IRISH FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION - Key Persons

Michael O'Neill will go down in Northern Ireland footballing history as being only the third manager ever to lead the country to a major tournament when they successfully qualified for UEFA Euro 2016. He followed in the legendary footstep s of Peter Doherty and Billy Bingham who guided Northern Ireland to the World Cup finals in 1958, 1982 and 1986 respectively. O'Neill's playing career began when he made his Irish League debut for Coleraine in a 4-0 Ulster Cup victory over Newry Town at the tender age of just 15 years and 155 days on 27 October 1984. After three years with the Bannsiders, the then teenager earned a £100,000 move to First Division Newcastle United where he enjoyed two successful season s before being sold to Scottish Premier League outfit Dundee United. He was given his full international debut by Billy Bingham in a 3-2 friendly defeat to Greece in Athens in February 1988 and just over a year later he scored his first Northern Ireland goal in a 2-0 World Cup qualifying victory in Malta. In total O'Neill won 31 caps for his country and scored four goals, the undoubted highlight being the night he found the net twice in a memorable 5-3 European Championship qualifiers win over Austria at a rain-soaked Windsor Park in November 1995.

Mike Riley

mi..@irishfa.com

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Head of Refereeing

Nadine Murphy

na..@irishfa.com

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Community Engagement Officer

Niall McClean - CFO

ni..@irishfa.com

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Finance Director

Nick Campbell

ni..@irishfa.com

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Football Operations Assistant

Nicola Jamison

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International Team Administrator

Nigel Armstrong

ni..@irishfa.com

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Game Development Officer

Nigel Tilson

ni..@irishfa.com

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Senior Media Officer

Norrie Clarke

no..@irishfa.com

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Head of Fan Experience

Pamela Moore

pa..@irishfa.com

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Accounts Administrator

Patrick Nelson - CEO

pa..@irishfa.com

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Chief Executive

Paul Daly

pa..@irishfa.com

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Finance Manager

Paul Smyth

When Paul Smyth hit the winning goal in the 2-1 friendly victory over South Korea at the National Stadium in March 2018 he became the first Norther Ireland player to score on their international debut in over 17 years. The QPR winger was on the pitch for less than four minutes when he found the net in front of the Kop to emulate the achievement of George McCartney who scored on his first appearance in September 2001 in a 3-0 success against Iceland. The diminutive Smyth began his career in the Irish League with Linfield establishing himself as a Windsor Park favourite helping the Blues to a 52 nd league title in 2016/17. He also won a Irish Cup and County Antrim Shield medals that season as well as earning Northern Ireland honours at both under-19 and under-21 level. After much speculation Smyth was snapped up by Championship outfit Queens Park Rangers for an undisclosed fee at the start of the 2017/18 season on a two-year deal He announced his arrival to first-team football with the Hoops in spectacular fashion when he scored the winner in the 2-1 victory over Cardiff City at Loftus Road on New Year's Day 2018. Smyth was a regular member of the first-team squad with the west-London club for the remainder of the season and his impressive performances earned him QPR's Supporters Young Player of the Year. The former Crumlin Colts youth player struggled to force his way into manager Steve McLaren's plans for the 2018/19 campaign and he eventually ended up securing a four-month loan deal at League One Accrington Stanley. In January 2019, Smyth agreed a one-year extension to his contract which ties him to Loftus Road until the summer of 2021. Ahead of the 2019/20 season season Smyth joined League One side Wycombe Wanderers on a 12 month loan deal.