again, before dropping into the junior ranks with Newington YC in 2006. Throughout his playing career, Lyttle was capped 8 times for Northern Ireland U21s, and also received caps at U16 and U18 level.

Managerial career

Lyttle took charge of junior club Malachians in 2009. He then joined the coaching set-up at Cliftonville, taking temporary charge following Tommy Breslin's resignation in September 2015. He was awarded the post permanently the following month. Lyttle led the club to the 2015–16 Northern Ireland Football League Cup following a victory over second-tier side Ards F.C. in the final. Lyttle resigned in April 2017 to take the post of manager at Sligo Rovers. Lyttle won 31 of his 69 league games in charge at Cliftonville. Despite taking over a squad which finished 5th in 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 ...

the previous year, Sligo only narrowly avoided relegation in Lyttle's first season, recording a 9th place finish. Sligo Rovers removed Lyttle from his post in October 2018. In June 2023, Lyttle was appointed as assistant manager of Cliftonville, under

Jim Magilton James Magilton (born 6 May 1969) is a Northern Irish former professional football player and current manager of NIFL Premiership side Cliftonville. As a player, he was a midfielder who notably played in the Premier League for Southampton, Shef ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyttle, Gerard 1977 births Living people Association football managers from Northern Ireland Peterborough United F.C. players Men's association football midfielders Association footballers from Belfast Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Celtic F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Kingstonian F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Ballymena United F.C. players Newry City F.C. players Cliftonville F.C. players Lisburn Distillery F.C. players Northern Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Northern Ireland men's youth international footballers NIFL Premiership players English Football League players Cliftonville F.C. managers Sligo Rovers F.C. managers NIFL Premiership managers League of Ireland managers