Michael Flanagan (born 9 November 1952) is an English 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 manager.

Playing career

Flanagan made his debut for

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

in the 1971-72 season and formed a successful partnership with

Derek Hales Derek David Hales (born 15 December 1951) is an English former footballer who played as a striker. He is the all-time leading goalscorer for Charlton Athletic, with his most prolific season being 1975–76, when he scored 28 league goals and w ...

, although the pair were once sent off in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

tie for fighting each other. During the summer of 1978 Flanagan crossed the Atlantic and signed for the

New England Tea Men The New England Tea Men were an American professional soccer team based in the Greater Boston metropolitan area. They played in the North American Soccer League (1968–1984), North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1978 to 1980. Their home ve ...

of the NASL, and subsequently scored 30 goals in 28 league appearances. He also won the

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

award (Most Valuable Player) for the 1978 season, ahead of such players as the legendary

Franz Beckenbauer Franz Anton Beckenbauer (; 11 September 1945 – 7 January 2024) was a German professional football player, manager, and official. Nicknamed ("the Emperor"), he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, and is one of nine p ...

. In summer 1979 he joined

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

for £650,000 where he played 56 games scoring 8 goals. December 1980 saw him join

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

. He was capped three times by England 'B', scoring once. Whilst at QPR he played in the 1982 FA Cup Final.

Managerial career

Flanagan managed Gillingham from 1993 until 1995. He also had a spell as manager of

Waterford United Waterford Football Club formerly Waterford United Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Waterford who play in the League of Ireland Premier Division. The club was founded and elected to the league in 1930. Originally the ...

. He later became assistant manager of

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

, a post he left in July 2007. He was caretaker manager at Maldon & Tiptree from November 2011 until May 2012, and managed Brentwood Town between 2015 and 2016, a club where his son Adam has previously been manager.Flanagan Moves On After Drop
Isthmian League

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flanagan, Mike 1952 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Redbridge People from Ilford Men's association football forwards English men's footballers English people of Irish descent Charlton Athletic F.C. players New England Tea Men players Crystal Palace F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players England men's B international footballers North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players English football managers League of Ireland managers Gillingham F.C. managers Waterford F.C. managers Maldon & Tiptree F.C. managers Brentwood Town F.C. managers English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States English expatriate men's footballers English Football League players