View source for Mark Kinsella

{{Short description|Irish footballer and manager}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name              = Mark Kinsella
| image             =
| caption           =
| fullname          = Mark Anthony Kinsella
| birth_date        = {{birth date and age|1972|8|12|df=y}}
| birth_place       = [[Dublin]], Ireland
| height            = 
| position          = [[Midfielder]]
| youthyears1       = 1988–1989 | youthclubs1 = [[Home Farm F.C.|Home Farm]]
| years1 = 1989–1996  | clubs1 = [[Colchester United F.C.|Colchester United]]       | caps1 = 180 | goals1 = 27
| years2 = 1996–2002  | clubs2 = [[Charlton Athletic F.C.|Charlton Athletic]]       | caps2 = 208 | goals2 = 20
| years3 = 2002–2004  | clubs3 = [[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]]                   | caps3 = 21  | goals3 = 0
| years4 = 2004       | clubs4 = [[West Bromwich Albion F.C.|West Bromwich Albion]] | caps4 = 18  | goals4 = 1
| years5 = 2004–2006  | clubs5 = [[Walsall F.C.|Walsall]]                           | caps5 = 43  | goals5 = 1
| years6 = 2008       | clubs6 = [[Lewes F.C.|Lewes]]                               | caps6 = 1   | goals6 = 0
| totalcaps = 471     | totalgoals = 49
| nationalyears1 = 1991–1994 | nationalteam1  = [[Republic of Ireland national under-21 football team|Republic of Ireland U21]]
| nationalcaps1  = 8         | nationalgoals1 = 1
| nationalyears2 = 1998      | nationalteam2  = [[Republic of Ireland B national football team|Republic of Ireland B]]
| nationalcaps2  = 1         | nationalgoals2 = 0
| nationalyears3 = 1998–2004 | nationalteam3  = [[Republic of Ireland national football team|Republic of Ireland]]
| nationalcaps3  = 48        | nationalgoals3 = 3
| manageryears1  = 2006      | managerclubs1 = Walsall (caretaker)
| manageryears2  = 2006–2008 | managerclubs2 = [[Charlton Athletic F.C. Reserves|Charlton Athletic Reserves]]
| manageryears3  = 2011–2012 | managerclubs3 = [[Daventry Town F.C.|Daventry Town]]
| manageryears4  = 2012–2014 | managerclubs4 = Colchester United (assistant)
| manageryears5  = 2014–2015 | managerclubs5 = [[Drogheda United F.C.|Drogheda United]] (assistant)
| manageryears6  = 2015      | managerclubs6 = Drogheda United
| manageryears7  = 2016–2017 | managerclubs7 = Drogheda United (assistant)
}}

'''Mark Anthony Kinsella''' (born 12 August 1972) is an Irish [[Association football|football]] [[Manager (association football)|manager]] and former player, currently a coach at [[Drogheda United F.C.|Drogheda United]] after previously being both the manager and assistant manager. He played as a [[central midfielder]] for most of his career.

Kinsella began his career at [[Colchester United F.C.|Colchester United]], before spells at [[Charlton Athletic F.C.|Charlton Athletic]], [[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]], [[West Bromwich Albion F.C.|West Bromwich Albion]], [[Walsall F.C.|Walsall]] and [[Lewes F.C.|Lewes]]. He played 48 times for the [[Republic of Ireland national football team|Republic of Ireland]], scoring three goals and playing in the [[2002 FIFA World Cup]] in Japan and [[South Korea]]. Kinsella is a former manager of [[Daventry Town F.C.|Daventry Town]].

==Club career==
===Colchester United===
Kinsella joined [[Colchester United F.C.|Colchester United]] as a 17-year-old (he was actually signed by the legendary ex-Rangers manager [[Jock Wallace, Jr.|Jock Wallace]]) and played there for seven seasons, including two in the Conference, and played at Wembley in 1992 when Colchester won the [[FA Trophy]]. He was nicknamed "Sheedy" by the fans, in honour of the [[Everton F.C|Everton]] player, and is among the club's most revered former players.

