# Mick McDermott

Michael McDermott (born 1974) is a Northern Irish football coach and former player who is the manager of League of Ireland First Division club Cobh Ramblers.

## Early life

Born in Belfast, McDermott attended Belfast Boys' Model School and played for Cliftonville and Distillery at youth levels. He won a soccer scholarship at the University of Rhode Island. He made three caps for Northern Ireland national under-18.

## Playing career

He has played in USL Second Division.

## Coaching career

McDermott has held coaching positions at some of Asia's biggest clubs; Al Ain (Abu Dhabi), Esteghlal (Tehran) and Al-Nasr (Dubai). Previously he was the fitness coach of the Iran national football team during their successful World Cup 2014 qualification campaign. Prior to his second spell with the Iran national team, on 2 July 2017 he was appointed as the assistant manager of Esteghlal. After a brief spell as interim manager, on 30 October 2017 he terminated his contract by mutual agreement.
After leaving Esteghlal he returned to the Iran national team to work alongside Carlos Queiroz as an assistant coach for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the 2019 AFC Asian Cup where they were knocked out in the semi-final by Japan. When Queiroz became the head coach of Colombia in February 2019 it was announced that McDermott would join him but an agreement was not reached with the Colombian FA.
On 31 March 2019, McDermott took the job of Glentoran manager. Interim manager Gary Smyth, who could no longer fulfil the role due to a lack of necessary UEFA coaching qualifications, returned to his former role as assistant. In his first full season as Glentoran manager, McDermott managed the club to victory in the Irish Cup final, defeating Ballymena United 2–1 and thus securing a place in the 2020-21 Europa League preliminary round. McDermott strengthened the squad ahead of the 2020-21 season, signing former Northern Ireland international Luke McCullough and Gibraltar goalkeeper Dayle Coleing, as well as Burundi midfielder Gaël Bigirimana. McDermott's side defeated Faroese side Havnar Bóltfelag 1–0 in the preliminary round, before being knocked out in a 5–1 defeat away to Scottish team Motherwell. He was replaced by assistant manager Rodney McAree as manager on 17 January 2023 after a poor run of form.
After spending time as the assistant manager of the Qatar national team, McDermott was named manager of League of Ireland First Division club Cobh Ramblers on 4 December 2024.

## Personal life

McDermott married to Karla in 1996, who was also a fellow student at University of Rhode Island and a U.S. citizen. As of 2019, the couple had two sons and two daughters.

## Managerial statistics

    As of match played 2 July 2022
Managerial record by team and tenure :
| Team | From | To | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Team | From | To | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Esteghlal (caretaker) | 21 September 2017 | 2 October 2017 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 100.00 |
| Glentoran | 31 March 2019 | 17 January 2023 | 158 | 92 | 32 | 34 | 294 | 152 | +142 | 058.23 |
| Cobh Ramblers | 4 December 2024 | Present | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | !— |
| Total | Total | Total | 159 | 93 | 32 | 34 | 296 | 153 | +143 | 058.49 |

## Honours
### Managerial

Glentoran
* Irish Cup: 2019–20

### Individual

* Atlantic 10 Conference Student-Athlete of the Year: 1995