Seamus Martin McDonagh (born 6 October 1952), known as Jim McDonagh, is a 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 ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. He made more than 400 appearances in the English leagues. He played for his native England at youth level before winning 25

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. He then became a goalkeeping coach, working with numerous clubs in the English game until joining

Martin O'Neill Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who played as a midfielder. After a brief early career in the Irish Leag ...

's coaching team 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 ...

in 2011. In November 2013 he was appointed to the same role with the Republic of Ireland national team by O'Neill, and in 2019 he followed O'Neill to

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 ...

as head goalkeeping coach.

Playing career

McDonagh started his career at his hometown club

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

, and spent a month on loan at

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

in 1973, before joining

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

, initially on loan, taking over from the recently departed

Barry Siddall Barry Alfred Siddall (born 12 September 1954) is an English former professional football goalkeeper. When he retired from the game he had 614 appearances over a 21-year career in the Football League, playing for numerous clubs. He played for 1 ...

. An ever-present during the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

Championship-winning side of 1977–78, he set a club record of conceding only 33 goals in a 42-match season. For the following two seasons in the top flight he was also an ever-present and did well enough for Everton to sign him for £250,000 when Bolton were relegated in 1979–80. Within a year

Neville Southall Neville Southall (born 16 September 1958) is a Welsh Manager (association football), football manager and former international association football, footballer. He has been described as one of the best Goalkeeper (association football), goalk ...

had come through the ranks at Everton and McDonagh found himself back at Bolton. Another relegation followed in 1982–83, even with McDonagh managing to score a goal, and he moved on to

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

for two seasons before wandering around a further six English clubs as well as teams in the USA. It was while he was at Bolton that he received the first of 25 caps for

. He qualified to play for Ireland through his father Michael who came from Midfield, County Mayo.

Coaching career

He was appointed player/manager of

Galway United Galway United Football Club () is an Irish professional football club based in Galway. They play in the League of Ireland Premier Division following promotion from the First Division in 2023. They were founded as Galway Rovers F.C. during the ...

in 1988 when they were in the relegation zone. Despite helping save the club from relegation his contract was unilaterally terminated by United in May 1989. McDonagh went on to have coaching positions at clubs including

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 ...

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

and

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

. He was appointed

's first-team goalkeeping coach by

on 6 December 2011. O'Neill then appointed him to the same role with the Republic of Ireland national team in November 2013. On 21 November 2018, O'Neill and his backroom staff parted company with the FAI, and in January 2019, McDonagh followed O'Neill to Nottingham Forest as head goalkeeping coach.

References

General * Specific

External links

Playing career

Coaching career

See also

References

External links