Ian Baraclough

Ian Robert Baraclough (/bærəklʌf/; born 4 December 1970) is an English football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of the Northern Ireland national team. He previously managed the Under-21 team.

Ian Baraclough
Baraclough as the manager of Northern Ireland in 2021
Personal information
Full name Ian Robert Baraclough
Date of birth (1970-12-04) 4 December 1970
Place of birth Leicester, England
Position(s) Defender, midfielder
Youth career
Leicester City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1991 Leicester City 0 (0)
1990 → Wigan Athletic (loan) 9 (2)
1990 → Grimsby Town (loan) 4 (0)
1991–1992 Grimsby Town 1 (0)
1992–1994 Lincoln City 73 (10)
1994–1995 Mansfield Town 47 (5)
1995–1998 Notts County 111 (10)
1998–2001 Queens Park Rangers 125 (1)
2001–2004 Notts County 101 (7)
2004–2008 Scunthorpe United 134 (15)
Total 605 (50)
Managerial career
2010–2011 Scunthorpe United
2012–2014 Sligo Rovers
2014–2015 Motherwell
2017–2020 Northern Ireland U21
2020–2022 Northern Ireland
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

As a player, he was a defender from 1988 to 2008 for Leicester City, Grimsby Town, Lincoln City, Mansfield Town, Notts County, Queens Park Rangers and Scunthorpe United. Having been a part of Scunthorpe's coaching staff after retiring from playing he went on to manage the club between 2010 and 2011. In 2012, he was appointed manager of Sligo Rovers and is regarded as the club's most successful manager having led the club to numerous trophies during a two-year stay.

Playing career

Born in Leicester, Baraclough started his career with local team Leicester City, and has also played for Grimsby Town, Lincoln City, Mansfield Town, Notts County and Queens Park Rangers (QPR).

Baraclough signed for QPR in March 1998 making his debut against Stoke City the same month. He played 125 league games for them, scoring one goal against Huddersfield Town.[1]

After his spell at Loftus Road, Baraclough joined Notts County and enjoyed a turbulent first season captaining the side on a few occasions.

He later signed for Scunthorpe United in 2004 on a free transfer, enjoying fantastic success with the Iron, winning promotion from Football League Two. He was part of the team who were then promoted from League One as champions to the Championship in 2007 and then once more via the playoffs in 2009 as part of the backroom staff at Glanford Park where he had great success as coach/assistant to Nigel Adkins. Baraclough made 124 League starts and nine as a substitute, scoring seven goals for Scunthorpe.

Coaching career

Scunthorpe United

When Nigel Adkins was appointed Scunthorpe manager in November 2006, Baraclough was made head first-team coach. From the 2008–09 season, he ceased playing to concentrate on coaching duties.

Baraclough was appointed caretaker manager of the club on 12 September 2010, following Adkins' departure to League One Southampton.[2] His first match was a 4–0 away win at Sheffield United. On 24 September 2010, Scunthorpe United named him as their new manager. [3] He was surprisingly dismissed on 16 March 2011 after a 3–0 loss to Preston North End, who occupied 24th place in the Championship, with his team having just dropped into the relegation zone at the time of his dismissal.[4]

Sligo Rovers

On 27 February 2012, Baraclough was announced as the new manager of League of Ireland Premier Division side Sligo Rovers.[5] He fought off competition from former Aston Villa boss Brian Little, former Sligo legend Willie McStay, and Republic of Ireland international Kevin Kilbane.

On 13 October 2012, Baraclough led Sligo Rovers to their first League of Ireland title in 35 years. The 3–2 victory against St Patrick's Athletic secured the league title with two games to play and was played in front of a sell-out crowd of 5,600 at The Showgrounds. As a result of this title, Sligo Rovers qualified for the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League, and Baraclough was the sole English coach involved in that season's competition.[6]

Baraclough then led Sligo Rovers to their fifth (and his first) FAI Cup triumph in an exciting 3–2 win over Drogheda United in the 2013 FAI Cup final at the Aviva Stadium on 3 November.

Baraclough and Sligo Rovers continued their winning habit by lifting the first major piece of silverware available during the 2014 season by defeating high flying Dundalk in the All-Ireland Setanta Sports Cup at a rain soaked Tallaght Stadium. The 1–0 victory gave Sligo Rovers their first ever cross border title since they were formed in 1928.[7]

On 19 June 2014, Baraclough parted company with Sligo Rovers with the club in fifth place, 17 points behind leaders Dundalk.[8][9][10]

After leaving Sligo, Baraclough worked as a scout for Huddersfield Town.

