Martin O’Neill Former Manager

A profile of former Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill, documenting his win percentages, consecutive top-six Premier League finishes, and his tenure at Villa Park.

Tactical Identity

High Tempo / Direct & Counter

Tenure

Aug 2006 — Aug 2010

Status

Historical Record

Martin O’Neill: The Aston Villa nearly man

Aston Villa fans have some fond memories of Martin O’Neill’s four-year tenure at Villa Park, but there is a sense that he was a bit of a nearly man. Villa played some electric football during his time at charge, but never quite cracked the top four – finishing sixth two seasons running. They also reached the 2009 League Cup final but fell short at the last hurdle. His resignation shortly before the 2010-11 season began left a sour note on what had been a mainly happy relationship with supporters to that point. Still, looking back now, most would have good memories of that period in time.

Martin O’Neill’s managerial journey

O’Neill has had a long and storied managerial career, which is still going in the 2025-26 season with two interim spells at Celtic (the table below shows only full spells). After cutting his teeth with Wycombe Wanderers and Norwich City, O’Neill enjoyed a fantastic stint at Leicester City where he twice won the League Cup. A move to Celtic followed in June 2000 and he became a legend at Parkhead, winning seven major honours and reaching the UEFA Cup final. He had an exciting four-year spell at Villa Park, including back-to-back sixth-place finishes and reaching the League Cup final.

Martin O’Neill | Career Managerial Record

Excluding 2025-26 Interim Spells at Celtic

Team	From	To	P	W	D	L	Win %
Wycombe Wanderers	7 Feb 1990	13 June 1995	290	160	66	64	55.2
Norwich City	13 June 1995	17 Dec 1995	27	12	9	6	44.4
Leicester City	21 Dec 1995	1 June 2000	222	85	67	70	38.3
Celtic	1 June 2000	31 May 2005	282	213	29	40	75.5
Aston Villa	5 Aug 2006	9 Aug 2010	190	80	60	50	42.1
Sunderland	3 Dec 2011	30 Mar 2013	66	21	20	25	31.8
Republic of Ireland	5 Nov 2013	21 Nov 2018	55	19	20	16	34.5
Nottingham Forest	15 Jan 2019	28 June 2019	19	8	3	8	42.1
Standard Career Totals			1,151	600	274	277	52.1%

*Statistical data based on core managerial tenures. This summary strictly excludes interim spells at Celtic during the 2025-26 season. Correct as of April 2026.

Martin O’Neill’s career achievements

O’Neill has won plenty of trophies in a distinguished career, but sadly missed out on League Cup glory with Villa in 2009. He win that trophy twice with Leicester City, though. Up in Scotland, he won three Scottish Premiership titles, the Scottish Cup on three occasions, and the Scottish League once during a memorable five-year period with Celtic.