Owen Coyle

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Personal information
Owen Coyle
Full name	Owen Columba Coyle
Date of birth	July 14, 1966 (age 40)
Place of birth	Paisley, Scotland
Height	5'11"
Nickname	The O.C.
Position	Striker
Club information
Current club	St. Johnstone (player/manager)
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1985-1988 1988-1990 1990-1993 1993-1995 1995-1997 1997-1999 1999-2001 2000-2001 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-	Dumbarton Clydebank Airdrieonians Bolton Wanderers Dundee United Motherwell Dunfermline Athletic Ross County (loan) Airdrieonians Falkirk Dundee United Airdrie United (loan) Airdrie United St. Johnstone Total	103 (36) 63 (33) 123 (50) 35 (12) 26 (5) 77 (25) 36 (10) 5 (2) 45 (29) 36 (20) 0 (0) 23 (13) 34 (14) 5 (0) 611 (249)
National team
1994	Republic of Ireland	1 (0)
Teams managed
2003 2005–present	Falkirk St. Johnstone
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Owen Columba Coyle (born July 14, 1966 in Paisley) is a professional football player and manager. Despite being born in Scotland he was never picked by that country, so he played for the Republic of Ireland internationally, earning one cap. He is currently player-manager of St Johnstone in the Scottish Football League First Division.

A prolific striker, Coyle began his senior career with Dumbarton in 1985, where he played alongside his brothers Joe and Tommy. In 1988 he joined Clydebank, then in March 1990 a £175,000 transfer took him to Airdrieonians. This move was instantly successful, Coyle scoring a hat-trick on his debut and going on to finish as the Scottish League's top scorer for 1989-90. Over the next two seasons his goals helped Airdrie to promotion, a Scottish Cup final appearance, and European football. In the summer of 1993, Bolton Wanderers paid £250,000 to sign Coyle, and his two year spell in England included promotion and a brief chance to play in the Premiership. However, in October 1995, a £400,000 transfer fee took him to Dundee United, where he was once again part of a promotion-winning side.

Coyle's next moves were to Motherwell in January 1997 and then on to Dunfermline Athletic in March 1999. After losing his place in the Dunfermline team, he went on loan to Ross County prior to rejoining Airdrie in 2001. When they went into liquidation in 2002, Coyle joined Falkirk, being promoted to co-player-manager alongside John Hughes in 2003. After leaving this post he returned to Dundee United, primarily in a coaching capacity but also registering as a player. A lack of first team opportunities, however, led to him being loaned out to Airdrieonians' successors, Airdrie United, and this move was subsequently put on a permanent basis.

In April 2005, Coyle was named as the new manager of St. Johnstone. He is also registered as a player, although his appearances at first team level are now extremely sporadic.

In March 2006, he was awarded Manager of the Month for the Scottish First Division for his team's performance. This was the first time he had been awarded the accolade.

In November 2006, Coyle led St. Johnstone to their first win over Rangers at Ibrox in 35 years.

[edit] External links

St Johnstone F.C. - Current Squad
GK Cuthbert \| GK Halliwell \| GK McGovern \| GK O'Brien \| DF Anderson \| DF Dyer \| DF Gallagher \| DF James \| DF Janczyk \| DF Lawrie \| DF McManus \| DF Mensing \| DF Rutkiewicz \| DF Stanić \| MF Barr \| MF Hardie \| MF Lawson \| MF McLaren \| MF O'Donnell \| MF Sheerin \| MF Sheridan \| FW Coyle \| FW Doris \| FW Jackson \| FW MacDonald \| FW Milne \| FW Scotland \| Manager: Coyle