Motherwell

On 13 December 2014, Baraclough was appointed manager of Motherwell of the Scottish Premiership, replacing Stuart McCall.[11] Despite a very tough season he led the club to league safety after 6–1 aggregate victory in the Scottish Premiership play-offs against Rangers in a two-legged final at the end of the season. In an ironic twist of events, the opposition manager was his predecessor at Fir Park, Stuart McCall. Baraclough left Motherwell in September 2015, with the club having taken seven points from their first eight league games of the 2015–16 season.[12]

Oldham Athletic

In July 2016, Baraclough was appointed assistant manager at League One club Oldham Athletic by incoming manager Steve Robinson, who he worked with at Baraclough's previous club Motherwell.

Northern Ireland Under-21

In May 2017 Baraclough left Oldham to become manager of the Northern Ireland Under-21 side.[13]

Northern Ireland

After a successful spell with the under-21s, he was appointed as the successor to Michael O'Neill as manager of the senior team on 27 June 2020.[14] Baraclough's first match in charge of Northern Ireland was an away UEFA Nations League fixture against Romania which ended in a 1–1 draw. On 12 November 2020, Northern Ireland lost 2–1 to Slovakia in the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying play-offs and failed to qualify for the finals in 2021.[15] He was sacked on 21 October 2022.[16] In May 2023, he was linked with the St Patrick's Athletic job following the departure of Tim Clancy from the role.[17]

Managerial statistics
As of match played 27 September 2022[18]
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
PWDLWin %
Scunthorpe United 12 September 2010 16 March 2011 34 8 4 22 023.5
Sligo Rovers 27 February 2012 19 June 2014 111 61 25 25 055.0
Motherwell 13 December 2014 23 September 2015 34 12 5 17 035.3
Northern Ireland U21 5 May 2017 27 June 2020 17 8 5 4 047.1
Northern Ireland 27 June 2020 21 October 2022 28 6 8 14 021.4
Total 224 95 47 82 042.4

Honours

Player

Grimsby Town

Notts County

Scunthorpe United

Managerial

Sligo Rovers

References
  1. "QPR 1 Huddersfield 1". Sporting Life. 3 April 1999. Archived from the original on 17 October 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  2. "Baraclough named caretaker boss". Scunthorpe United FC. 13 September 2010. Archived from the original on 18 September 2010. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
  3. Ian Baraclough named Scunthorpe United manager, BBC News, 24 September 2010, news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  4. Scunthorpe United sack manager Ian Baraclough, BBC News, 16 March 2011, news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  5. "Baraclough confirmed as new Sligo boss". RTÉ News. 27 February 2012. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012.
  6. Oliver Farry (12 July 2013). "League of Ireland can concentrate on football". When Saturday Comes. Retrieved 12 July 2013. Molde, like Sligo, have recently enjoyed success after winning little for most of their history but, after being champions in Solksjaer's first two seasons, they are now struggling in mid-table in the Tippeliga. Rovers manager Ian Baraclough, who is the sole English coach involved in this year's Champion League, might feel he can put one over the man alongside whom he once studied for his A-Licence.
  7. "O'Conor the hero as Sligo lift Setanta Sports Cup". sseairtricityleague.ie. 10 May 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  8. "Sligo Rovers part company with Ian Baraclough". RTE Sport. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  9. "Ian Baraclough - a Sligo giant brought low by pygmies". Irish Independent. 29 June 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  10. "Another one bites the dust: Ian Baraclough gone as Sligo manager". The Score. 19 June 2014. Archived from the original on 26 July 2014. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  11. "Motherwell FC – Ian Baraclough appointed 'Well boss". 13 December 2014.
  12. "Ian Baraclough: Motherwell part with manager after nine months". BBC Sport. BBC. 23 September 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  13. "Ian Baraclough: Ex-Motherwell and Sligo Rovers manager appointed NI U21 boss". BBC Sport. BBC. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  14. "Ian Baraclough: New Northern Ireland manager won't overlook Nations League". BBC Sport. 5 July 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  15. "Euro 2020 play-off: Ian Baraclough 'can't ask any more' of NI after Slovakia defeat". BBC Sport. 12 November 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  16. "Ian Baraclough sacked by Northern Ireland | 'It's been tough for him'". SkySports.
  17. "Highly regarded Irish coach Ian Baraclough in frame for St Pat's job". 3 May 2023.
  18. "Ian Barrclough's managerial career". Soccerbase. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
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