Martin Tierney (born 4 April 1966) is a Scottish TV pundit and former professional footballer.

Playing career

Tierney started his career in the youth ranks alongside

Alan McInally Alan Bruce McInally (born 10 February 1963) is a Scottish former professional footballer, who played for Ayr United, Celtic, Aston Villa, Bayern Munich and Kilmarnock. Ayr-born McInally variously went by the nicknames of Rambo and Big Mac ...

Ayr United Ayr United Football Club are a football club in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Formed in 1910 by the merger of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., their nickname i ...

. In four years with the club, Tierney never made a first team appearance. He then moved to play in Ireland for a number of Irish clubs including

Bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, orig ...

and

Kilkenny City Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilkenn ...

. Tierney moved in the early 1990s to Asia, signing for

PDRM FC Royal Malaysia Police Football Club (), well known as PDRM FC, is a Malaysian professional football club associated with the entity of the Royal Malaysia Police, that participate in the Malaysia Super League. The club is based in Kuala Lumpur. ...

in the Malaysian Liga Perdana and then moving onto

Penang F.C. Penang Football Club (or simply known as Penang FC) is a Malaysian professional football club based in George Town, Penang, that competes in the Malaysia Super League. Unofficially founded in 1920, officially as Football Association of Penang ...

also in the Liga Perdana. In 1996 Tierney then moved to play in the North American Professional Leagues starting with

Houston Hotshots The Houston Hotshots are a professional indoor soccer team in Houston, Texas. They play in the Premier Arena Soccer League (PASL) From 1994 to 1997 and 2000–2001, the Houston Hotshots were a full professional indoor soccer team in Houst ...

of the

Continental Indoor Soccer League The Continental Indoor Soccer League (CISL) was a professional indoor soccer league that played from 1993 to 1997. History In the summer of 1989 Dr Jerry Buss, the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and California Sports, told his executive Vice Pr ...

(CISL). Houston Hotshots who made the North American National final that year for the first time in club history. In 1997 he then moved back to Asia to play with Singapore champions

Geylang International FC Geylang International Football Club is a professional football club based in Bedok, Singapore, which plays in the Singapore Premier League, the top division of football in Singapore. The club was founded in 1973 with the purpose of building a s ...

and enjoyed being one of the first Scottish players to play in the

Asian Club Championship The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

(AFC Champions League) and also reaching the

Singapore FA Singapore FA was a representative team of footballers representing the Football Association of Singapore in domestic competitions run by the Football Association of Malaysia. This is separate from the Singapore national team. As it permits o ...

Cup

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

where Tierney won man of the match honours and was also nominated for the S.League player of the year in 1997. In 1998 he moved back to play in USA professional

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competit ...

for

Connecticut Wolves The Connecticut Wolves were an American soccer club that was founded by the Clifton Onolfo, the Onolfo Family, and several investors including Tony DiCicco. The Club's inaugural match was attended by 5,200 plus fans and competed in the United Soc ...

(American 1st Division before MLS). For 1999 and 2000 Tierney played both indoor and outdoor soccer for Tulsa Roughnecks known as

Tulsa Roughnecks Tulsa Roughnecks may refer to any of four distinct professional soccer teams: * Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984), the original top-flight team that played in the North American Soccer League from 1978 to 1984. * Tulsa Roughnecks (1993–2000), the te ...

, despite offers from England, but retired in 2000 due to injury.

Coaching career

Between 1999 and 2004 Tierney was the Director of Coaching for Tulsa Thunder S.C. Including where he coached one his club teams who for the first time in club history qualified for the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships under 18s finals held at the Disney

ESPN Wide World of Sports The ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex is a multi-purpose sports complex located in the Walt Disney World Resort, in Bay Lake, Florida, United States, near Orlando. The complex includes nine venues and hosts numerous professional and amateur s ...

Complex in Florida and major tournament including the

Dallas Cup The ''Dallas Cup'', is an annual international football tournament for invited youth teams. The tournament was established i1980and is held in Dallas, Texas, with FC Dallas serving as its host club. Venues used for the tournament include the Cot ...

. Also while coaching in the United States he was offered the opportunity to work with elite youth players and also elite college players from the likes of

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church and the campus architectural style is predominantly Collegiate Gothic. The school traces its origin ...

