Belfast City Council this week paid tribute to legendary Glentoran manager Roy Coyle when Lord Mayor Micky Murray presented him with a Lifetime Achievement in Sport Award in the Lord Mayor’s Parlour in the City Hall.
In his 8 years as Glentoran manager, between November 1997 and January 2016, Roy and his players won no fewer than 16 trophies with the club, including 3 League titles and 4 Irish Cups. No Glentoran manager has ever led the club to so many major trophy wins. As a player at the club between 1969 and 1972, Roy made 136 appearances and won 2 further league championship medals before departing for Sheffield Wednesday where he won 5 caps for Northern Ireland.
Roy’s managerial career was unprecedented in its success and will never be repeated, As well as being Glentoran’s most successful manager he has the same status at Linfield with whom he won countless trophies in a 15-year spell between 1975 and 1990. He also won 2 senior trophies as Ards Manager before joining the Glens and a further one with Derry City.
With 50 trophies won in a 32-year career there is no question that Coyler is the most successful and greatest manager in the history of football in Northern Ireland. Even to this day he rarely misses a Glens match home or away, or even a Glens training session.
Congratulations Gaffer.
Graphic by BETH STAFFORD
Roy, accompanied by his wife Abbie, receives his award from Lord Mayor Micky Murray