View source for Aaron Callaghan

{{Short description|Irish footballer and manager}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name           = Aaron Callaghan
| fullname       = Aaron Joseph Callaghan<ref name="The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City"/>
| image          = 
| birth_place    = [[Dublin]], [[Ireland]]<ref name="The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City"/>
| birth_date     = {{birth date and age|1966|10|8|df=y}}<ref name="The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City"/>
| position       = [[Defender (association football)|Defender]]
| height         = 5 ft 11 in<ref>{{cite book |title=Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88 |editor-first=Peter |editor-last=Dunk |publisher=Queen Anne Press |location=London |date=1987 |page=274 |isbn=978-0-356-14354-5}}</ref>
| years1  = 1984–1987 | clubs1  = [[Stoke City F.C.|Stoke City]]                       | caps1  = 15  | goals1  = 0
| years2  = 1985–1986 | clubs2  = → [[Crewe Alexandra F.C.|Crewe Alexandra]] (loan)    | caps2  = 8   | goals2  = 0
| years3  = 1987–1988 | clubs3  = [[Oldham Athletic A.F.C.|Oldham Athletic]]           | caps3  = 16  | goals3  = 2
| years4  = 1988–1992 | clubs4  = [[Crewe Alexandra F.C.|Crewe Alexandra]]             | caps4  = 158 | goals4  = 6
| years5  = 1992–1994 | clubs5  = [[Preston North End F.C.|Preston North End]]         | caps5  = 36  | goals5  = 2
| years6  = 1994–1995 | clubs6  = [[Shelbourne F.C.|Shelbourne]]                       | caps6  = 14  | goals6  = 1
| years7  = 1995–1999 | clubs7  = [[Crusaders F.C.|Crusaders]]                         | caps7  = 105    | goals7  = 9
| years8  = 1999–2000 | clubs8  = [[St Patrick's Athletic F.C.|St Patrick's Athletic]] | caps8  = 4   | goals8  = 0
| years9  = 2000      | clubs9  = → [[Glenavon F.C.|Glenavon]] (loan)                  | caps9  = 17   | goals9  = 2
| years10 = 2000–2002 | clubs10 = [[Dundalk F.C.|Dundalk]]                             | caps10 = 37  | goals10 = 1
| years11 = 2002–2004 | clubs11 = [[Longford Town F.C.|Longford Town]]                 | caps11 = 0   | goals11 = 0
| totalcaps = 288 |totalgoals = 12
| nationalyears1 = 1986–1987 |nationalteam1 = [[Republic of Ireland national under-21 football team|Republic of Ireland U21]] | nationalcaps1 = 2  |nationalgoals1 = 0
| manageryears1  = 1998–1999 | managerclubs1  = [[Crusaders F.C.|Crusaders]] ([[Player-coach|player-manager]])
| manageryears2  = 2004      | managerclubs2  = [[Athlone Town F.C.|Athlone Town]]
| manageryears3  = 2007–2008 | managerclubs3  = [[Longford Town F.C.|Longford Town]]
| manageryears4  = 2012–2013 | managerclubs4  = [[Bohemian F.C.|Bohemians]]
| manageryears5  = 2014      | managerclubs5  = [[University College Dublin A.F.C.|UCD]]
| manageryears6  = 2016–2017   | managerclubs6 = [[Carrick Rangers F.C.|Carrick Rangers]]
| manageryears7  = 2017–2018 | managerclubs7 = [[Athlone Town F.C.|Athlone Town]]
| manageryears8  = 2019- | managerclubs8 = [[Cherry Orchard F.C.|Cherry Orchard (Youth Academy)]]
}}
'''Aaron Joseph Callaghan''' (born 8 October 1966) is an Irish football manager and retired player. He played in [[the Football League]] for [[Stoke City F.C.|Stoke City]], [[Crewe Alexandra F.C.|Crewe Alexandra]], [[Oldham Athletic A.F.C.|Oldham Athletic]] and [[Preston North End F.C.|Preston North End]].<ref name="The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City">{{cite book|last=Matthews|first=Tony|title=The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City|year=1994|publisher=Lion Press|isbn=0-9524151-0-0}}</ref>

==Playing career==
Callaghan was born in [[Dublin]] and began his career with English club [[Stoke City F.C.|Stoke City]] progressing through the youth ranks at the [[Victoria Ground]] and signed a professional contract in 1984.<ref name="The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City"/> Stoke were having a woeful [[1984–85 Stoke City F.C. season|1984–85 season]] and with the team already relegated Callaghan was given the chance to play First Division football playing in five matches towards the end of the season.<ref name="The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City"/> He began the [[1985–86 Stoke City F.C. season|1985–86]] season on loan at [[Crewe Alexandra F.C.|Crewe Alexandra]] where he made 10 appearances.<ref name="The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City"/> On his return to Stoke he played in eight matches under the management of [[Mick Mills]]. He made just three appearances for Stoke in [[1986–87 Stoke City F.C. season|1986–87]] and was sold to [[Oldham Athletic A.F.C.|Oldham Athletic]] in October 1986.<ref name="The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City"/>

