Jean-Michel (Mich) d'Avray (born 19 February 1962 in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a Megacity#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

, South Africa) is a former professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...

er who spent the majority of his playing career at

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn professio ...

. He was most recently Technical Director at

Ajax Cape Town Cape Town Spurs F.C. (formerly known as Ajax Cape Town) is a South African professional football club based in Parow in the city of Cape Town that plays in the National First Division. Dutch Eredivisie club AFC Ajax was their parent club and m ...

until 2018. He now lives in

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

, where he managed

Perth Glory FC Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues. Founded in 1 ...

from 2001 to 2006.

Club career

D'Avray's professional football career began when he made his debut for

against

Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

Portman Road Portman Road is a football stadium in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, which has been the home ground of Ipswich Town F.C. since 1884. The stadium has also hosted many England youth international matches, and one senior England friendly internation ...

in November 1979. Over the next 11 seasons he made more than 200 appearances for the club, scoring nearly 40 goals. D'Avray contributed to Ipswich's victorious 1980-81 UEFA Cup campaign, making one appearance during the run. However he wasn't part of the squad for the

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 ...

itself. He also had a brief spell on loan to

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the Nation ...

where he made three appearances during the 1986–87 season. He went on to play for Dutch club

NEC Nijmegen NEC Nijmegen (''Nijmegen Eendracht Combinatie''), commonly known as NEC (), is a professional Dutch association football club based in Nijmegen. The club currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, following promotion f ...

28 times between 1990 and 1992.

International career

While playing for Ipswich, d'Avray won two

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

s for England at Under-21 level. He scored once, against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

to help England into the final of the

1984 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship The 1984 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 4th staging of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship. The qualifying stage spanned two years (1982–84) and had 30 entrants. Albania, Iceland and Wales competed in the competition for the firs ...

Managerial career

D'Avray started his managerial career in 1991 with the

Moroka Swallows Moroka Swallows Football Club (often known as simply Swallows or The Birds) is a South African professional football club based in Soweto in the city of Johannesburg in the Gauteng province. Founded in 1947, Swallows are one of the original two ...

in Johannesburg where he remained for just one season before moving to the

Cape Town Spurs A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...

. He was awarded the South African Coach of the Year award in 1993 before leading the Spurs to a league and cup

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

in the 1993–94 season. From 1993 to 1997 he coached the South African Under-23 team, leading them out in 1994 for their inaugural game against

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

. He coached the squad for a total of 28 games, his final match coming in December 1997 against

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The south ...

. In 1998, he moved to Australia to join

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 ...

team

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in Perth, Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under Professional sports league organi ...

as assistant manager before becoming manager in 2001. He led the team to the league title in 2003 and 2004. and succeeded

Lawrie McKinna Lawrie McKinna (born 8 July 1961) is a Scottish-Australian former football player, coach, and former Mayor of Gosford City Council. In 2012, McKinna stood for election as an independent for City of Gosford. Lawrie was successful in gaining a s ...

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...

(NSL) Coach of the Year, winning the accolade in the 2003–04 season, the final time the award was made. D'Avray became Technical director of the Glory in 2005 but held the position for just one season. He joined

Bloemfontein Celtic Bloemfontein Celtic Football Club (simply known as Celtic) is a South African amateur football club based in Bloemfontein that competes in the ABC Motsepe League, the third tier of the South African football league system. Bloemfontein Celtic h ...

at the start of the 2008–09 season. In January 2009 he was replaced as Coach by Owen da Gama after a poor run of performances that left Celtic close to relegation. D'Avray remained on the staff as a development coach. He is married to his wife Angela and has 2 children. He holds a

UEFA Pro Licence UEFA, the governing body for football in Europe, mandates several coaching licences for professional managers, each valid for coaching at a certain level. These include the UEFA Pro Licence, the UEFA A Licence, and the UEFA B Licence. They are is ...

Honours

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, cla ...

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major off ...

References

External links

Ipswich Town profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:d'Avray, Jean-Michel 1962 births Living people English footballers England under-21 international footballers South African soccer players Ipswich Town F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players UEFA Cup winning players Perth Glory FC managers Expatriate soccer managers in Australia Sportspeople from Johannesburg Association football forwards English sportspeople of South African descent English people of French descent South African people of French descent English football managers