Ronald Joseph McFall MBE (born 3 October 1947) is a former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and former manager of

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 ...

sides Glentoran and

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 ...

. He was most notably manager of hometown club Portadown for 29 years from December 1986 until his resignation in March 2016. At the time of his resignation he was the longest-serving manager in European club football, having held the record ever since

Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former professional football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as the greatest manager of all time and ...

stood down as

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

manager in 2013. He had two spells managing Glentoran, between 1979 and 1984 and 2018 and 2019. As a player, McFall represented Portadown (twice),

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

, Ards, Glentoran (becoming Irish League champion with the latter). Managing in Irish League football for over 30 years, McFall is amongst the most successful managers in the history of the Irish League having claimed five league titles, four

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 ...

s and 20 other trophies during his time with Glentoran and Portadown. McFall was the first person to be rewarded the freedom of the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon area for his immense contribution to sport. He is also a five time Manager of the Year award winner, and the uncle of current

defender Ross Redman.

Playing career

Club

As a player Ronnie McFall played as a full-back. He made his debut for

in August 1964 in a Mid-Ulster derby match against Glenavon in the Ulster Cup. The following season he was signed by

for £4,000, where he became a regular in the reserve side but failed to make an appearance for the first team. He was released in April 1967 and went on to play for Ards, Portadown again, and Glentoran. McFall played in the

1974–75 UEFA Cup The 1974–75 UEFA Cup was the fourth season of the UEFA Cup, the third-tier club football competition organised by UEFA. The final was played over two legs at the Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, West Germany, and at the Diekman Stadion, Enschede ...

for Portadown. He also played in four 1977–78 European Cup games for the Glens, two of which came against a

Giovanni Trapattoni Giovanni Trapattoni (; born 17 March 1939), popularly nicknamed "Trap" or "Il Trap", is an Italian former Association football, football manager and former player, considered the most successful club coach of Football in Italy, Italian football ...

led

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

International

He won Northern Ireland Youth caps and also represented the Irish League against the

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

in 1974.

Managerial career

Glentoran (1979–1984)

McFall took his first managerial appointment, initially as player-manager, at Glentoran in January 1979. Although he helped the club to an Irish League title in 1981 and an Irish Cup win in 1983 he was sacked in December 1984 after a poor run of results.

Portadown (1986–2016)

In December 1986, McFall was appointed as manager at Portadown. He established the Ports as challengers for major honours, leading them to their first ever Irish League title in 1990 and first Irish Cup the following year. McFall won 23 trophies with Portadown and is the club's most successful manager of all time. McFall was appointed as the Northern Ireland U23 manager for the International Challenge Trophy Series in 2009

He celebrated 29 years in charge of Portadown in December 2015, and his 1000th league game in November 2013.McFall reaches 1,000 with Portadown
- UEFA He resigned as Portadown manager on 5 March 2016, after a shock 3–2 2015–16 Irish Cup#Quarter-finals, Irish Cup quarter-final defeat at home against second-tier side Lurgan Celtic. At the time of his retirement from Portadown, McFall had managed a total of 1,764 games in Irish League football, of which 1,483 came with Portadown.

Glentoran (2018–2019)

He returned to management on 22 February 2018, taking over as Glentoran manager from Gary Haveron who had been sacked the previous day. He was joined by Kieran Harding, Gary Smyth and Paul Leeman. However a poor run of form between October 2018 and January 2019, which saw the club go on its longest winless run in its history, paved the way for McFall's exit on 3 January 2019. He was replaced by Gary Smyth.

Statistics

''(Statistics apply without mid-ulster cup finals excluding finals they won)''

Honours

As a player

Portadown * Gold Cup: 1971–72 * Texaco Cup: 1973–74 *Carlsberg Cup: 1972–73 Glentoran * Irish League: 1976–77 *Gold Cup: 1976–77, 1977–78 * Ulster Cup: 1976–77

As a manager

Glentoran * Irish League: 1980–81 *

: 1982–83 * Gold Cup: 1982–83 * Ulster Cup: 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84 Portadown *Irish League: 1989–90, 1990–91, 1995–96, 2001–02 *Irish Cup: 1990–91, 1998–99, 2004–05 * Irish League Cup: 1995–96, 2008–09 *Gold Cup: 1992–93 *Ulster Cup: 1990–91, 1995–96 * Floodlit Cup: 1990–91, 1992–93, 1994–95 *

Mid-Ulster Cup The Mid-Ulster Cup is a senior football competition in Northern Ireland run by the Mid-Ulster Football Association (founded 2 April 1887). The competition has historically featured teams based in County Armagh, east County Tyrone, and west Co ...

(6): 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2002–03 * Charity Shield: 1999 *

IFA Championship The Northern Ireland Football League Championship (known as the Playr-Fit Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second level of the Northern Ireland Football League, the national football league in Northern Ireland. Clubs in the Champion ...

: 2008–09 Individual *Manager of the Year: 1981, 1990, 1991, 1996, 2002

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McFall, Ronnie 1945 births Living people Sportspeople from Portadown Association footballers from County Armagh Portadown F.C. players Dundee United F.C. players Ards F.C. players Glentoran F.C. players NIFL Premiership players Association football managers from Northern Ireland Glentoran F.C. managers Portadown F.C. managers Irish League representative players Men's association football fullbacks Northern Ireland men's youth international footballers NIFL Premiership managers Members_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire