Postcard from the hedge as O’neill rewinds

He has taken charge of teams in some of the biggest stadiums in the world, but for all of his travels Michael O’neill still hasn’t come across anything quite like Brechin City’s Glebe Park.

Parc des Princes, the Amsterdam Arena, Porto’s Estádio do Dragão to name three – but nothing can compare to the famous hedge.

O’neill has travelled the world as a football manager with his native Northern Ireland but it was in Angus where it all started for the 53-year-old.

A chance spell helping out Mixu Paatelainen at Cowdenbeath got his foot in the coaching door before landing the role at Glebe Park.

He’ll return to the area next week for a special Brechin City World Cup lunch to recall some fond memories from his time in charge between 2006 and 2008.

O’neill spoke to Courier Sport about his time at City, a club which still means a lot to him.

“I have to say Brechin was a bit of a one-off,” he said when asked about his memories of the iconic Glebe Park.

“I always remember having about 500 supporters there at the time but we had some great games in that period.

“The fans would stand down by the wall as well.

“You always have fond memories of your first job, particularly if it leads you to something else.

“I’ve not been back but I’d like to get to a game.

“There are a lot of good people at Brechin and it was a great place to start my management career.

Hopefully I get a chance to run in to them at the event.”

O’neill departed Glebe Park in December 2008 for a move to Irish side Shamrock Rovers.

Three years after that he was appointed as the first team manager of Northern Ireland. It was an incredible rise from part-time football in Angus to the world stage in just a few years.

“It’s funny, within about six years from being at Cowdenbeath, Mixu and I were managing against each other in a Euro qualifier,” he recalled.

“He was managing Finland against Northern Ireland.

“It was interesting to see how we started to where we’d got to in that space of time.”

It could have been completely different.

Dundee had attempted to land O’neill following the departure of Alex Rae.

However, he felt a move to Dens Park wasn’t right for him or his family at the time.

“Dundee had approached Brechin for permission to speak to me,” he explains.

“That would have meant full-time management. At the time I was a full-time employee at a financial services company in Edinburgh.

“I had two young children and my wife and I were considering the possibility of moving back to Ireland, anyway. That was all part of the decision to move to Shamrock Rovers.

“It was driven by things away from football as opposed to the next steps for me, football-wise.

“I didn’t plan to leave Shamrock Rovers for the national team and be there for eight years.

“You just make the right decision at the time which you feel is right for you.

“And that’s what I did at Brechin. It was difficult to leave but they understood my situation.

“There were a lot of good players at Brechin at the time. We had a really good group of lads who were good to work with.

“They were long days but I enjoyed every minute of it.”

GOOD START: Michael O’neill at the beginning of his managerial career at Brechin City’s Glebe Park before he went on to coach clubs worldwide.