===Charlton Athletic===
Kinsella moved to Charlton Athletic in September 1996 for £150,000. At Charlton he captained the team to a dramatic victory over [[Sunderland A.F.C.|Sunderland]] in the 1998 Division 1 Play-off Final, with Kinsella scoring one of the penalties in the shootout. Following relegation after only one season in the [[Premier League]] in 1999, Kinsella lifted the First Division championship trophy with Charlton the following year, with the South East London outfit returning to the top-flight in 2000.

Kinsella is remembered by Charlton fans as a turning point in their recent history, {{citation needed span|date=March 2025|text=he was the first player in the modern era to stay with Charlton when his performances placed him as a top ten midfielder in the country via the Carling Opta Stats.}} His skill, talent and sometimes individual carrying of the team in the 1998–99 season places him above that of [[Richard Rufus]], [[Clive Mendonca]], [[Andy Hunt (footballer)|Andy Hunt]] and [[John Robinson (footballer, born 1971)|John Robinson]] in Charlton's list of greats in the late 1990s teams.{{Original research inline|date=March 2025}} In 2001, he suffered an injury, which allowed [[Scott Parker (footballer)|Scott Parker]] to take his place in the team. Kinsella could not reclaim his place in the Charlton first team after coming back from injury, so he was sold to [[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]] in 2002, for a fee of £1 million.<ref>{{cite news |date=23 August 2002 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/aston_villa/2212146.stm |title=Kinsella joins Villa |publisher=BBC Sport article |access-date=21 May 2007}}</ref>

===Aston Villa===
Kinsella made his debut for [[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]] on 24 August 2002 against [[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]]. He later went on to make 24 appearances in his first season. After a good start in the first half of the [[Aston Villa F.C. season 2002–03|2002–03]] season he rarely made an appearance in the second half of the season and had a couple injuries that set him back.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Players caps / Aston Villa / 2002-03 |url=http://home.aland.net/bolin.jakobsson/villamatches/2002-03.pdf}}</ref> In Kinsella's second season he only made two appearances and left Aston Villa mid-season in early 2004.

===West Bromwich Albion===
Kinsella moved to [[West Bromwich Albion F.C.|West Bromwich Albion]] in January 2004, on a short-term contract until the end of the season.<ref>{{cite news |date=15 January 2004 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/west_bromwich_albion/3399321.stm |title=Baggies seal Kinsella deal |publisher=BBC Sport article |access-date=21 May 2007}}</ref> He made 18 appearances for the club, helping them to win promotion to the Premiership. His only goal for Albion came in a 3–0 win over Coventry City on 6 March 2004.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/3495450.stm |title=West Brom 3–0 Coventry |publisher=[[BBC]] |date=6 March 2004 |access-date=25 March 2010}}</ref>

===Walsall===
Kinsella then transferred to [[Walsall F.C.|Walsall]] in July 2004, signing a two-year deal.<ref>{{cite news |date=27 July 2004 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/w/walsall/3930797.stm |title=Walsall swoop for Kinsella |publisher=BBC Sport article |access-date=21 May 2007}}</ref> After two injury damaged seasons, Kinsella took charge of Walsall on a caretaker basis, following [[Kevan Broadhurst]]'s sacking in April 2006, earning one win and suffering one defeat in his two games in charge.<ref>{{cite news |date=24 April 2006 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blackcountry/content/articles/2006/04/24/walsall_relegated_2006_feature.shtml |title=Walsall are relegated |publisher=bbc.co.uk article |access-date=21 May 2007}}</ref> He continued to combine playing and coaching at Walsall before being lured back to Charlton in December 2006. His last professional match was in Walsall's [[Football League Two|League Two]] home defeat to promotion rivals [[Swindon Town F.C.|Swindon Town]] on 9 December 2006. Kinsella scored two goals for Walsall, once against [[Merthyr Tydfil F.C.|Merthyr Tydfil]] in the FA Cup,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/4387998.stm |title=Merthyr 1–2 Walsall |publisher=[[BBC]] |date=4 November 2005 |access-date=25 March 2010}}</ref> and once against Wycombe Wanderers in the league.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_3/5415782.stm |title=Walsall 2–0 Wycombe |publisher=[[BBC]] |date=14 October 2006 |access-date=25 March 2010}}</ref>

