Owen Coyle

Owen Columba Coyle (born 14 July 1966) is a professional football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of Indian Super League club Chennaiyin.

He played as a striker for several clubs in England and Scotland, and made one appearance for the Republic of Ireland national team.

Coyle began his senior career with Dumbarton in 1985 where he played alongside his brothers Joe and Tommy.

Coyle's debut was in February 1987; he opened the scoring within two minutes, with Scotland going on to win 4–1.

In 1988, he joined Clydebank.

This move was instantly successful, Coyle scoring a hat-trick on his debut and going on to finish as the Scottish League's top scorer for 1989–90.

In March 1990 a £175,000 transfer took him to Airdrieonians for the first of three spells at the club.

Over the next two seasons his goals helped Airdrie to promotion, a Scottish Cup final appearance in 1992, and an appearance in the 1992–93 European Cup Winners' Cup (as the Scottish Cup winners Rangers also won the Scottish Premier Division title and qualified for the UEFA Champions League).

Coyle began his career at Dumbarton, and also played for Clydebank and Airdrieonians before joining English club Bolton Wanderers in 1993.

He appeared for Bolton in the Premier League before a return to Scotland with Dundee United.

He went on to play for several other Scottish clubs, including Motherwell, Dunfermline Athletic, Falkirk and St Johnstone.

In the summer of 1993, Bolton Wanderers paid £250,000 to sign Coyle, and his two-year spell in England included promotion and a brief chance to play in the FA Premier League.

Qualifying by descent, he played for the Republic of Ireland under-21s and B team before he made one full international appearance in 1994.

He was a key part of their Division One promotion winning side in 1995, scoring a 75th-minute goal against Reading in the playoff final which gave Bolton a lifeline to peg the scoreline back to 2–1.

With 90 minutes on the clock, the score was 2–2 and Bolton won 4–3 in extra time to end their 15-year exile from the top flight.

However, in October 1995, a £400,000 transfer fee took him to Dundee United, where he was once again part of a promotion-winning side, scoring the winning goal in extra time in the second leg of the playoff against Partick Thistle.

Coyle's next move was to Motherwell in January 1997, after a move to Hibernian fell through.

In March 1999 he moved to Dunfermline Athletic.

After losing his place in the Pars team, he went on loan to Ross County.

He rejoined Airdrieonians in 2001 and won the Challenge Cup (scoring in the final) but they went into liquidation in May 2002.

Coyle then joined Falkirk, being promoted to co-player-manager alongside John Hughes in 2003.

After leaving this post he returned to Dundee United, primarily in a coaching capacity but also registering as a player.

A lack of first team opportunities, however, led to him being loaned out to Airdrieonians' successors, Airdrie United; the move was subsequently made permanent.

He also took up the post of assistant manager to Sandy Stewart.

Upon retiring from playing, Coyle managed Falkirk and St Johnstone, before joining then Championship side Burnley in November 2007.

In his first full season in charge, Burnley won promotion to the Premier League in 2009.

He played in an emergency for Burnley Reserves on 9 April 2009, scoring with a lob in a 2–0 win against Accrington Stanley, helping them win the Reserve League title.

On 7 October, Coyle played again for Burnley Reserves in a 1–0 defeat to the Liverpool Reserves at Prenton Park.

He then moved to Bolton Wanderers in January 2010, halfway through his first season in the Premier League; Coyle stated this move was due to Bolton being "ten years ahead of Burnley".

On 15 November 2010, Coyle returned to playing action at the age of 44 when turning out for Bolton in their friendly match with Northern Ireland side Cliftonville.

It was the first time in fifteen years that he had started a game for Bolton and he chipped in with a goal in a 2–0 Wanderers win.

Although born in Scotland, Coyle represented the Republic of Ireland under-21 team.

Regarding his choice to represent Ireland, Coyle stated "My ambition was to play at the highest level possible and, if I'm being totally honest, I didn't and still don't think I would have been good enough to play for Scotland. But the Irish watched me play six or seven times for Dumbarton and my first game for them was actually against Scotland."

After leaving Bolton in October 2012, Coyle was appointed manager of Wigan Athletic in June 2013, only to leave the club six months later.

He was made head coach of Houston Dynamo in December 2014, until he left by mutual agreement in May 2016.

He then managed Blackburn Rovers between June 2016 and February 2017.

He returned to Scotland to manage Ross County in September 2017, but resigned from this position after five months.

On 3 December 2019, Coyle was appointed as head coach of Indian club Chennaiyin.

He led them from bottom of the table to the ISL final.

After a stint with Jamshedpur, he returned to Scottish football in March 2022 with Queen's Park.