Pat Fenlon

Pat Fenlon
Personal information
Full name	Patrick Fenlon
Date of birth	15 March 1969 (1969-03-15) (age 40)
Place of birth	Dublin, Ireland
Club information
Current club	Bohemians (Manager)
Youth career
	Rivermount Boys
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1986–1987 1987–1991 1991–1993 1993–1996 1996–1997 1997–2003	Chelsea St. Patrick's Athletic Bohemians Linfield Shamrock Rovers Shelbourne	000 0(0) 088 (29) 031 0(4) 153 (27)
National team
1988–1992 1992	Republic of Ireland U21 Republic of Ireland B	003 0(0) 001 0(1)
Teams managed
2002–2006 2006–2007 2007– 2007–	Shelbourne Derry City Republic of Ireland U23 Bohemian F.C.
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Patrick "Pat" Fenlon (born 15 March 1969 in Dublin) is an Irish former footballer and currently Bohemians manager and the Republic Of Irelands Under 23 football manager.^[1]

Management career

Shelbourne FC

Fenlon started out his management career as manager of his former club Shelbourne of Dublin. His reign at Tolka Park started in a player/manager capacity in 2002 and guided the club to second place in his inaugural season in charge.

By the start of the 2003 season, Fenlon had hung up his boots to focus solely on the management of the club. During the off-season, he had decided to retire from the playing side of the game, and direct his efforts toward the management of Shelbourne. The rewards were immediate, and Fenlon took the club to their first ever back-to-back league titles, in 2003 and 2004.

The 2004 season also saw Fenlon lead his squad past Croatian high-flyers, Hajduk Split and into the Third Qualifying Round of the UEFA Champions League, where his Shelbourne side were eventually overturned by Spanish giants Deportivo la Coruña. Following this amazing run, and participation in the First Round of the UEFA Cup against Lille OSC, Fenlon was rewarded with a contract extension.

2005 promised big things for Pat Fenlon and Shelbourne. However, things did not go exactly as planned. In spite of several big name signings, Shelbourne staggered past the season's finishing-line in a disappointing third place. One of Fenlon's former clubs, Linfield, also beat Shelbourne in the first Setanta Cup final.

2006 saw the return of success. Dogged by continuous rumours involving a move from Tolka Park during the 2006 season, Fenlon guided the club to their third league title in 4 years on 17 November 2006, with a 2-1 victory over rivals Bohemians, which saw the Dubliners claim the title on goal difference. The media in Ireland had initially been linking Fenlon with the vacant management position at Dalymount Park. However this long-standing rumour was put to rest when Bohemians appointed Sean Connor as their new manager on 17 November 2006. This was followed by reports linking Fenlon to the vacant hot-seat at Derry City left by Stephen Kenny, who had departed the Brandywell Stadium to take up the managers position at Scottish side Dunfermline Athletic.

Fenlon resigned from his position as Shelbourne manager on 5 December 2006^[2] and the reports proved true when Derry City F.C. concluded an agreement with him within four days.

Derry City FC

Fenlon took the managerial spot at the club that, with Shelbourne FC, he beat to first position in the 2006 League of Ireland Premier Division on 8 December, 2006. With regard to the new installation, Derry City's chief executive, Jim Roddy, stated, "Pat has a wealth of League of Ireland experience and the chairman and board of Derry City Football Club are delighted to have appointed a manager of such calibre." In response, Fenlon stated his high hopes for the future: "Derry City are a highly successful and ambitious club and I’m really looking forward to working with the players and everyone at the club."

In January, 2007, Fenlon was awarded the eircom/Soccer Writers Association of Ireland (SWAI) 'Personality of the Year' award after his success during the 2006 season with Shelbourne FC. His new team-captain at Derry City, Peter Hutton, was also included in the shortlist of six nominees for the award, as well his old team-captain at Shelbourne, Owen Heary, and the man he replaced at Derry, Stephen Kenny.

However, results did not favour Fenlon and he resigned his position after just five months.^[3]

Republic of Ireland Under 23s

Pat Fenlon was recently announced as the player manager for an Irish Under 23 Team. This team consists entirely of League of Ireland players, primarily from the Premier Division. This was the first Irish national side to reach an U23 World Cup final in 2006

Bohemian F.C.

On 22 December 2007, Pat was appointed manager of Bohemians after the departure of Sean Connor. In 2008, within a year of his appointment, he guided Bohs to their second League of Ireland/FAI Cup double in a decade. The 19 points winning margin in the League was a new record. He won the league in 2009 with Bohs beating arch rivals Shamrock Rovers by 4 points.

Honours

As a manager

• League of Ireland: 5
  • Shelbourne - 2003, 2004, 2006
  • Bohemian F.C. - 2008,2009
• FAI Cup: 1
  • Bohemian F.C. - 2008
• League of Ireland Cup: 1
  • Bohemian F.C. - 2009
• SWAI Personality of the Year: 2
  • Shelbourne F.C. - 2004, 2006

As a player

• League of Ireland: 3
  • St. Patrick's Athletic - 1989/90
  • Shelbourne - 1999/00, 2001/02

• FAI Cup: 2
  • Bohemian F.C. - 1992
  • Shelbourne - 2000

• Leinster Senior Cup (football): 2
  • Bohemian F.C. 1993
  • Shamrock Rovers 1997

• Irish Premier League: 1
  • Linfield - 1993/94

• IFA Cup: 2
  • Linfield - 1993/94, 1994/95

• PFAI Player of the Year: 2
  • Bohemian F.C. - 1991/92
  • Shelbourne - 1999/00

Trivia

• Fenlon was the first manager to reach the Third Qualifying Round of the UEFA Champions League with an Irish club. He achieved this with Shelbourne in 2004, finally bowing out to Spanish side, Deportivo la Coruña, after a run which saw his side eliminate Icelandic champions KR Reykjavík, and Croatian champions Hajduk Split.
• Fenlon suffered a triple fracture of the shin in a match against Shamrock Rovers in Tolka Park on 12 February 1999. He recovered from this to help fire Shelbourne to the league and cup double the following season, and was voted the PFAI Player of the Year for his contribution.
• Fenlon scored the winning goal for Shelbourne in the 1999/00 FAI Cup final replay, as Shelbourne beat Bohemians 1-0.
• Fenlon was the first player in the Irish League to earn 1000 pounds a week (at Linfield).

References

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