Callaghan remained at [[Boundary Park]] for two seasons making 21 appearances before joining [[Crewe Alexandra F.C.|Crewe Alexandra]] in May 1988.<ref name="The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City"/> He spent four seasons at Crewe helping the side gain promotion in [[1988–89 in English football|1988–89]] which was followed by relegation in [[1990–91 in English football|1990–91]].<ref name="The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City"/> In total he played in 197 games for Crewe scoring ten goals before leaving for [[Preston North End F.C.|Preston North End]]. He spent two seasons at [[Deepdale]] making 44 appearances scoring three goals before returning to Ireland to play for [[Shelbourne F.C.|Shelbourne]]. He then went on to play for [[Crusaders F.C.|Crusaders]], [[St Patrick's Athletic F.C.|St Patrick's Athletic]], [[Dundalk F.C.|Dundalk]] and ended his playing career with [[Longford Town F.C.|Longford Town]].

==International career==
Callaghan scored in Ireland's U-17 win over Northern Ireland in November 1983. He was in the panel for the [[1984 UEFA European Under-18 Championship]] as [[Liam Tuohy (footballer)|Liam Tuohy]]'s side made it to the semi-finals in the USSR. On 26 February 1985, he produced a great performance as Ireland beat England 1–0 in the opening qualifying match of the [[1986 UEFA European Under-18 Championship]].

He was selected for the [[1985 FIFA World Youth Championship]] finals in the Soviet Union but on 19 August, five days before it was scheduled to start, he was recalled by Stoke City as he was needed for first team duty by manager [[Mick Mills]] the following Saturday. However, Callaghan did not play and would not make a senior appearance for the club until six months later. The defender made two [[Republic of Ireland national under-21 football team]] appearances, playing alongside [[Denis Irwin]] and [[Pat Dolan]] in a 0–0 draw in Belgium in September 1986 and in the 2–1 defeat to Scotland at Oriel Park in October 1987.

==Managerial career==
He was also player-manager of [[Crusaders F.C.|Crusaders]] for one year and in 2000 the club qualified for Europe after he had made three European appearances as a player. Apart from a brief spell as [[Athlone Town F.C.|Athlone Town]] manager in 2004, Aaron had been a coach at Longford Town from July 2002 until the end of the 2006 season. Following a year out from the game, Aaron was appointed [[Longford Town F.C.|Longford Town FC]] manager in December 2007.<ref>[http://www.ltfc.ie/news/article/?id=0d573361-7eca-473e-ba47-6a524db6fab3 Aaron Callaghan appointed Town Manager] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721125345/http://www.ltfc.ie/news/article/?id=0d573361-7eca-473e-ba47-6a524db6fab3 |date=21 July 2011 }} www.ltfc.ie 18 December 2007. Retrieved 28 January 2008</ref> Due to financial constraints at the club Aaron resigned as manager on 30 August 2008. Aaron was one of the first coaches in Ireland to obtain the UEFA Pro Licence in 2007. He is a coach education tutor for the Football Association of Ireland and sports development officer for Dublin City Council. Aaron has played for the [[Republic of Ireland national under-21 football team|Republic of Ireland U21s]] and was appointed Rep of Ireland U.14 International Coach for 2 years in 1997.

He was the 1st team coach at [[UCD AFC|UCD]] and [[St Patrick's Athletic F.C.|St.Patrick's Athletic]] before taking over as manager of [[Bohemian F.C.|Bohemians]] in time for the 2012 season.

Callaghan was appointed as [[Bohemian F.C.|Bohemians]] manager on 31 December 2011.<ref>[http://www.bohemians.ie/news/4-club-news/1467-callaghan-takes-the-reins.html Callaghan takes over Bohs] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120127184520/http://www.bohemians.ie/news/4-club-news/1467-callaghan-takes-the-reins.html |date=27 January 2012 }}</ref> Despite financial constraints at the club, he led his team to a comfortable midtable finish in a season that included a 4–0 victory over [[Shamrock Rovers F.C.|Shamrock Rovers]] and Bohs' first league win in [[Tallaght Stadium]]. He was rewarded for this good season by being offered a two-year contract extension by the Bohs board of directors, which he signed in November 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.herald.ie/sport/soccer/callaghan-signs-new-bohs-deal-3307483.html|title=Callaghan signs new Bohs deal |website=Herald.ie|accessdate=23 January 2018}}</ref> On 15 July 2013 Callaghan was relieved of his duties by the club's board of directors.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/irish/2013/0715/462659-callaghan-and-bohemians-part-ways|title=Callaghan and Bohemians part ways|date=15 July 2013|website=Rte.ie|accessdate=23 January 2018}}</ref>

On 13 October 2016, Callaghan returned to management in Northern Ireland, taking over at Carrick Rangers. Within a few months at the club, Callaghan saw his side through to their first ever League Cup Final.

==Media work==
In 2015 Aaron Callaghan joined the LeagueofIreland.ie team as a journalist giving the views on a number of topics in the League of Ireland from a manager points of view. Currently still involved in the site.

