Pat McGibbon

Pat McGibbon

Personal information
Full name	Patrick Colm McGibbon [1]
Date of birth	(1973-09-06) 6 September 1973 (age 51)
Place of birth	Lurgan, County Armagh, Northern Ireland
Position(s)	Centre-back
Youth career
000?–1991	Portadown
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1991–1992	Portadown
1992–1997	Manchester United	1	(0)
1996	→ Swansea City (loan)	1	(0)
1997	→ Wigan Athletic (loan)	10	(1)
1997–2002	Wigan Athletic	163	(11)
2002	→ Scunthorpe United (loan)	6	(0)
2002	Tranmere Rovers	4	(0)
2002–2004	Portadown
2004–2006	Glentoran
Total		184	(12)
International career
1994	Northern Ireland U21	1	(0)
1994–1999	Northern Ireland B	5	(0)
1995–2000	Northern Ireland	7	(0)
Managerial career
2006–2009	Lurgan Celtic
2009–2011	Monaghan United (assistant)
2011–2012	Newry City
2016	Portadown
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Patrick Colm McGibbon (born 6 September 1973) is a Northern Irish football manager and former professional footballer.

As a player, he was a centre-back. He notably played in the Premier League for Manchester United, he made one appearance in the League Cup during a five-year stay. He also played in the Football League for Swansea City, Wigan Athletic, Scunthorpe United and Tranmere Rovers, as well as in his native country for Portadown and Glentoran. He was capped seven times by Northern Ireland.

Following retirement, McGibbon moved into management and has had spells in charge of Lurgan Celtic, Newry City and Portadown.

Club career

Born in Lurgan, County Armagh, McGibbon began his career at his local Irish Premier League club, Portadown, signing a professional contract with them in 1991, aged just 18. A year later, he was signed by Manchester United for £100,000. He made his debut for the Red Devils in a League Cup tie against York City in September 1995; United lost the match 3–0 and McGibbon was sent off. ^[2]

He was loaned out to Swansea City and Wigan Athletic during the 1996–97 season. McGibbon impressed in his only appearance for the Swans, before injury struck. He trained some days with Manchester United during his time at Swansea and was injured in training, spending five months on the sidelines, requiring two operations.

McGibbon made ten appearances for the Latics during a successful loan spell at Springfield Park, and even scored the goal that guaranteed Wigan's promotion to Division Two. Wigan signed McGibbon on a permanent deal in the summer of 1997, paying Manchester United £250,000 for the defender's services (a fee which would eventually rise to £380,000). ^[3] He was offered a two-year contract extension by United but opted to leave Old Trafford saying he wanted regular, competitive football.

In his five years at Wigan, McGibbon made over 150 appearances and scored 11 goals for the Latics. He also played in the final as Wigan won the 1998–99 Football League Trophy. ^[4] However, he was granted a transfer request in 2001, ^[3] and began to fall out of favour with manager Paul Jewell towards the end of his tenure at the Lancashire club. In February 2002, he was loaned out to Scunthorpe United for two months with a view to a permanent deal. However, McGibbon could not agree personal terms with Scunthorpe, ^[3] and he returned to Wigan. Nevertheless, he was released that summer, and was soon picked up by Tranmere Rovers, managed by McGibbon's former boss at Wigan, Ray Mathias.^{[ citation needed ]}

However, McGibbon only stayed at Tranmere for a month, and moved back to Portadown in September 2002. Two years later, he signed for Glentoran and picked up an Irish Premier League winner's medal in his first season there. McGibbon did not complete a second season at The Oval, as he retired from professional football to go back to his physiotherapy business in Portadown in March 2003. ^[3] Injury was originally cited as the reason for McGibbon's retirement, but after he went on record with major criticisms of the Glentoran board, it became apparent that there were deeper reasons for his departure. ^[3]

International career

McGibbon won seven caps for the senior Northern Ireland team between 1995 and 2000. He also made five appearances for the Northern Ireland B team.^{[ citation needed ]}

Managerial career

Has previous post was as manager of Newry City, from March 2011 until his resignation in July 2012. ^{[5] [6]} He had previously been assistant manager at Monaghan United and manager of his hometown team Lurgan Celtic. ^{[7] [8]}

He last managed Portadown, following the resignation of Ronnie McFall after 29 years. ^[9]

References

1. "Pat McGibbon". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
2. "Old Trafford left stunned as York teach United a lesson" . The Independent. 21 September 1995. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
3. "Pat McGibbon". Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats. 2 August 2007. Retrieved 24 August 2007.
4. "Auto Windscreens Shield Final - Sunday 18th April 1999". cockneylatic.co.uk. Retrieved 17 June 2019.
5. Pat McGibbon named as new Newry City manager
6. "McGibbon steps down as Newry boss". Newry Times. 25 July 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
7. Monaghan United web site
8. "Small aiming for big things". NewsLetter.com. 17 August 2007. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 23 August 2007. In Group A, Ards will be looking to consolidate their place at the top of the table when they entertain Pat McGibbon's Lurgan Celtic...
9. "Portadown appoint Pat McGibbon as interim boss". BBC Sport. 9 March 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2016.

External links

Pat McGibbon at Soccerbase