==International career==
Kinsella won 48 caps for the [[Republic of Ireland national football team|Irish national team]], scoring 3 times and was named [[FAI International Football Awards|Irish Footballer of the Year]] in 2000.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Kinsella's good year crowned |url=https://www.independent.ie/sport/kinsellas-good-year-crowned-26104137.html |access-date=2022-05-14 |website=independent |language=en}}</ref> He also captained the side in a friendly against Finland in November 2000.<ref>{{cite news |date=13 November 2000 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/1022166.stm |title=Kinsella to captain Republic |publisher=BBC Sport article |access-date=21 May 2007}}</ref> Although rarely remembered, he formed an excellent midfield partnership with [[Roy Keane]] in the qualifying stages for the 2002 [[FIFA World Cup|World Cup]]. Keane was quoted as stating that Ireland's form during that [[2002 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group 2|campaign]] was down to the presence and performances of Kinsella. After Keane's much publicised dismissal from the squad before the 2002 [[FIFA World Cup|World Cup]], Kinsella formed a solid partnership with future Charlton player [[Matt Holland]].

==Managerial and coaching career==
While still a player at Walsall, Kinsella took on the additional roles of reserve-team manager and first-team coach. He was appointed development coach at Charlton Athletic in December 2006, with responsibility for the development of young professional players, liaison with the academy and the managing the reserve team.<ref>{{cite news |date=6 December 2006 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/charlton_athletic/6215390.stm |title=Kinsella joins staff at Charlton |publisher=BBC Sport article |access-date=21 May 2007}}</ref> After the appointment of [[Alan Pardew]], Kinsella's role was changed to that of reserve-team manager. It was announced on 10 June 2008 that he has been given a new one-year contract at the club.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.charlton-athletic.co.uk/newsview.ink?nid=32480 |title=New contract for Kinsella |date=10 June 2008 |publisher=cafc.co.uk }}{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

In November 2008 when [[Alan Pardew]] left Charlton by mutual consent, Kinsella left his post as Reserve team manager, being replaced by U18 Youth Coach [[Damian Matthew]], to adopt a more senior role in the first team, helping Caretaker manager [[Phil Parkinson]], while a replacement for Pardew was found. In December 2008, Parkinson was confirmed as the new Charlton manager, and Kinsella assumed the role of first-team coach permanently. He was sacked along with Phil Parkinson on 4 January 2011.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://cafc.co.uk/newsview.ink?nid=33342&newstype=y | title=Gritt relishing cup clash | work=cafc.co.uk | access-date=2 December 2008 }}{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> He was linked with return to his former club [[Colchester United]] as manager in August 2009, but the job went to [[Aidy Boothroyd]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.colchester.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=166679|title=Col U: The Race To Replace – Day One – Vital Colchester United|date=19 August 2009|access-date=22 June 2018}}</ref>

He became manager of [[Daventry Town F.C.|Daventry Town]] in June 2011,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/13979866.stm|title=Daventry appoint ex-international Mark Kinsella as boss|date=30 June 2011|work=BBC Sport|access-date=19 July 2011}}</ref> leaving the club in July 2012. Having left Daventry, Kinsella joined former [[St Neots Town F.C.|St Neots Town]] manager Dennis Greene's coaching staff at [[Conference North]] side [[Histon F.C.|Histon]] in August 2012.<ref>{{cite web|title=Kinsella Goes at Daventry|url=http://www.nonleaguedaily.com/news/index.php?&newsmode=FULL&nid=85991|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130130023022/http://www.nonleaguedaily.com/news/index.php?&newsmode=FULL&nid=85991|url-status=usurped|archive-date=30 January 2013|publisher=NonLeagueDaily.com|access-date=5 July 2012}}</ref>