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

and

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

. For part of the 1999 Tulsa Roughnecks season Tierney was appointed player-coach. Also in 2000 to present day he became Head Coach and Director of coaching of Soccer Experience international teams for soccer camps, clinics and overseas events including elite soccer events in USA, Asia, Spain and the UK coaching against world class teams including

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in ...

Glasgow Rangers Rangers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the Govan district of Glasgow which plays in the Scottish Premiership. Although not its official name, it is often referred to as Glasgow Rangers outside Scotland. The fo ...

, Glasgow

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

and more. In 2014 he was appointed Head Coach and Director of coaching for Soccer Experience FC in Spain where some of the teams won Spanish leagues and cup competitions and also played against world class teams including Spanish giants

, and regular Peruvian champions and Copa Americas team

Sporting Cristal Club Sporting Cristal S.A. is a Peruvian sports club located in the city of Lima, best known for its football team. It was founded on 13 December 1955 in the Rímac district by engineer Richard Bentín Mujica and his wife Esther Grande de Bentí ...

. From 2017 onwards, Martin involve in coaching and helping Scottish Premier League Academy Team including St. Johnstone vs Celtic FC Academy. In 2018 and 2019 he was player-coach of Nottingham Forest at the Hong Kong FC international soccer 7s where the team reached the main final for the first time. In 2019 Tierney was appointed Head coach of the USA veterans team at the Senior World Cup held in Thailand. Also In 2019 he was Head coach of Soccer Experience FC who went undefeated in open play at the JSSL international youth elite tournament in Singapore coaching against some of Asia biggest clubs. Martin have coaching licenses from all over the world including

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs foo ...

AFC AFC may stand for: Organizations * Action for Children, a UK children's charity * AFC Enterprises, the franchisor of Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits * Africa Finance Corporation, a pan-African multilateral development finance institution * A ...

and USSF.

Broadcasting career

Confederations Cup TV Astro coverage June 2013 with Jason D and Tony C

In 2009, Tierney began appearing as a football expert in the studios of Malaysian network

Astro Astro may refer to: Entertainment and media * Astro (South Korean band), a South Korean boy band * Astro (UB40) (1957–2021), member of the British reggae band UB40 * Astro (Chilean band), a Chilean indie rock band * Astro (Japanese band), a ...

. with coverage of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

and a regular studio guest for the

English Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

coverage and the

FourFourTwo TV Show {{Use dmy dates, date=September 2013 ''FourFourTwo'' is a thrice-weekly football magazine television show on Asian cable channel, Astro SuperSport, broadcasting to Malaysia and Brunei in association with global football magazine, FourFourTwo. In ...

with the SuperSport channels, Also Tierney as a football expert worked with other ex footballer guest pundits like

Tony Cottee Antony Richard Cottee (born 11 July 1965) is an English former professional association football, footballer and manager who now works as a television football commentator. As a player, he was a striker (association football), striker from 198 ...

, Ian Walker,

Lee Sharpe Lee Stuart Sharpe (born 27 May 1971) is an English professional golfer, former professional footballer, sports television pundit and reality television personality. As a player was predominantly a left winger from 1988 to 2004, he notably play ...

with Malaysian network

, hosted by

Jason Dasey Jason Dasey (born 11 April 1962) is an Australian-born TV and radio broadcaster, journalist, emcee and media executive working for Nine Radio as a radio host and ABC News as a digital journalist. He is best known for being the first Australian ...

who is a TV and radio broadcaster. Tierney covered major tournaments, including

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

and

2013 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup was the ninth FIFA Confederations Cup, which was held in Brazil from 15 to 30 June 2013 as a prelude to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The most recent winners of the six continental championships appeared in the tourna ...

Post-retirement career

Tierney has started his own company, Soccer Experience which provides soccer and coaching services. While in the USA he was offered the opportunity to become a director of coaching who worked with elite youth players and also elite college players from the likes of

is also a pundit on the Astro Supersport coverage of the English Premier League.

Personal life

Martin's son Fergus Tierney is also a professional footballer, who plays for the Malaysia national team.

Playing career

Coaching career

Broadcasting career

Post-retirement career

Personal life

References

External links