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Patrick James Rice (born
March 17,
1949 in
Belfast) is
an
Northern Ireland
football player and coach. He is currently assistant manager of
Arsenal. Pat Rice has spent most of his footballing career at Arsenal. Though born in
Belfast, he grew up in
London, and
joined the Gunners as a youth in
1964. He made his
debut in the
League Cup
against
Burnley on
December 5,
1967. Playing at
right-back, he was a stalwart at the club through the
1970s, eventually
becoming club captain. Rice won the
Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in
1970 and was part
of the
League and FA
Cup
Double-winning side of
1971; in all he
appeared in five FA Cup finals, but only won two (1971 and
1979).
Rice played 528 games in total for the Gunners, before moving to
Watford
in 1980. He played
137 times for the Hornets, helping the club gain promotion to the First
Division, and becoming captain, before retiring from playing in
1984. Rice also won
49 international caps for
Northern Ireland between
1968 and
1979.
Rice rejoined Arsenal in
1984 as youth team
coach, a post he held for the next 12 years, winning the
FA
Youth Cup twice in
1988 and 1994.
In September 1996
Rice was briefly caretaker manager of the club after the resignation of
Stewart Houston (who himself was caretaker after the sacking of
Bruce
Rioch). Upon the arrival of
Arsène Wenger at the end of the month, Rice became his assistant, and has
since played a key role in helping the club to their success in the
1990s and
2000s, including
the Doubles of 1998
and 2002. He holds
the distinction (along with
Bob Wilson) of having taken part, as player or coach, in all three of
Arsenal's Doubles.
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