George O'Boyle

George O'Boyle (born 14 December 1967 in Belfast) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer and now manager. He is joint-manager of Harland & Wolff Welders with Colin McIlwaine.

George O'Boyle
Personal information
Date of birth (1967-12-14) 14 December 1967
Place of birth Belfast, Northern Ireland
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1984–1985 Manchester City 0 (0)
1985–1986 Distillery 24 (4)
1986–1987 Linfield 22 (12)
1987–1989 Bordeaux 3 (0)
1988–1989 → Linfield (loan) 24 (9)
1989–1990 → Dunfermline Athletic (loan) 28 (3)
1990–1994 Dunfermline Athletic 67 (26)
1994–2001 St Johnstone 146 (64)
2001 Raith Rovers 5 (0)
2001 Brechin City 5 (2)
2001–2002 Queen of the South 7 (3)
2002–2003 Glenavon 33 (9)
2003–2004 Ards 9 (0)
2004–2006 Bo'ness United 64 (24)
2006 Kelty Hearts 0 (0)
2006–2008 Carnoustie Panmure 4 (0)
Total 441 (156)
National team
1994–1998 Northern Ireland 13 (1)
1998 Northern Ireland B 1 (1)
Teams managed
2015–2016 Albert Foundry
2016–2019 Distillery (joint-manager)
2019 Harland & Wolff Welders (joint-manager)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Club football

O'Boyle, a striker, began his career in 1984 as a youth-team player with Manchester City. He was part of the Maine Road club's youth academy before earning a two-year contract.[1]

After being released by City when he reached the age of 18, he returned to his native Belfast, finding a home on the Shankill Road,[1] to join Distillery, then managed by Roy Welsh,[1] in November 1985. The club won the County Antrim Shield in his first season.[2]

He moved to Linfield in 1986.[1]

O'Boyle left Northern Ireland in 1988 to join French club Bordeaux.[1]

He returned to Linfield on loan in 1989.[1]

In 1989 he joined Dunfermline Athletic,[3] initially on loan for a year, before signing permanently for £250,000.[1]

In 1994, he was signed by St Johnstone manager Paul Sturrock for a tribunal-decided £200,000 fee. He reached both the high and low points of his career during his seven years at McDiarmid Park. However, injury struck again; O'Boyle once more ruptured a cruciate ligament, while he required two operations on a groin problem.[1]

O'Boyle played in the 1998 Scottish League Cup Final defeat by Rangers.

On 5 January 2001, O'Boyle and St Johnstone teammate Kevin Thomas were sacked following drug-taking allegations. The two players, it was alleged, were found using an unidentified white powder (allegedly cocaine) at the club's Christmas 2000 party in Perth's That Bar.[4] The SPL attempted to overturn the sacking but it was over-ruled by the SFA.[5][6]

After leaving St Johnstone, O'Boyle joined Raith Rovers for four months, before moving on to Brechin City and Queen of the South, with whom he finished his professional career.[1]

He returned to Northern Ireland to play for Glenavon[7] and Ards, only to return to Scotland in 2004 to play for junior clubs Bo'ness and Kelty Hearts. He failed to make an appearance for the latter club, due to injury.

International football

O'Boyle's international career spanned four years. In 1996, he scored his only Northern Ireland goal in a 1–1 draw with Germany in his hometown of Belfast.

Honours

Distillery

Linfield

Dunfermline Athletic

    St Johnstone

    • Scottish Football League First Division: 1996–97

    Coaching career

    O'Boyle managed Carnoustie Panmure, the final club for which he played.[1]

    He would leave football altogether until 2015, when he became assistant to manager Colin McIlwaine at Northern Amateur Football League club Albert Foundry.[8] In the summer of 2016 O'Boyle followed McIlwaine to Lisburn Distillery, again taking up the role of assistant.[9] The duo resigned in April 2019.[10]

    O'Boyle and McIlwaine became the new joint-managers of NIFL Championship side Harland & Wolff Welders just a couple of days after departing Distillery.[11] They both left the club in December, seven months after their appointments.[12]

    Outside of football

    O'Boyle started his own oven-cleaning business in Lisburn in 2010.

    References
    1. "Alex Mills interview with George O’Boyle in Sunday Life" - Linfield F.C., 30 September 2018
    2. "DISTILLERY: New management set out to let the good times roll" - Bainbridge Leader, 25 May 2016
    3. "Throwback Thursday: George O'Boyle joins Ross Jack celebrate during the 1989/90 season. #TBT" - Dunfermline Athletic's Twitter account, 23 July 2015
    4. O'Boyle sacked by St Johnstone – BBC Sport
    5. O'Boyle and Thomas lodge court appeal – BBC Sport
    6. Sacked pair talk of drug scandal – BBC Sport
    7. BBC Sport's Northern Ireland page
    8. GEORGE O'BOYLE: SHANKILL MAN A DUNFERMLINE AND ST JOHNSTONE LEGEND.
    9. DISTILLERY: New management set out to let the good times roll
    10. "Lisburn Distillery announce resignations of management team Colin McIlwaine and George O’Boyle" - BelfastLive, 5 April 2019
    11. "Harland and Wolff Welders new management team announced" - BelfastLive, 6 April 2019
    12. "H&W Welders part company with management team Colin McIlwaine and George O'Boyle" - BelfastLive, 9 December 2019
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