| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alan Mathews | ||
| Date of birth | 27 June 1965[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Dublin, Ireland | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Shelbourne (Manager) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1984 | St. Patrick's Athletic | ? | (?) |
| 1984 | Drogheda United | ? | (?) |
| 1985-1987 | Shamrock Rovers | 3 | (1) |
| 1988-1990 | Shelbourne | ? | (?) |
| 1990-1991 | Galway United | 20 | (0) |
| 1990-1991 | Bray Wanderers | 1 | (0) |
| 1991-1992 | Kilkenny City | 1 | (0) |
| 1992-1994 | Longford Town | 24 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2002–2007 | Longford Town | ||
| 2008 | Cork City | ||
| 2009-2010 | Drogheda United | ||
| 2010- | Shelbourne | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Alan Mathews (born 27 June 1965 in Dublin) is a former Irish footballer and the current manager of League of Ireland Premier Division side Shelbourne.
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As a player, Mathews played for St. Patrick's Athletic, Drogheda United, Shamrock Rovers, Shelbourne, Galway United Bray Wanderers, Kilkenny City and Longford Town.
Capped for Ireland at Under-15 and Under-18 levels, he made his League of Ireland debut for St. Patrick's Athletic in August 1984 against Dundalk.
He made his Rovers debut against Bray Wanderers at Milltown on the 9th of November 1986 and scored his first goal for the Hoops at Home Farm on the 14th of April 1987. Made a total of 5 appearances for the Hoops.
While playing for Galway he saved a penalty deputising in goal against Rovers on the 24th of October 1990.
He played for Longford Town under Dermot Keely in the early 1990s, and cites Dermot Keely and Pat Byrne as his main influences. (Mathews was also Assistant Manager to Dermot Keely at Shelbourne from 1998 to 2002.)[2]
Appointed club manager for Longford Town in July 2002, Mathews became the first manager to win a senior trophy with the club in 2003, winning the FAI Cup. He was again successful in 2004 when he guided Longford to League of Ireland Cup success and capped a memorable year for the club when he completed the double with the FAI Cup win over Waterford United. He is the most successful manager in Longford Town's history and was named Soccer Writers' Association of Ireland "Personality of the Year" in 2003.[3]
Mathews left Longford Town in 2007, and replaced Damien Richardson as Cork City manager[4] on January 10, 2008. In his only season, the club won the Setanta Sports Cup for the first time, despite entering examinership through the courts and losing several key players. Nevertheless, on December 9, 2008, the club announced that Mathews would no longer remain as manager, citing financial constraints as the primary reason for his leaving.[5] After surviving examinership themselves, Drogheda United unveiled Mathews as their new manager for the 2009 Premier Division season.[6] He guided Drogheda United to Premier Division safety in his first season but following a poor start to Drogheda's 2010 season Mathews resigned as their manager on 17 May 2010.[7] Mathews made a swift return to the game on 12 July 2010 when he was announced as the new manager of his former club Shelbourne.[8]