David Anthony O'Leary is a
football manager. He is currently manager of
Aston Villa F.C.. He became a manager after a long and
successful career as a
defender.
Playing Career
O'Leary was born in
Stoke Newington,
London on
May 2,
1958 and he moved
to live in
Dublin at the age of three. His father was born in
Ireland and
O'Leary later decided to play for the
Republic of Ireland.
Arsenal
O'Leary signed for
Arsenal
as an apprentice in
1973. He soon progressed through the ranks at Highbury, playing in the
reserves at the age of 16. He made his debut for Arsenal against
Burnley
on August 16,
1975, and despite
being only 17, went on to make 30 appearances that season. For the next ten
years he was a near ever-present in the Arsenal side, playing more than 40
matches each season (except for
1980-81, where he was injured and only played 27).
A calm and collected
centre
half, O'Leary was noted for his positional sense and elegant style of play.
He won his first major honour with Arsenal when he played in their 3-2 win over
Manchester United in the
FA Cup final.
He also played in the
1978 and 1980
Cup finals, and the
1980
Cup Winners' Cup final, all of which Arsenal lost. In
1982 O'Leary became
club captain, but reliniquished it to
Graham Rix
eighteen months later.
O'Leary broke numerous appearance records at Arsenal; he was the youngest
person to reach the 100 and 200 match milestones, and he made his 400th
appearance while still only 26. He passed
George Armstrong's all-time record of 621 first-team games in November
1989. By this time,
O'Leary was no longer automatic first choice (with the partnership of
Tony Adams and
Steve
Bould at the centre of
George Graham's defence), but he still turned in over 20 appearances as
Arsenal won the
1988-89
First Division title.
O'Leary won another League title in
1991 and an FA Cup
and League
Cup double in 1993,
though by this time he was mainly used as a
sub. He holds Arsenal's all-time record for appearances, with 722 first-team
games, and over 1000 games at all levels, in a twenty-year long association with
the club.
Leeds United
He joined
Leeds United on a
free
transfer in 1993 after 19 years at Highbury. Throughout 1993-94, O'Leary was
a regular player in the Leeds side until he suffered an
achilles injury, which ruled him out for the whole of the following season.
He was still on the club's payroll at the beginning of the 1995-96 season but
that September he gave in to his injury and announced his retirement from
football at the age of 37.
Internationals
O'Leary's international debut with the
Republic of Ireland came as a teenager in a 1-1 draw with
England in 1976,
but the highlight of his 68-cap international career came in the
1990 World Cup. With Ireland in a
penalty shootout with
Romania,
Packie
Bonner saved
Daniel Timofte's last penalty. It was O'Leary who then stepped up to take
the decisive final penalty to win the shootout 5-4.
Managerial Career
Assistant Manager
When the former Arsenal manager
George Graham was put in charge at Leeds United in September 1996, O'Leary
was installed as his assistant. He remained in this position for two years until
Graham moved to
Tottenham.
Manager of Leeds United
The Leeds directors made an offer for
Martin O'Neill to take charge at Elland Road but the deal fell through and
O'Leary was promoted to the hot seat. At the end of 1998-99 Leeds finished
fourth in the
Premiership and qualified for the
UEFA Cup.
Their 1999-2000 campaign ended in the semifinals with defeat to the Turkish side
Galatasaray, and it was after the game in Turkey that two Leeds fans were
stabbed to death by Turkish hooligans. But on the domestic front, Leeds finished
third in the Premiership and qualified for the
Champions League - it would be their first campaign at this level since they
were losing finalists in the European Cup in 1975.
Leeds reached the semifinals of the Champions League, where they lost to
eventual runners-up
Valencia.
Their Premiership form also dipped slightly and David O'Leary's men had to
settle for a UEFA Cup place.
2001-02 began well for Leeds. They constantly topped the table during the
first half of the season and come the new year of 2002 they were Premiership
leaders. But a loss of form in the second half of the season saw them slump into
sixth place - the last automatic UEFA Cup place. They had secured their place in
Europe much earlier because seventh-placed
West Ham had collected 12 less points.
The season was thrown into turmoil by the involvement of four players,
including first-teamers
Jonathan Woodgate and
Lee Bowyer,
in an incident in Leeds city centre that ended in the assault and injury of an
Asian student.
By June 2002 David O'Leary had spent £100 million on new players in less than
four years for relatively little reward. The club was in serious financial
trouble and had relied on qualifying for the Champions League. Chairman
Peter Ridsdale sacked O'Leary. O'Leary had to some extent alienated the
fans, and importantly Ridsdale, by writing a book, Leeds United On Trial,
that some saw as cashing in on the troubles the club had suffered. O'Leary had
never finished outside the top five as a manager.
His departure signalled a downhill spiral for the club which would see three
more managers (Terry
Venables,
Peter Reid
and Eddie
Gray) come and go before it was finally relegated at the end of 2003-04 with
£80 million debts.
Manager of Aston Villa
O'Leary, meanwhile, was linked with various other vacant manager's jobs
throughout the 2002-03 season. He was hot favourite to become manager of
Sunderland (who finished the season bottom of the Premiership with a record
low of 19 points) when Peter Reid was sacked in October and again when
Howard Wilkinson was sacked in March. But O'Leary remained out of work until
June 2003 when he was appointed manager of
Aston Villa.
Aston Villa are one of England's elite clubs with a long and rich history,
but in comparison to their early years they have under-achieved, although they
were European Champions in 1982 and during the 1990s finished runners-up of the
first Premiership in 1993 and won the League Cup in 1994 and 1996. In 2002-03
they had endured perhaps their worst season since relegation from the old First
Division in 1987. They had finished 16th in the Premiership and manager
Graham Taylor's second spell as manager had come to an end after just over a
year. So the famous Villa chairman
Doug Ellis
turned to David O'Leary in a bid to see the club's fortunes turn around.
By the beginning of November 2003, Aston Villa were hovering just above the
relegation zone and it looked as though O'Leary would be another of the club's
unsuccessful managers. O'Leary remained at Villa and managed to get an already
good squad to perform successfully so that by the final weeks of the season they
were pushing hard for at least a UEFA Cup place and possibly even a Champions
League place. But in the end their early season form had caught up with them and
they had to settle for sixth place - this season one place too low for European
qualification.
2004-05
In 2004-05, Aston Villa have hovered just below the European qualification
places, lacking the consistency that would maintain them as one of England's
elite clubs. O'Leary occasional complains towards just about everything has
drawn the nickname 'Dreary O'Leary' to some fans, who feel that he has not
learnt from his contribution to the financial downfall of Leeds United. However,
he is generally thought to have spent well, creating a Villa side that sometimes
bears his trademarks: a solid team that plays neat football, sparked to life by
a sprinkling of younger players keen to make their mark.
2005-06
The 2005-06 season has brought a turn for the worse for O'Leary. Increasingly
under-fire from fans and media, a series of poor results has seen his side
hovering dangerously above the relegation zone with just 17 points from 17
games.
