Damien Richardson

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Damien Richardson
Personal information
Full name Damien John Richardson
Date of birth 2 August 1947(1947-08-02)
Place of birth    Dublin, Republic of Ireland
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current club None
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1966-1972
1972-1981		 Shamrock Rovers
Gillingham		 00? (41)
323 (94)   
National team
1971 - 1979 Republic of Ireland 003 0(0)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only.
* Appearances (Goals)

Damien John Richardson (born 2 August 1947, Dublin) is an Irish football manager and former player. He currently coaches Baldoyle amateur side, Frankfort,[citation needed] after leaving Cork City at the end of the 2007 season.[1] Richardson formerly managed Gillingham in England and Cobh Ramblers, Shelbourne and Shamrock Rovers in Ireland.

His father George managed St. Patrick's Athletic F.C. in the 1970s.

Contents

[edit] Player

As a player Richardson's career was divided between Shamrock Rovers and Gillingham. While at Rovers he twice won the FAI Cup in 1968 and 1969 (scoring in the final replay) as well as getting an Inter League cap and represented the club 5 times in the UEFA Cup Winners Cup. He received the first of three international caps for the Irish national team while at Shamrock Rovers, making his debut against Austria in Linz in October 1971. He scored in his final appearance for Rovers on the 22nd of October 1972 at Milltown before moving to the English Fourth Division side Gillingham at the age of 25. He played for the Priestfield Stadium side for the next nine years before being released in 1981. During his time there he scored 100 goals.[2]

[edit] Manager

Richardson's managerial career began in 1989 where he managed Gillingham, having previously served as the club's youth team manager. A rather lacklustre career there ended in 1992, and he returned to Ireland in 1993 to manage Cork City. He proved an instant success bringing the club within striking distance of retaining the league title. However, after 18 months he left the club after a dispute with then chairman Pat O'Donovan.

Following Cork City, he moved on another Cork side Cobh Ramblers before taking up the management position at Shelbourne. His time at Shelbourne saw two Cup successes (1996/97 and 1997/98), one League Cup (1995/96) and a runner up position in the League (1997/98) in three seasons. His failure to win the league ultimately cost him his job.

He moved to his old club Shamrock Rovers, where his tenure for three seasons failed to result in a trophy. Ultimately, Richardson and club chairman Joe Colwell disagreed on the direction of the club, and parted ways. Colwell wanted to focus on building a new stadium for the club, while Richardson wanted to focus on a full-time panel of players.

In 2005 Richardson returned to League of Ireland management when Cork City's manager Pat Dolan was dramatically sacked before the start of pre-season friendlies. Cork City Chairman Brian Lennox signed the 57 year old Richardson to a two year contract at Turners Cross 15 days before the first competitive match of the season. Richardson commented that the Cork City job was the only one that could have brought him back to League of Ireland management.[3] Despite being hospitalised in September [2] in his first season in charge Cork City were crowned Eircom League Champions for the second time in the club's history. Cork City also reached the final of the FAI Cup but were defeated by Drogheda United in the final. The 2006 and 2007 seasons saw 4th place positions for his club in both years. In 2007 Richardson led Cork City to FAI Cup victory, but left shortly afterwards following some controversy, and a financial settlement agreement.[4]

[edit] Outside of professional football

Richardson once played the bodhran on an album by Tundra, a folk music group from Kent. [5] In 2002, Richardson left football management to become a TV soccer pundit with TV3 in Ireland, before returning to the game in 2005. Richardson has also supported Red FM's national award winning "Break the Cycle" anti-speeding campaign.

[edit] Honours

[edit] As a player

[edit] As a manager

[edit] References

  1. ^ Cork City FC News
  2. ^ List of Gillingham players' appearance/goals statistics 1959 to date
  3. ^ "Even before I went to Cork in 1993 I always thought there was enormous potential at the club."[1]
  4. ^ RTÉ Sport: Richardson and Cork agree exit deal
  5. ^ Alive & Shouting - The Official Oysterband Discography Website
Preceded by
Colin Murphy		 Shelbourne Manager
1995-1998		 Succeeded by
Dermot Keely
v • d • e
Gillingham F.C. – Managers

Groombridge (1896–1906) • Smith (1906–08) • Groombridge (1908–19) • Collins (1919–20) • McMillan (1920–23) • Curtis (1923–26) • Hoskins (1926–29) • Hendrie (1929–31) • Maven (1932–37) • Ure (1937–38) • Harvey (1938–39) • Clark (1939–58) • Barratt (1958–62) • Cox (1962–65) • Hayward (1965–71) • Nelson (1971–74) • Ashurst (1974–75) • Summers (1975–81) • Peacock (1981–87) • Paul Taylor (1987–88) • Burkinshaw (1988–89) • Richardson (1989–92) • Roeder (1992–93) • Flanagan (1993–95) • Smillie (1995) • Pulis (1995–99) • Peter Taylor (1999–2000) • Hessenthaler (2000–04) • Gorman (2004) • Ternent (2004–05) • Cooper (2005) • Jepson (2005–07) • Docherty (2007) • Onuora (2007) • Stimson (2007–)
v • d • e
Cork City F.C. – current squad

1 Devine • 2 Horgan • 3 Ryan • 4 Farrelly • 5 Mulcahy • 6 Murray • 7 O'Brien • 8 Gamble • 9 O'Flynn • 10 O'Callaghan • 11 Woods • 14 Cillian Lordan • 15 Healy • 16 McNulty • 17 Carroll • 18 Softić • 19 Murphy • 20 Kiely • 21 Behan • 22 Duggan • 23 Sullivan • 24 Kelly • 25 Meyler • 27 O Connor • 30 Kearney • 33 Murphy • 39 Mooney •  Tierney •

Manager: Mathews