==Career statistics==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition<ref>{{ENFA}}</ref>
|-
!rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season
!colspan="3"|League
!colspan="2"|FA Cup
!colspan="2"|League Cup
!colspan="2"|Other{{ref label|Other|A|}}
!colspan="2"|Total
|-
!Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals
|-
|rowspan="4"|[[Stoke City F.C.|Stoke City]]
|[[1984–85 Stoke City F.C. season|1984–85]]
|[[Football League First Division|First Division]]
|5||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||5||0
|-
|[[1985–86 Stoke City F.C. season|1985–86]]
|[[Football League Second Division|Second Division]]
|8||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||8||0
|-
|[[1986–87 Stoke City F.C. season|1986–87]]
|Second Division
|2||0||0||0||0||0||1||0||3||0
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!15!!0!!0!!0!!0!!0!!1!!0!!16!!0
|-
|[[Crewe Alexandra F.C.|Crewe Alexandra]] (loan)
|[[1985–86 in English football|1985–86]]
|[[Football League Fourth Division|Fourth Division]]
|8||0||0||0||0||0||2||0||10||0
|-
|rowspan="3"|[[Oldham Athletic A.F.C.|Oldham Athletic]]
|[[1986–87 in English football|1986–87]]
|Second Division
|5||0||0||0||0||0||0||0||5||0
|-
|[[1987–88 in English football|1987–88]]
|Second Division
|11||2||0||0||4||0||1||0||16||2
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!16!!2!!0!!0!!4!!0!!1!!0!!21!!2
|-
|rowspan="5"|[[Crewe Alexandra F.C.|Crewe Alexandra]]
|[[1988–89 in English football|1988–89]]
|Fourth Division
|40||4||4||0||2||1||4||0||50||5
|-
|[[1989–90 in English football|1989–90]]
|[[Football League Third Division|Third Division]]
|41||2||5||0||3||0||2||0||51||2
|-
|[[1990–91 in English football|1990–91]]
|Third Division
|39||0||2||1||3||0||2||1||46||2
|-
|[[1991–92 in English football|1991–92]]
|Fourth Division
|38||0||3||0||4||2||5||0||50||2
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!158!!6!!14!!1!!12!!2!!13!!1!!197!!10
|-
|rowspan="3"|[[Preston North End F.C.|Preston North End]]
|[[1992–93 in English football|1992–93]]
|Second Division
|35||2||2||1||2||0||2||0||41||3
|-
|[[1993–94 in English football|1993–94]]
|Third Division
|1||0||0||0||1||0||1||0||3||0
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!36!!2!!2!!1!!3!!0!!3!!0!!44!!3
|-
!colspan="3"|Career Total
!233!!10!!16!!3!!19!!2!!20!!1!!288!!16
|}

{{refbegin}}
:A.&nbsp;{{note|Other}} The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the [[Full Members Cup]], [[Football League Trophy]] and [[Football League play-offs]].
{{refend}}

==Honours==
; Crewe Alexandra
* [[Football League Fourth Division]] third-place promotion: [[1990–91 in English football|1990–91]]

; Crusaders
*[[NIFL Premiership|Irish League]]: [[1994–95 Irish League|1994–95]], [[1996–97 Irish League|1996–97]]
*[[Irish League Cup]]: [[1996–97 Irish League Cup|1996–97]]
*[[Gold Cup (Northern Ireland)|Gold Cup]]: 1995–96

; Shelbourne
*[[League of Ireland Cup]]: 1995–96

; Dundalk
*[[FAI Cup]]: 2002

==References==

{{Reflist}}

{{Athlone Town A.F.C. managers}}
{{Longford Town F.C. managers |state=autocollapse}}
{{Bohemian F.C. managers}}
{{University College Dublin A.F.C. managers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Callaghan, Aaron}}
[[Category:1966 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Republic of Ireland men's association footballers]]
[[Category:Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers]]
[[Category:Stoke City F.C. players]]
[[Category:Crewe Alexandra F.C. players]]
[[Category:Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players]]
[[Category:Preston North End F.C. players]]
[[Category:Republic of Ireland association football managers]]
[[Category:Shelbourne F.C. players]]
[[Category:St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players]]
[[Category:Dundalk F.C. players]]
[[Category:League of Ireland players]]
[[Category:League of Ireland managers]]
[[Category:Longford Town F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Crusaders F.C. players]]
[[Category:Glenavon F.C. players]]
[[Category:Crusaders F.C. managers]]
[[Category:NIFL Premiership players]]
[[Category:English Football League players]]
[[Category:Men's association football defenders]]
[[Category:People from Lucan, Dublin]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from South Dublin (county)]]
[[Category:Carrick Rangers F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Athlone Town A.F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Association footballers from County Dublin]]
[[Category:Irish expatriate sportspeople in England]]
[[Category:Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in England]]
[[Category:20th-century Irish sportsmen]]
[[Category:Bohemian F.C. managers]]
[[Category:University College Dublin A.F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Men's association football player-managers]]
[[Category:NIFL Premiership managers]]