James Hagan (born 10 August 1956) is a Northern Irish former professional

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 ...

and football club manager.

Career

Born in Monkstown, Hagan began his career in Northern Ireland with

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory)Larne/Latharna
Placenames Database of Ireland. is a to ...

and was voted Ulster young player of the year in the 1975–76 season. While playing for Larne he also worked as a booking clerk for the ferries between

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory)Larne/Latharna
Placenames Database of Ireland. is a to ...

and

Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; ), also known as The Toon or The Cleyhole, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, on Loch Ryan and the northern side of the isthmus joining the Rhins of Galloway to the mainland. Stranraer is Dumfries ...

in Scotland. His form with Larne earned him a call-up to

Danny Blanchflower Robert Dennis Blanchflower (10 February 1926 – 9 December 1993) was a Northern Ireland footballer, football manager and journalist who played for and captained Tottenham Hotspur, including during their double-winning season of 1960–61. H ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

squad. However, although he played for Northern Ireland against

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club based in East Belfast, Northern Ireland, that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882 and has since won more than 130 major honours. They are one of three Northern Iris ...

in a testimonial for

Bobby McGregor Robert Bilsand McGregor, MBE (born 3 April 1944), nicknamed the "Falkirk Flyer", is a Scottish former competitive swimmer. Swimming career He competed in eight events at the 1964 and 1968 Summer Olympics. He won a silver medal in the 100-metr ...

in May 1977 he never made a full international appearance. Hagan joined

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

from

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory)Larne/Latharna
Placenames Database of Ireland. is a to ...

in November 1977 for a fee of £25,000, making 13 league appearances the following season. He struggled to establish himself at

Highfield Road Highfield Road was a football stadium in the city of Coventry, England. It was the home ground for Coventry City for 106 years. History It was built in 1899 in the Hillfields district, close to the city centre, and staged its final game on 30 ...

and joined

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

on loan in September 1979 and was loaned to NASL side Detroit Express in March 1980. He joined Hong Kong side

Seiko , commonly known as Seiko ( , ), is a Japanese maker of watches, clocks, electronic devices, and semiconductors. Founded in 1881 by Kintarō Hattori in Tokyo, Seiko introduced the world's first commercial quartz wristwatch in 1969. Seiko is ...

in October 1980 on an extended loan and helped the club to a clean-sweep of the Hong Kong

League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

Cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

and Senior Cup. He returned to Coventry in July 1981, making three further league appearances and was included by

Billy Bingham William Laurence Bingham (5 August 1931 – 9 June 2022) was a Northern Ireland international footballer and manager. As a player, his first professional club was Glentoran, for whom he played between 1948 and 1950. Making a move to England, ...

in Northern Ireland's provisional forty man squad for the 1982 World Cup Finals, but was cut when the final squad was announced. Hagan was released by Coventry at the end of the 1981–82 season and in May 1982 joined local rivals

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

. He quickly established himself in the first team and was a regular member of the sides both promoted to and relegated from the top flight over the next five years. In 1987 Hagan joined newly promoted Spanish Primera Liga side

Celta Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was foun ...

. At the end of his first season in Spain, Celta had finished in the top half of the table and Hagan was named Overseas Players of the Year, despite competition from the likes of

Gary Lineker Gary Winston Lineker ( ; born 30 November 1960) is an English Sports broadcasting, sports broadcaster and former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Lineker is the only player t ...

. Hagan returned to Larne in August 1989, moving to

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

in November 1989. He played only twice for the

Layer Road Layer Road was a Football League stadium in Colchester, England. It was the home of Colchester United Football Club from its inception in 1937, up until the club relocated to Colchester Community Stadium in 2008, resulting in its closure. The ...

side and returned to Larne from where he left to join Swedish side

IK Oddevold IK Oddevold is a Swedish football club located in Uddevalla. The club, formed on 3 July 1932, currently plays in Sweden's second-flight league, Superettan. They play most of their home games at Rimnersvallen and they also have a newly built tr ...

in May 1990. In May 1991 Hagan returned to Northern Ireland and was appointed as player-manager of

Ballymena United Ballymena United Football Club is a semi-professional football club from Northern Ireland. Based in Ballymena, County Antrim, the team competes in the NIFL Premiership and plays home matches at the Ballymena Showgrounds. The club has been man ...

. On leaving he played briefly for

Carrick Rangers Carrick Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional Northern Irish football club playing in NIFL Premiership. The club, founded in 1939, hails from Carrickfergus, County Antrim and plays its home matches at Taylors Avenue which is known as th ...

and had a short and unsuccessful spell in charge of Larne in 1994. He subsequently played for

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

before ending his playing career with

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, No ...

in December 1995. By the 2000–01 season Hagan had become youth development officer at

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

. He subsequently returned to Larne as Youth Development Officer and became assistant manager under

Kenny Shiels Kenneth Shiels (born 27 April 1956)Marshall Gillespie, ''The Northern Ireland Football Yearbook 1996/97'', UTV Books, 1996, p. 59 is a Northern Irish football manager and former player who last managed NIFL Premier Intermediate side Moyola Park ...

in October 2005. In May 2006, Hagan was appointed as manager. However, he was sacked in November 2006 with Larne struggling in the league. He is manager of Larne amateur outfit Wellington Rec. They pulled off a major upset in August 2009 after beating Carrick Rangers 4–3 in the Steel and Sons Cup.

Honours

Club

;

Seiko SA Seiko Sports Association () were one of the most popular and successful football teams in the history of football in Hong Kong. The team withdrew from the Hong Kong First Division League after the 1985–86 season. History Seiko was a team spo ...

Hong Kong First Division League The Hong Kong First Division League () is the second-highest division in the Hong Kong football league system. Established in 1908, it is the List of oldest football competitions, third oldest in Asia, after Calcutta and Bombay. Moreover, it is ...

Winner (1): 1980–81 *

Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield The Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield (), known commonly as the Senior Shield, is the Association football, football Single-elimination tournament, knockout inter-club competition held in Hong Kong and the List of oldest football competitions, fo ...

Winner (1): 1980–81 *

Hong Kong FA Cup Hong Kong FA Cup () is a knockout cup competition in Hong Kong football, run by and named after The Hong Kong Football Association. The first edition of the competition was held in 1975, before then the cup was known as the Golden Jubilee Cup. T ...

Winner (1): 1980–81 ;

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

Runner-up (1): 1984–85

Individual

* Overseas Player of the Year (1): 1987–88 (

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was fou ...

)

References

External links

Profile at Northern Ireland footballing greats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hagan, Jim Living people 1956 births Association footballers from County Antrim Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Larne F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Detroit Express players Birmingham City F.C. players RC Celta de Vigo players Colchester United F.C. players Association football managers from Northern Ireland Ballymena United F.C. players Ballymena United F.C. managers Carrick Rangers F.C. players Larne F.C. managers Crusaders F.C. players Coleraine F.C. players NIFL Premiership players IK Oddevold players Seiko SA players Hong Kong First Division League players La Liga players Expatriate men's footballers in Hong Kong Expatriate sportspeople from Northern Ireland in Hong Kong Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate sportspeople from Northern Ireland in Spain Men's association football defenders Expatriate sportspeople from Northern Ireland in Sweden Expatriate sportspeople from Northern Ireland in the United States English Football League players NIFL Premiership managers Men's association football player-managers