Pat Fenlon

Patrick Fenlon (born 15 March 1969) is an Irish football coach and former player.

Fenlon played as a midfielder for St Patrick's Athletic, Bohemians, Linfield, Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne. As a manager he won five League of Ireland titles with Shelbourne and Bohemians between 2003 and 2009. During his time with Bohemians Fenlon also won the FAI Cup in 2008, the League of Ireland Cup in 2009 and the Setanta Sports Cup in 2010. Fenlon moved to Scottish club Hibernian in November 2011, who he helped reach two Scottish Cup Finals, although both were lost heavily.

Playing career Fenlon was born in Dublin. After playing as a schoolboy with four local clubs, he was with London club Chelsea as a young trainee. A midfielder, he returned home and signed for Brian Kerr's St Patrick's Athletic in 1987 After four seasons at St Pats, he signed for Bohemians in the summer of 1991. Speaking about his time with Linfield twenty years later, Fenlon said he had been abused by fellow Irish Catholics for his decision to join Linfield based on their history. It was Fenlon's goal against Glentoran on the final day of the 1993–94 season which sealed the title for Linfield. He also scored the second goal in the 2–0 win against Bangor in the Irish Cup Final a week later.

In June 1996, he signed for another Dublin club, Shamrock Rovers. But after one season he transferred to Shelbourne. He scored the winning goal for Shelbourne in the 1999/00 FAI Cup final replay, as Shelbourne beat Bohemians 1–0.

Management career

Shelbourne Fenlon started out his management career as player/manager of Shelbourne in 2002. Following this amazing run, and participation in the First Round of the UEFA Cup against Lille OSC, Fenlon was rewarded with a contract extension. This made him the first manager to reach the third qualifying round of the competition with an Irish club. and the reports proved true when Derry concluded an agreement with him. Fenlon was also manager for a series of games for the Republic of Ireland under-23 national team, consisting entirely of League of Ireland players.

Bohemians On 22 December 2007, he was appointed manager of Bohemians. Bohemians won the Setanta Sports Cup in 2010, but then suffered financial problems.

Hibernian Fenlon was linked with the manager's position at Hibernian in November 2011. Hibernian were struggling badly in the SPL at the time and were in danger of relegation. Bohemians gave Hibernian permission to talk to Fenlon on 23 November and he was appointed two days later. Unusually, what would be Fenlon's debut game as manager away to Motherwell was abandoned at half time, when one of the Fir Park floodlights caught fire.

Hibs earned only one point from Fenlon's first five matches in charge. On 14 January 2012, Hibs won their first league game under Fenlon, against Dunfermline. With the club still struggling, Fenlon decided to shake up the squad in January 2012 by releasing some players and replacing them with loan signings, including James McPake. The team's form improved and Hibernian made progress in the battle to avoid relegation. Furthermore, a late goal by Leigh Griffiths gave Fenlon's side a 2–1 victory against Aberdeen and a place in the 2012 Scottish Cup Final. Fenlon then guided Hibs to safety in the SPL, but they lost 5–1 in the Scottish Cup Final to Edinburgh derby rivals Hearts and Fenlon was sent to the stand by referee Craig Thomson late in the game.

The 2012–13 season began with 10 new faces in to replace the majority of the side that lost the cup final. Hibs pushed on in the first half of the season and found themselves top of the league after their 3–0 win over Dundee. After a slump in the middle of the season, a 1–0 victory against Dundee on the final day resulted in Hibs finishing 7th in Fenlon's first full season in charge. Hibs also beat Hearts to progress into the 5th round of the Scottish Cup. Wins against Aberdeen, Kilmarnock and Falkirk meant that Hibs reached a second successive Scottish Cup final, which they lost 3–0 to Celtic.

The 2013–14 season began with a humiliating 9–0 aggregate defeat to Swedish side Malmö in the second qualifying round of the Europa League, including a 7–0 reverse at Easter Road in the home leg. Fenlon resigned on 1 November 2013.

Shamrock Rovers Fenlon was appointed manager of Shamrock Rovers in August 2014.

Waterford On 2 January 2017 Fenlon was appointed in a Director of Football role at Waterford. Waterford native Alan Reynolds was also appointed as the club's Head Coach on the same day. Fenlon had worked with Reynolds before at Shelbourne in 2005–2006 where they won the League of Ireland Premier Division together. Waterfords promotion was sealed after Waterfords 3–0 win over Wexford was coupled with nearest challengers Cobh Ramblers 3–0 defeat to Cabinteely and the First Division title was secured with two games to spare and for the first time in ten years Waterford returned to the League of Ireland Premier Division. Fenlon left his post at Waterford in February 2018 to work with the chairman of the club Lee Power as a consultant on his worldwide projects.

Linfield In November 2018, Fenlon was appointed to a general manager position with Linfield.

Return to Bohemians In January 2023, Fenlon returned to Bohemians as their Director of Football.

Managerial statistics

1.Includes only league record.

Honours

Player St Patrick's Athletic League of Ireland Premier Division (1): 1989–90

Bohemians FAI Cup (1): 1991–92 Leinster Senior Cup (1): 1993

Linfield Irish League (1): 1993–94 Irish Cup (2): 1993–94, 1994–95

Shamrock Rovers Leinster Senior Cup (1): 1997

Shelbourne League of Ireland Premier Division (2): 1999–00, 2001–02 FAI Cup (1): 1999–00

Manager Shelbourne League of Ireland Premier Division (3): 2003, 2004, 2006

Bohemians League of Ireland Premier Division (2): 2008, 2009 FAI Cup (1): 2008 Setanta Sports Cup (1): 2009–10 League of Ireland Cup (1): 2009

Hibernian Scottish Cup Runners-up (2): 2011–12, 2012–13

Individual PFAI Players' Player of the Year (2): 1991–92, 1999–2000 SWAI Personality of the Year (2): 2004, 2006