Scully, Pat

He began his career as a player in London's Arsenal , where he played for the youth team, and won the 1988 England youth cup . After renting at Preston North End and Northampton Town in January 1991, he signed a contract with Southend United , without having played a single match for the first Arsenal team. However, as an Arsenal player, in 1988 he made his debut for the Irish national team in a friendly match against Tunisia ^[2] .

For three years, Scully regularly played in Southend, performed one season with Stan Collimore . In March 1994, he moved to Huddersfield Town . A month after the move, he took part in the final of the Football League Trophy , where Huddersfield lost in the Swansea City penalty shootout 3-1 (Scully was the only one to take his shot). He became a key figure in the center of defense of the team of Neil Warnock and helped the “terriers” to rise in class in the 1994/95 season.

In 1996, he returned to Ireland, joining Shelburne . Scully became the team captain, he showed a good game in defense, often executed free-kicks and scored important goals for Shelburn.

Having scored 11 goals in the next season, he became the player of the month in September 1997 and ended the season in the status of the football player of the year in Ireland ^[3] .

In June 2001, he signed a contract with Shamrock Rovers . He made his debut on August 12 in a game with Bray Wanderers and scored his first goal in a match against Dundalk on January 18, 2002 ^[4] . Scully was the captain of the Rovers for that season. He formed a defense partnership with Terry Palmer, who later became the club's captain. Scully led the Rovers to the Irish Cup final that season, although Derry City won the decisive match with a minimum score.

Then, disagreeing with coach Liam Buckley, he was put up for transfer. His last game for the club was on November 23, 2002.

After 55 matches (including two in European competitions) and two goals, Scully moved to Droeda United . He made his debut in a match against Rovers on April 11, 2003, and played for the club one season before retiring.

He became the player of the year at Southend, Huddersfield, and Shelburne. After finishing her career, Scully worked for a while in a Dublin taxi.

In 2005, the leadership of Kilkenny City invited him to start his coaching career at the club. Scully led the little-known First Division club for one season ^[5] .

Despite the fact that the season did not start well for Scully and Kilkenny, the club made up for it in the second half of the season, but in the end lost the place in the playoffs for the promotion.

Scully’s work as a Kilkenny coach has sparked Shamrock Rovers' interest, which has undergone a massive restructuring since Scully’s performances. The old members of the board of directors, who were replaced by the association of fans, left, and it saved the club from decline.

At the end of the 2005 season, the new leadership fired Rovers coach Roddy Collins, with whom the club for the first time in its history flew out of the big leagues . Soon after Collins was fired, the Rovers proposed Scully to lead the club.

Scully was appointed Rovers coach and immediately began to clean the roster. He brought in a few Kilkenny players, and many more came from Kildare County and other First Division clubs.

The updated Shamrock Rovers began their first season in the First Division with a strong-willed victory with a score of 2: 1 over Dundalk. The club ultimately won the First Division, having played the last match of the season in a 1-1 draw with Cove Ramblers.

Scully has established himself as a promising coach, winning the First Division trophy on the first try. Rovers finished the 2007 season in fifth place. The young team passed in the final part of the championship, and the chance for European cups was missed, but, despite this, the season was positive.

On October 14, 2008, Scully’s contract with Shamrock Rovers was terminated by mutual agreement ^[6] . A message appeared on the club’s website: “Shamrock Rovers and Pat Scully mutually agreed to immediately terminate the contract. The club is grateful to Pat for what he achieved and wished him good health. ”

On March 25, 2009, the Limerick First Division club announced that Scully should take the vacant position of coach ^[7] . Scully said: "Having met the board of directors, I was very impressed with their plans for the future of Limerick, and I look forward to playing my part as a coach in the future success of the club."

In September 2011, his contract was extended for two years ^[8] . In October 2012, Scully won her second First Division title. ^[9]

In November 2012, Scully was fired from Limerick ^{[10] [11] [12]} .

The period of Scully’s work with the Rovers was not without scandals. Scully is an uncompromising professional who is very strict and expects his players to follow his model, both on and off the field. Quarrels with some Rovers players led to a drop in team results in the middle of the 2006 season.

However, the biggest scandal in his coaching career flared up due to a television interview. In August 2006, speaking as an analyst on TV3 at Eircom League Weekly , Scully remarked that league rules should be tightened so that football matters did not go to court. The Football Association of Ireland negatively perceived this criticism and fined Scully 5,000 euros, eventually reducing the fine to 2,000 euros ^[13] . Scully threatened to leave football, but the conflict was settled when the Rovers board of directors offered to pay a fine on his behalf.

There were also several problems in the 2008 season. In June, the relations of coaches and players were not at the best level. According to rumors, Scully quarreled with Barry Murphy, Herr O'Brien and Stephen Rice over their call to the Irish national team until the age of 23. This led to the fact that Rice asked to put himself on the transfer, and ultimately he was sent to the youth squad. On July 21, 2008, Rice returned to the match with St Patricks Athletic .

His relationship with other players on the team also worsened after a fight with Dessie Baker and Barry Ferguson during the same period.