Paul Munster (born 9 February 1982) is a Northern Irish professional

football manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...

and 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 ...

who played as a striker who is currently the head coach of Liga 1 club Bhayangkara Presisi.

Playing career

Munster began his career at youth level with

Cliftonville Cliftonville is a coastal area of Margate in the Thanet District, Thanet district of Kent, England. It includes the Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay estate, built in the 1930s with wide avenues and detached and semi-detached houses with driveways, gar ...

in 2001. He traveled to

Kitchener, Ontario Kitchener is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario, about west of Toronto. It is one of three cities that make up the Regional Municipality of Waterloo and is the regional Administrative centre, seat. Kitchener was known as Berlin until a ...

in order to conduct a six-week sport and school exchange to coach. While conducting lessons he severely torn his knee ligament. As a result, his club released him from his contract effectively sidelining his career. He returned to Canada in 2004 in order to assist Eddie Edgar with his coaching academy. Edgar secured him a trial with London City of the Canadian Professional Soccer League. After a successful trial he played with club's reserve squad, where he scored 12 goals in 3 matches to promote him to the first team. He made his debut on 18 June 2004 against

Metro Lions Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

, where he scored in his debut in a 2–1 defeat. What followed was a stellar season where he became an instant success by finishing as the league's top goalscorer with 25 goals in 19 appearances. The league recognized his contributions with the CPSL Rookie of the Year award. After an impressive debut season in the CPSL he was signed by

Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in t ...

of the

Czech First League The Czech First League () also known as the Chance Liga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Czech Republic and the highest level of the Czech Republic football league system. Seasons typically run from A ...

. He became the first Irishman to play in the league when he made his debut on 21 November 2004 against

FK Chmel Blšany FK Chmel Blšany was a Czech football club based in the village of Blšany. The club played in the Czech First League between 1998 and 2006 and was the first professional club of goalkeeper Petr Čech. The club disbanded in 2016 after resigning f ...

. After one season with Slavia Prague where he appeared in 3 league matches and voted fans player of the month. In 2006, he went to Scandinavia to sign with

Örebro SK Örebro Sportklubb, more commonly known as Örebro SK, Örebro or (especially locally) ÖSK, is a Swedish professional football club based in Örebro. The club are affiliated to Örebro Läns Fotbollförbund and play their home games at Behrn ...

of the

Superettan Superettan (; ) is an association football league and the second highest league in the Swedish football league system, league system of Swedish football, Swedish men's football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and rel ...

. Midway through the season he was transferred to Bunkeflo IF in the

Division 1 Division 1 or Division One may refer to: Association football * Azadegan League, the second-tier professional football league in Iran * Brisbane Premier League Division 1, the second-tier professional football league in Brisbane, Queensland, Austr ...

, where he assisted in promoting the club to the Superettan. He returned to the Czech Republic to play with SK Hradec Kralove in the

Czech National Football League The Czech National Football League (, ''FNL''), known as Chance Národní Liga due to sponsorship reasons, is the second level professional association football league in the Czech Republic. Before 2013 it was known as 2. liga or Druhá liga. The ...

. He finished as the club's top goalscorer with 10 goals. In 2008, he returned home to sign with Linfield in the Irish League Premiership. In his first season with Linfield the lethal striker scored an impressive 17 goals in 20 starts. Throughout his tenure with Linfield he won the league title and

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Clearer Water Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary Association football, football single elimination, knockout cup compet ...

in 2009/10 and 2010/11, and was the club's top goalscorer in the 2009/2010 season. In January 2011 Linfield rejected an offer from

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Hellas Verona (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Verona, Veneto, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won ...

of the

Lega Pro The Lega Italiano Calcio Professionistico (Italian for Professional Football Italian League), commonly known as Lega Pro (Pro League), is the governing body that runs the third tier of professional football competitions in Italy, the Serie C. I ...

. The offer was turned down by the Belfast club, even though Munster was leaving in the summer as a free agent. After his contract expired he signed with

FC Anker Wismar FC Anker Wismar is a German association football club based in Wismar, Germany, currently playing in the Verbandsliga Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. History This club's origins dates back to 1904 when the ''FC Elite Wismar'' were established. The ...

in the

NOFV-Oberliga Nord The NOFV-Oberliga Nord is the fifth tier of the German football league system in the northern states of the former East Germany and West Berlin. It covers the States of Germany, German states of Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania a ...

