Sean Connor
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Sean Connor | ||
| Date of birth | 12 July 1967 | ||
| Place of birth | Belfast, Northern Ireland | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Distillery | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| Port Vale | 0 | (0) | |
| → Macclesfield Town (loan) | ? | (?) | |
| Ards | ? | (?) | |
| Cliftonville | ? | (?) | |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2004–2006 | Sligo Rovers | ||
| 2007 | Bohemians | ||
| 2009 | Dundalk | ||
| 2010–2011 | Galway United | ||
| 2012–2013 | CAPS United F.C. | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). | |||
Sean Connor (born 12 July 1967 in Belfast) is a former footballer and manager formerly in charge of Zimbabwe club CAPS United.His last match was against Hwange Football Club.
Playing career
Connor began his career at Distillery in the Irish League where he played for one full season before moving to Port Vale. He struggled to gain a regular first team place and went out on loan to Macclesfield Town before returning home and signing for Ards.
He was involved in a car accident soon after signing, breaking his chest bone, some ribs, puncturing his lung and damaging his left leg.[1]
He made his playing comeback with Cliftonville but was unable to reach the same level and eventually retired.
Managerial career
Coaching experience
After spending some time as press officer for Birmingham City, Connor moved to America where he coached in the USL First Division under John McGinlay for Cincinnati Riverhawks, Boston Bulldogs and in the Eastern Indoor Soccer League with the Lafayette SwampCats. He also spent time coaching non-league clubs in England and scouting for Stoke City and Lincoln.[2]
Sligo Rovers
He was appointed Sligo Rovers manager in September 2004 and in November 2005 he won the League of Ireland First Division in his first season of senior management with Sligo Rovers. They then finished 5th in the Premier Division and reached the semi-final of the FAI Cup.[3]
In 2006 he became the first manager in the League of Ireland to receive a Pro-Licence and during his time at the Showgrounds he signed Seamus Coleman.
Bohemians
Connor left Sligo Rovers on 2 November 2006 and was unveiled as the manager of Bohemians on 17 November 2006.[4] Amongst his first acts as manager were the signing of a number of promising players; Harpal Singh, Brian Murphy, and Mark Rossiter, and established performers Owen Heary and Glen Crowe. His first pre-season games in charge of Bohemians' included wins against Lisburn Distillery and Donegal Celtic, and a draw with Scottish Premier Division side Aberdeen.
His first league game in charge of Bohs came on the 9 March 2007, in a scoreless draw against Drogheda United. He showed signs of turning Bohs into genuine contenders for honours with the wins against St Patricks Athletic in the league and Drogheda United in the FAI Cup the most notable victories, eventually reaching the FAI Cup semi-final.
Connor took Bohs from 3rd bottom to 3rd in one year, in which they qualified for Europe for the first time in 4 seasons. The Gypsies only lost 7 games all season as Connor totally re-built the squad.
Dundalk
On 8 December 2008 he was announced as the new manager of Dundalk. Connor took the club full time on the same budget as they had in the first division, and the club achieved their best league finish in over 12 years; qualifying for Europe and the Setanta cup.
Galway United
On 10 January 2010, Sean Connor returned to management, signing a 3-year contract with Galway United,[5] citing it as the biggest challenge of his managerial career so far. He began his reign with a 2–0 defeat to St Patrick's Athletic in Dublin. He managed to keep United in the Premier Division thanks to a play-off win over Bray Wanderers in November. Galway United had the smallest budget in the league in his first season and it was further cut in his second season. Such was the financial situation at the club that Connor and playing staff went up to 4 months without receiving any wages.
CAPS United
On 12 January 2012, Sean Connor was announced as CAPS United manager who play in the CBZ Premier Soccer League in Harare, Zimbabwe.[6] He was relieved of his position after a series of losses in the Zimbabwean CBZ Premier Soccer League.
Managerial stats
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Sligo Rovers |  |
2004 | 2006 | 70 | 28 | 22 | 20 | 40.00 |
| Bohemians | |
2006 | 2007 | 33 | 16 | 10 | 7 | 48.48 |
| Dundalk | |
2009 | 2009 | 36 | 12 | 8 | 16 | 33.33 |
| Galway United | |
2010 | 2011 | 66 | 11 | 14 | 41 | 16.66 |
- Stats for Sligo Rovers compiled for league games & exclude all other competitions.
Honours
- League of Ireland First Division: 1
- Sligo Rovers 2005
References
- ↑ Doogan, Brian (March 19, 2006). "Ireland: Sligo's champion". Times Online. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
- ↑ "Connor linked with Reds job". BBC Sport. 2 June 2004. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
- ↑ "Sean Connor". LoI network. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
- ↑ "Connor to take over at Bohemians". BBC Sport. 16 November 2006. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
- ↑ http://www.galwayunitedfc.ie/united-appoint-new-manager
- ↑ http://nehandaradio.com/2012/01/12/caps-united-set-to-unveil-irishman-as-new-coach/
| Preceded by John Gill |
Dundalk manager 2009 |
Succeeded by Ian Foster |
| Preceded by Ian Foster |
Galway United manager 2010–2011 |
Succeeded by John Brennan |
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