Mark was appointed [[Colchester United F.C.|Colchester United]] assistant manager on 27 September 2012, to work alongside fellow Irishman [[Joe Dunne]].<ref>{{cite tweet|user=ColU_Official|author=Colchester United FC|number=251230374250827776|date=27 September 2012|title=Just to confirm, Mark Kinsella is the #colu number two: Mark has been in management and is very highly rated. He knows the club so well.}}</ref>

On 1 September 2014, Mark Kinsella was sacked as assistant manager of [[Colchester United F.C.|Colchester United]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/29011162|title=Colchester United: Joe Dunne replaced by Tony Humes as boss|date=1 September 2014|publisher=BBC Sport|access-date=22 June 2018}}</ref>

On 29 November 2014, Kinsella was announced as assistant manager of [[League of Ireland]] side [[Drogheda United F.C.|Drogheda United]]. Kinsella replaced [[John McDonnell (footballer)|Johnny McDonnell]] as manager following McDonnell's departure from the club after a 4–1 home defeat to bottom side Limerick.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.droghedaunited.ie/news/post.php?s=2014-11-28-mcdonnell-new-drogs-boss|title=Drogheda United News -|website=www.droghedaunited.ie|access-date=22 June 2018}}</ref>

On 10 November 2015, Drogheda appointed Pete Mahon as manager and Kinsella stepped back into a coaching role.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/league-of-ireland/drogheda-united-announce-pete-mahon-as-new-manager-34188432.html|title=Drogheda United announce Pete Mahon as new manager|website=www.independent.ie|access-date=14 August 2020}}</ref>

On 16 April 2016, the [[Football Association of Ireland]] announced that Kinsella, along with former internationals [[Damien Duff]], [[Kenny Cunningham]], [[Keith Andrews (footballer)|Keith Andrews]] and [[Stephen McPhail]], would help coach some of the Republic of Ireland's youth players.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fai.ie/ireland/news/former-internationals-join-fai-coaching-set-up|title=Former internationals join FAI coaching set-up|website=www.fai.ie|access-date=14 August 2020}}</ref> Then on 31 August 2018 Kinsella moved to a specific role with the under-21s team.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fai.ie/ireland/news/former-internationals-link-up-with-underage-teams|title=Former internationals link up with underage teams|website=www.fai.ie|access-date=14 August 2020}}</ref>

==Personal life==
He is the father of [[Liam Kinsella]] and [[Gymnastics at the 2020 Summer Olympics|2020 Olympic]] bronze medallist [[Alice Kinsella]].

==Career statistics==

===Club===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition<ref>{{NFT player|3306|accessdate=}}</ref>
|-
!rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season
!colspan="3"|League
!colspan="2"|[[FA Cup]]
!colspan="2"|[[Football League Cup|League Cup]]
!colspan="2"|[[UEFA|Europe]]
!colspan="2"|Total
|-
!Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals
|-
|rowspan="8"|[[Colchester United F.C.|Colchester United]]
|1989–90
|[[Football League Fourth Division|Fourth Division]]
|6||0||0||0||1||0||colspan="2"|–||7||0
|-
|1990–91
|[[Conference Premier|Conference National]]
|11||0||0||0||||||colspan="2"|–||11||0
|-
|1991–92
|Conference National
|42||3||3||1||||||colspan="2"|–||46||4
|-
|1992–93
|rowspan="5"|[[Football League Two|Third Division]]
|38||6||3||0||2||0||colspan="2"|–||43||6
|-
|1993–94||42||8||1||0||2||1||colspan="2"|–||45||9
|-
|1994–95||42||6||4||1||2||0||colspan="2"|–||48||7
|-
|1995–96||45||5||1||0||2||1||colspan="2"|–||48||6
|-
|1996–97||7||2||0||0||3||1||colspan="2"|–||10||3
|-
|rowspan="6"|[[Charlton Athletic F.C.|Charlton Athletic]]
|1996–97
|rowspan="2"|[[Football League Championship|First Division]]
|37||6||||||||||colspan="2"|–||||
|-
|1997–98
|46||6||||||||||colspan="2"|–||||
|-
|1998–99
|[[Premier League]]
|38||2||||||||||||||||
|-
|1999–2000
|First Division
|38||3||||||||||||||||
|-
|2000–01
|rowspan="2"|Premier League
|32||2||||||||||colspan="2"|–||||||
|-
|2001–02
|17||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|rowspan="2"|[[Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa]]
|2002–03
|rowspan="2"|Premier League
|19||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|2003–04
|1||0||||||||||||||||
|-
|[[West Bromwich Albion F.C.|West Bromwich Albion]]
|2003–04
|First Division
|18||1||||||||||||||||
|-
|rowspan="3"|[[Walsall F.C.|Walsall]]
|2004–05
|rowspan="2"|[[Football League One|League One]]
|22||0||||||||||colspan="2"|–||||
|-
|2005–06
|10||0||||||||||colspan="2"|–||||
|-
|2006–07
|[[Football League Two|League Two]]
|11||1||||||||||colspan="2"|–||||
|-
!colspan="3"|Career total
!522||51||||||||||||||||
|}