Managerial career

Sweden clubs

In 2012, Munster retired from competitive football in order to manage

Assyriska BK Assyriska BK is a Swedish football club based in Västra Frölunda, Gothenburg. The club was formed in 1985 by Assyrian immigrants and is currently playing in Division 2 Västra Götaland which is the fourth tier of Swedish football. They play ...

in the Swedish Football Division 2. The following season he was appointed manager of

Örebro Syrianska IF Örebro Syrianska IF is a Swedish football club from Örebro Örebro ( ; ) is the seventh-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmar ...

in the

. In 2014, he was given managerial responsibilities at

BK Forward Bollklubben Forward, commonly known as BK Forward, is a football team from Örebro, Sweden. They play in Div 2 Norra Götaland. The club plays in a small multipurpose stadium called Trängens IP. The base of the club is in the western end of dow ...

, and was appointed head coach of the

under-19 team.

Minerva Punjab

On 8 August 2018, Munster was appointed Technical Director and Head Coach for Indian

I-League The I-League is the men's second professional football division of the Indian football league system behind the Indian Super League. Administered by the All India Football Federation, it is currently contested by 13 clubs. It operates as a s ...

club Minerva Punjab. Munster won the Punjab Super State League for the first time in the clubs history after going undefeated in 11 games, adding a 2nd trophy winning the J&K Invitational cup. On 8 February 2019, he announced his resignation, citing personal reasons.

Vanuatu

On 24 February 2019, Munster was named the head coach for the

Vanuatu national football team The Vanuatu men's national football team () represents Vanuatu in men's international football competitions. The team is governed by the Vanuatu Football Federation, which is currently a member of FIFA and the Oceania Football Confederation. H ...

Bhayangkara FC

Eight months later, he was offered a contract to manage

Bhayangkara F.C. Bhayangkara Presisi Lampung Football Club, simply known as Bhayangkara Presisi, is an Indonesian professional football club based in Bandar Lampung, Lampung. The club is linked to the Indonesian National Police. The name of the club is based on ...

in the Indonesian Liga 1, and he was appointed as their new coach on 1 September 2019. Arriving halfway through the season with the club in 13th place, Munster managed to finish the season in 4th place and as Siem Reap Super Asia Cup Champions, beating Malaysian club Petaling Jaya City 2–1 in the final in Cambodia. Arriving halfway through the season with the club in 13th place, Munster managed to finish the season in 4th place and as Siem Reap Super Asia Cup Champions, beating Malaysian club Petaling Jaya City 2–1 in the final in Cambodia. The 2021–22 Season was Munster's final season with the club, finishing in 3rd place, and qualifying for the

AFC Cup The AFC Champions League Two (abbreviated as the ACL Two or ACL2) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. It is the second-tier competition of Asian club football, ranked below the AFC C ...

. The 2021–22 Season was Munster's final season with the club, finishing in 3rd place, and qualifying for the

. Munster left Bhayangkara on 31 March 2022, after his contract wasn't renewed.

Brunei

On 17 August 2022, Munster was unveiled as the new technical director of the

Brunei national football team The Brunei national football team (; recognised as Brunei Darussalam by FIFA), nicknamed ''Tebuan'' (The Wasps), is the National sports team, national team of Brunei, controlled by the Football Association of Brunei Darussalam. The team was fo ...

. Under his watch, Brunei managed to qualify for the

2022 AFF Championship The 2022 AFF Championship (officially AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2022 due to sponsorship reasons) was the 14th edition of the AFF Championship, the football championship of nations affiliated to the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) and was the 1 ...

for the first time in 26 years.

Persebaya Surabaya

In winter of 2024, he returned to the Indonesian top-tier by becoming the manager for

Persebaya Surabaya Persatuan Sepakbola Surabaya ( 'Football Association of Surabaya'), commonly known as Persebaya Surabaya or simply Persebaya (), is an Indonesian professional association football, football club based in Surabaya, East Java. The club currentl ...

Return to Bhayangkara

On 19 June 2025, Munster returned to become the head coach of Bhayangkara Presisi.

Managerial statistics

Honours

As player Linfield * Irish League Championship: 3 ** 2007–08, 2009–10,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

: 2 ** 2009–10,

Individual * Linfield Player of the Year: 2008–09 * Canadian Professional Soccer League Golden Boot:

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

* Canadian Professional Soccer League Rookie of the Year:

As coach * Siem Reap Super Asia Cup 2020 * Tri Nations League 2019 * Punjab Super League 2018 * J&K Invitational Cup 2018 * Swedish Cup U-19 called " Svenska Cupen" in 2017 with Örebro Sportklubb U-19 * Best Irish Coach of abroad 2016-2017 Individual * Liga 1 Coach of the Month: September 2024

References

External links