Paul Doolin (born 26 March 1963) is an Irish former

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. Who mostly recently managed

NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and Irish Premiership colloquially, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football L ...

side

Portadown Portadown ( ) is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town is based on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population ...

Career

He played for Bohemians, scoring on his debut on 13 September 1981. In April 1983 he played for the

League of Ireland XI The League of Ireland XI, more recently referred to as the Airtricity League XI for sponsorship reasons, is the representative team of the League of Ireland, the national association football league of Ireland. For much of its history, the League ...

U21s against their Italian League counterparts who included

Roberto Mancini Roberto Mancini (; born 27 November 1964) is an Italian football manager and former player who was most recently the head coach of the Saudi Arabia national team. As a player, Mancini operated as a deep-lying forward, and was best known for h ...

and

Gianluca Vialli Gianluca Vialli (; 9 July 1964 – 5 January 2023) was an Italian football player and manager who played as a striker. Vialli started his club career at his hometown club Cremonese in 1980, where he made 105 league appearances and scored 23 g ...

in their team. In June 1985 he signed for

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

and in his three years at the club won the double twice scoring 30 goals in 107 appearances. In his first season at Milltown he was the club's top goalscorer with 11 goals. He made six appearances in European competition for the Hoops and played for the

in 5 Olympics qualifiers. In 1988, he joined Derry City, where he won a domestic treble in 1989. In his two seasons he scored 29 goals in 92 appearances. He then joined

and became the only player to win a League and Cup double both north and south of the border. In November 1991 he again signed for

, but this spell was less successful and Doolin left after 1 goal in 21 appearances to join Shelbourne where he won the

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...

in 1993. In August 1996, he had his second spell at Bohemians before moving to

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

and then returning to Shelbourne and helping them to the double of the league championship and FAI Cup in 2000. Since his retirement, Doolin has moved into management and first took the reins at UCD, but left to take over at Drogheda with the Students 11 points adrift at the bottom of the table en route to a first relegation in 15 years. At

Drogheda United Drogheda United Football Club is a professional Irish association football club based in Drogheda, County Louth playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They play their home matches at Sullivan & Lambe Park. The current club is the ...

, he led them to a first ever

success (2005), as well as successive

Setanta Sports Cup The Setanta Sports Cup was a club football (soccer), football competition featuring teams from both football associations on the island of Ireland. Inaugurated in 2005, it was a cross-border competition between clubs in the League of Ireland from ...

victories in 2006 and 2007, defeating

Cork City Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...

(twice) and Linfield respectively. He also led them to a first ever League title in 2007. Having parted ways with Drogheda due to the club's precarious financial situation, Doolin joined

as manager on 13 January 2009 on a two-year, full-time contract. Despite the team finishing 3rd in the 2009 League of Ireland Premier Division, Doolin resigned in November of that year, following a series of off-field financial problems at the club. In September 2010, Doolin was named as manager of the Republic of Ireland under-19 side. On 18 August 2021, Doolin was named as manager of

League of Ireland First Division The League of Ireland First Division, also known as the SSE Airtricity League First Division for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland football league system. The division w ...

club Athlone Town. In 2022 Doolin would make his return to football management with former club

in Northern Ireland. However he resigned in October.

Sources

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doolin, Paul 1963 births Living people Association footballers from County Dublin Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association football midfielders Republic of Ireland association football managers University College Dublin A.F.C. managers Drogheda United F.C. managers Cork City F.C. managers Athlone Town A.F.C. managers League of Ireland managers Bohemian F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Derry City F.C. players Shelbourne F.C. players University College Dublin A.F.C. players League of Ireland players Portadown F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players NIFL Premiership players League of Ireland XI players Portadown F.C. managers 20th-century Irish sportsmen NIFL Premiership managers