Martin the Magnificent: The Future of Irish Football

One of British soccer's true greats

Plucked from Irish club Distillery by Nottingham Forest in 1971, the young Irishman went on an incredible jouney that saw him clash against some of the game's biggest characters. He twice won the European Cup. A talented midfielder, O'Neill played for Manchester City in between spells at Norwich before ending his playing career at Notts County in 1985. As the first Roman Catholic captain of his country, O'Neill marshaled Northern Ireland's golden generation, who battled through to the quarter-finals of the World Cup in 1982, knocking out hosts Spain on the way. But soccer was by no means the only path O'Neill could have taken: he was forced to curtail a law degree at Queens University Belfast. He cut his soccer management teeth at Grantham Town and Shepshed Dynamo, and his stock grew as he took Wycombe Wanderes for the GM Vauxhall Conference to the old Second Division in a matter of years. However it was at Celtic that O'Neill would enjoy his most trophy-laden years, winning an unprecedented treble in his first year before narrowly missing out on UEFA Cup glory a year later, before retiring. A legend from his playing days, he returned in 2006 to manage the Republic of Ireland national side. This biography details his incredible career, a must have for the fans of the Northern Ireland legend.