George O'Neill

George O'Neill (born 26 July 1942 in Port Glasgow, Scotland) is a Scottish former-American soccer player. He began his career in Scotland, playing with eight clubs over nine seasons before moving to the Philadelphia Atoms of the North American Soccer League. He retired from playing professionally in 1976. In 1973, he earned two caps with the U.S. national team.

George O'Neill
Personal information
Full name George O'Neill[1]
Date of birth (1942-07-26) 26 July 1942
Place of birth Port Glasgow, Scotland
Playing position(s) Left half
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1962–1964 Celtic 0 (0)
1964–1965 Barrow 7 (0)
1964–1965 Ayr United 4 (0)
1965–1966 Dunoon Athletic
1966–1970 Partick Thistle 72 (5)
1969–1971 Greenock Morton 36 (2)
1970–1972 Dunfermline Athletic 25 (3)
1972–1973 St Mirren 2 (0)
1973–1976 Philadelphia Atoms 52 (4)
National team
1973 United States 2 (0)
Teams managed
1978–1980 Philadelphia Fever
1980 Philadelphia Fury (assistant)
1993 University of Pennsylvania (interim)
1994–1997 University of Pennsylvania
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Scotland

O'Neill signed for Scottish club Celtic in November 1962, but never entered the first team. After two seasons, he moved to Barrow of the English Football League Division Four for the 1964–65 season. He played seven games with Barrow before transferring back north to Ayr United. He finished out the 1964–65 season with Ayr, playing only four games. He then moved to Scottish Amateur Football League club Dunoon Athletic for the 1965–66 season. Whether this was a loan from Ayr or a transfer remains unknown. In 1966, he joined Partick Thistle where he finally found significant playing time. Over his four seasons with the club, he played 72 games and scored five goals. He then moved to Morton for a little more than a season before transferring on 16 March 1971 to Dunfermline Athletic. He saw time in twenty-five games before moving to St Mirren in 1972. He played only two games with St Mirren before leaving Scotland for the United States.

NASL

In 1973, O'Neill signed with the expansion Philadelphia Atoms of the North American Soccer League. That year, the Atoms won the NASL championship. He remained with the team until it folded following the 1976 season.

National team

In 1973, O'Neill earned two caps with the U.S. national team. The first came in a 1–0 loss to Haiti on 3 November 1973. The second was another 1–0 loss to Haiti two days later.[2]

Coaching

In 1978, O'Neill was hired to coach the Philadelphia Fever of the Major Indoor Soccer League until he was fired in 1980. He then replaced Derek Travis as the assistant coach of the Philadelphia Fury of the NASL. He spent several years as a coach with the Philadelphia Inter Soccer Club before becoming the interim head coach of the University of Pennsylvania men's soccer team on 18 Aug. 1993 after Steve Baumann resigned. He led the team to a 5–10 record before being named to the head coach position. He was then hired as the team's head coach in January 1994. O'Neill was fired following the 1997 season after he amassed a 28–47–4 record over his five seasons as head coach.

See also

References
  1. "George O'Neill". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  2. USA - Details of International Matches 1970-1979 Archived 5 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine
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