Mark Anthony Kinsella (born 12 August 1972) is an Irish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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 ...

and former player, currently a coach at Drogheda United after previously being both the manager and assistant manager. He played as a

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 ...

for most of his career. Kinsella began his career at

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 ...

, before spells at Charlton Athletic,

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 ...

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

and

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. The town is the administrative centre of the wider Lewes (district), district of the same name. It lies on the River Ouse, Sussex, River Ouse at the point where the river cuts through the Sou ...

. He played 48 times 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. ...

, scoring three goals and playing in the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

in Japan and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. Kinsella is a former manager of Daventry Town.

Club career

Colchester United

Kinsella joined

as a 17-year-old (he was actually signed by the legendary ex-Rangers manager Jock Wallace) and played there for seven seasons, including two in the Conference, and played at Wembley in 1992 when Colchester won the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

. He was nicknamed "Sheedy" by the fans, in honour of the Everton player, and is among the club's most revered former players.

Charlton Athletic

Kinsella moved to Charlton Athletic in September 1996 for £150,000. At Charlton he captained the team to a dramatic victory over

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 the 1998 Division 1 Play-off Final, with Kinsella scoring one of the penalties in the shootout. Following relegation after only one season in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

in 1999, Kinsella lifted the First Division championship trophy with Charlton the following year, with the South East London outfit returning to the top-flight in 2000. Kinsella is remembered by Charlton fans as a turning point in their recent history, His skill, talent and sometimes individual carrying of the team in the 1998–99 season places him above that of Richard Rufus, Clive Mendonca, Andy Hunt and John Robinson in Charlton's list of greats in the late 1990s teams. In 2001, he suffered an injury, which allowed Scott Parker to take his place in the team. Kinsella could not reclaim his place in the Charlton first team after coming back from injury, so he was sold to

in 2002, for a fee of £1 million.

Aston Villa

Kinsella made his debut for

on 24 August 2002 against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

. He later went on to make 24 appearances in his first season. After a good start in the first half of the 2002–03 season he rarely made an appearance in the second half of the season and had a couple injuries that set him back. In Kinsella's second season he only made two appearances and left Aston Villa mid-season in early 2004.

West Bromwich Albion

Kinsella moved to

in January 2004, on a short-term contract until the end of the season. He made 18 appearances for the club, helping them to win promotion to the Premiership. His only goal for Albion came in a 3–0 win over Coventry City on 6 March 2004.

Walsall

Kinsella then transferred to

in July 2004, signing a two-year deal. After two injury damaged seasons, Kinsella took charge of Walsall on a caretaker basis, following Kevan Broadhurst's sacking in April 2006, earning one win and suffering one defeat in his two games in charge. He continued to combine playing and coaching at Walsall before being lured back to Charlton in December 2006. His last professional match was in Walsall's League Two home defeat to promotion rivals

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 ...

on 9 December 2006. Kinsella scored two goals for Walsall, once against

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil () is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydfil, daughter of K ...

in the FA Cup, and once against Wycombe Wanderers in the league.

International career

Kinsella won 48 caps for the Irish national team, scoring 3 times and was named Irish Footballer of the Year in 2000. He also captained the side in a friendly against Finland in November 2000. Although rarely remembered, he formed an excellent midfield partnership with

Roy Keane Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971) is an Irish football pundit, former coach, and former professional player. He is best known for his career in the Premier League, in particular his captaincy of Manchester United. He is the joint most ...

in the qualifying stages for the 2002

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

. Keane was quoted as stating that Ireland's form during that campaign was down to the presence and performances of Kinsella. After Keane's much publicised dismissal from the squad before the 2002

, Kinsella formed a solid partnership with future Charlton player Matt Holland.

Managerial and coaching career

While still a player at Walsall, Kinsella took on the additional roles of reserve-team manager and first-team coach. He was appointed development coach at Charlton Athletic in December 2006, with responsibility for the development of young professional players, liaison with the academy and the managing the reserve team. After the appointment of Alan Pardew, Kinsella's role was changed to that of reserve-team manager. It was announced on 10 June 2008 that he has been given a new one-year contract at the club. In November 2008 when Alan Pardew left Charlton by mutual consent, Kinsella left his post as Reserve team manager, being replaced by U18 Youth Coach Damian Matthew, to adopt a more senior role in the first team, helping Caretaker manager Phil Parkinson, while a replacement for Pardew was found. In December 2008, Parkinson was confirmed as the new Charlton manager, and Kinsella assumed the role of first-team coach permanently. He was sacked along with Phil Parkinson on 4 January 2011. He was linked with return to his former club

as manager in August 2009, but the job went to Aidy Boothroyd. He became manager of Daventry Town in June 2011, leaving the club in July 2012. Having left Daventry, Kinsella joined former St Neots Town manager Dennis Greene's coaching staff at

Conference North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 o ...

side

Histon Histon is a village and civil parish in the South Cambridgeshire district, in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is immediately north of Cambridge – and is separated from the city – by the A14 road (England), A14 road which runs eas ...

in August 2012. Mark was appointed

assistant manager on 27 September 2012, to work alongside fellow Irishman

Joe Dunne Joseph John Dunne (born 25 May 1973) is an Irish Manager (association football), football manager and former association football, footballer. He is youth team manager at Gillingham F.C., Gillingham. Dunne played as a defender (association fo ...

. On 1 September 2014, Mark Kinsella was sacked as assistant manager of

. On 29 November 2014, Kinsella was announced as assistant manager of

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 ...

side Drogheda United. Kinsella replaced Johnny McDonnell as manager following McDonnell's departure from the club after a 4–1 home defeat to bottom side Limerick. On 10 November 2015, Drogheda appointed Pete Mahon as manager and Kinsella stepped back into a coaching role. On 16 April 2016, the

Football Association of Ireland The Football Association of Ireland (FAI; ) is the governing body for association football in the Republic of Ireland. Organisation The FAI has an executive committee of five members under the president, who receive expenses, as well as a p ...

announced that Kinsella, along with former internationals

Damien Duff Damien Anthony Duff (born 2 March 1979) is an Irish professional manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player. He is the manager of League of Ireland club Shelbourne F.C., Shelbourne. He began his pro ...

, Kenny Cunningham, Keith Andrews and Stephen McPhail, would help coach some of the Republic of Ireland's youth players. Then on 31 August 2018 Kinsella moved to a specific role with the under-21s team.

Personal life

He is the father of Liam Kinsella and 2020 Olympic bronze medallist Alice Kinsella.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Colchester United *

Football Conference The National League of English Football Clubs is a professional Association football, football league in England that consists of 72 teams, divided equally between the National League (division), National League North and National League South ...

: 1991–92 *

: 1991–92 Charlton Athletic *

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

: 1999–2000 Individual * FAI Senior International Player of the Year: 2000 *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...

: 1995–96 Third Division, 1999–2000 First Division * Colchester United F.C. Player of the Year: 1993–94, 1995–96 * Charlton Athletic Player of the Year: 1997–98, 1998–99

References

External links

* *
Aston Villa former players
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinsella, Mark Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association football midfielders Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Home Farm F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Premier League players 2002 FIFA World Cup players Association footballers from Dublin (city) 1972 births Living people People educated at St Aidan's C.B.S. Charlton Athletic F.C. non-playing staff Colchester United F.C. non-playing staff Irish association football coaches English Football League players