Johnny McDonnell
Unknown- Height
- Age 59 years
- Place of Birth Dublin
- Nationality Republic of Ireland
- Stats based on games populated in our system. They can be viewed below
Johnny’s Biography
Also know as Johnny Mac, Johnny began his playing career at Shamrock Rovers in 1983. He spent two seasons at Milltown before moving to Home Farm in 1985.
After just one season at Tolka Park Jonny left Home Farm to sign for Drogheda United in the Summer of 1986, and after one season at United Park he was on the move again, returning to Dublin where he signed for St Patrick's Athletic for the 1987/88 season.
Inchicore was to become Johnny's spiritual home and he was with the Saints for four seasons, winning the league title in 1989/90. He left in 1991 for a one-season stint at Shamrock Rovers before returning to St Pats in 1992 for another five years in the red and white and another League title in 1995/96.
In 1997 Johnny signed for Newry Town where he took his first step into management by becoming player-manger in 1998. This only lasted until Spetember 1999 after which he spent two seasons as a player at Home Farm. But this was followed by stints as assistant manger at the now defunct club Dublin City in 2001, and at Shelbourne alongside Pat Fenlon for the 2003-04 season. He was also assistant to one of his former managers, Brian Kerr, for Ireland's u20 squad when they qualified for the u20 World Cup where they reached the knock out stages of the competition.
In March 2004, McDonnell took the reins of former club St Patrick's Athletic. He steered them clear of relegation for the 2004 season before radically changing the squad. In December 2006, they reached the FAI Cup Final before losing to Derry City 4-3 after extra time.
In the 2007 season, St Pats were neck and neck with Drogheda United for the title but Drogheda managed to win by a six point gap to claim there first ever league title while St Pats qualified for the UEFA Cup instead. 2008 was the same story as St Pats finished behind Bohemians in the league. But St Pats did reach the first round proper in the UEFA Cup for the first time ever in 2008. Johnny McDonnell left the club in January 2009.
In September 2009, McDonnell took over Newry City but again it didn't last long as he resigned in March 2010. In April 2010, he linked up with Brian Kerr again to become assistant manger with the Faroe Islands. Under the Irish men, the Faroes recorded their first victory in the European Championship Qualifying phase since 1995 by beating Estonia 2-0 in June 2011. McDonnell and Kerr resigned in October 2011 as the Faroe Islands said they couldn't agree a new contract.
Johnny McDonnell returned to League of Ireland in May 2013, replacing Alan Matthews, who had won one in thirteen games and had amassed six points in that period. McDonnell transformed Shelbourne to a point where they won three in a row but they were still bottom of the leagueat the end of the season and were relegated to the First Division.
McDonnell stayed on at Shelbourne for the 2014 season and attempted to get Shelbourne back up to the Premier Division. They qualified for the play-offs, narrowly missing out on winning the league to Longford Town. However, they lost to eventual promoted side Galway FC in the semi-final of the play-offs, which meant Shelbourne would be spending another season in the First Division.
Johnny agreed a new contract for the 2015 season with Shelbourne but he was later approached by Drogheda to become their manager and he joined the Premier Division club in December 2014. He pushed through a lot of young players into the senior team but he left the club after twenty-six league matches with the club in joint tenth place.
After just one season at Tolka Park Jonny left Home Farm to sign for Drogheda United in the Summer of 1986, and after one season at United Park he was on the move again, returning to Dublin where he signed for St Patrick's Athletic for the 1987/88 season.
Inchicore was to become Johnny's spiritual home and he was with the Saints for four seasons, winning the league title in 1989/90. He left in 1991 for a one-season stint at Shamrock Rovers before returning to St Pats in 1992 for another five years in the red and white and another League title in 1995/96.
In 1997 Johnny signed for Newry Town where he took his first step into management by becoming player-manger in 1998. This only lasted until Spetember 1999 after which he spent two seasons as a player at Home Farm. But this was followed by stints as assistant manger at the now defunct club Dublin City in 2001, and at Shelbourne alongside Pat Fenlon for the 2003-04 season. He was also assistant to one of his former managers, Brian Kerr, for Ireland's u20 squad when they qualified for the u20 World Cup where they reached the knock out stages of the competition.
In March 2004, McDonnell took the reins of former club St Patrick's Athletic. He steered them clear of relegation for the 2004 season before radically changing the squad. In December 2006, they reached the FAI Cup Final before losing to Derry City 4-3 after extra time.
In the 2007 season, St Pats were neck and neck with Drogheda United for the title but Drogheda managed to win by a six point gap to claim there first ever league title while St Pats qualified for the UEFA Cup instead. 2008 was the same story as St Pats finished behind Bohemians in the league. But St Pats did reach the first round proper in the UEFA Cup for the first time ever in 2008. Johnny McDonnell left the club in January 2009.
In September 2009, McDonnell took over Newry City but again it didn't last long as he resigned in March 2010. In April 2010, he linked up with Brian Kerr again to become assistant manger with the Faroe Islands. Under the Irish men, the Faroes recorded their first victory in the European Championship Qualifying phase since 1995 by beating Estonia 2-0 in June 2011. McDonnell and Kerr resigned in October 2011 as the Faroe Islands said they couldn't agree a new contract.
Johnny McDonnell returned to League of Ireland in May 2013, replacing Alan Matthews, who had won one in thirteen games and had amassed six points in that period. McDonnell transformed Shelbourne to a point where they won three in a row but they were still bottom of the leagueat the end of the season and were relegated to the First Division.
McDonnell stayed on at Shelbourne for the 2014 season and attempted to get Shelbourne back up to the Premier Division. They qualified for the play-offs, narrowly missing out on winning the league to Longford Town. However, they lost to eventual promoted side Galway FC in the semi-final of the play-offs, which meant Shelbourne would be spending another season in the First Division.
Johnny agreed a new contract for the 2015 season with Shelbourne but he was later approached by Drogheda to become their manager and he joined the Premier Division club in December 2014. He pushed through a lot of young players into the senior team but he left the club after twenty-six league matches with the club in joint tenth place.