===International===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by national team and year
|-
!National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals
|-
|rowspan="7"|[[Republic of Ireland national football team|Republic of Ireland]]
|1998||5||0
|-
|1999||9||0
|-
|2000||6||1
|-
|2001||5||1
|-
|2002||10||1
|-
|2003||9||0
|-
|2004||4||0
|-
!colspan="2"|Total!!48!!3
|}

==Honours==
'''Colchester United'''
*[[National League (English football)|Football Conference]]: [[1991–92 Football Conference|1991–92]]
*[[FA Trophy]]: [[1991–92 FA Trophy|1991–92]]

'''Charlton Athletic'''
*[[Football League First Division]]: [[1999–2000 Football League|1999–2000]]

'''Individual'''
*[[FAI International Football Awards#Senior International Player of the Year|FAI Senior International Player of the Year]]: 2000<ref name=":0" />
*[[PFA Team of the Year]]: [[1995–96 Football League|1995–96 Third Division]], [[1999–2000 Football League#First Division|1999–2000 First Division]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sport/football/fa_carling_premiership/731764.stm |title=Keane claims award double |website=BBC Sport |date=30 April 2000 |access-date=15 January 2022}}</ref>
*[[Colchester United F.C. Player of the Year]]: 1993–94, 1995–96
*[[Charlton Athletic F.C.|Charlton Athletic Player of the Year]]: 1997–98, 1998–99

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Soccerbase}}
* {{Soccerbase manager|id=2031}}
* [http://www.astonvillafpa.org Aston Villa former players] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804074216/http://www.astonvillafpa.org/ |date=4 August 2020 }}

{{Navboxes
|title = Awards
|bg = gold
|fg = navy
|list1 =
{{1995–96 Football League Third Division PFA Team of the Year}}
{{1999–2000 Football League First Division PFA Team of the Year}}
{{Colchester United F.C. Hall of Fame}}
{{Colchester United F.C. Player of the Year}}
{{Charlton Athletic F.C. Player of the Year}}
{{Charlton Athletic F.C. Hall of Fame}}
{{FAI Senior International Player of the Year}}
}}
{{Republic of Ireland squad 2002 FIFA World Cup}}
{{Walsall F.C. managers}}
{{Drogheda United F.C. managers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinsella, Mark}}
[[Category:Republic of Ireland men's association footballers]]
[[Category:Men's association football midfielders]]
[[Category:Republic of Ireland men's international footballers]]
[[Category:Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers]]
[[Category:Home Farm F.C. players]]
[[Category:Colchester United F.C. players]]
[[Category:Charlton Athletic F.C. players]]
[[Category:Aston Villa F.C. players]]
[[Category:West Bromwich Albion F.C. players]]
[[Category:Walsall F.C. players]]
[[Category:Premier League players]]
[[Category:2002 FIFA World Cup players]]
[[Category:Association footballers from Dublin (city)]]
[[Category:1972 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People educated at St Aidan's C.B.S.]]
[[Category:Charlton Athletic F.C. non-playing staff]]
[[Category:Colchester United F.C. non-playing staff]]
[[Category:Irish association football coaches]]
[[Category:English Football League players]]