West Bromwich () is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands, England. It is north west of Birmingham lying on the A41 London-to-Birkenhead road. West Bromwich is part of the Black Country. West Bromwich is the largest town within Sandwell, with a population of 136,940 at the time of the 2001 census.

The Latin motto on the town's coat of arms translates as "Work Conquers All".

History

West Bromwich was first mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, the name meaning "the little village on the heath of broom" (broom being a particular type of bush). It is believed that it may have originally been part of the Handsworth parish. A Benedictine priory existed in West Bromwich from the 12th century around which the settlement of ''Broomwich Heath'' grew. In 1727, the town became a stop on the coaching road between London and Shrewsbury and its growth began.

In the 19th century, coal deposits were discovered, ensuring that the town grew rapidly as an industrial centre, with industries such as spring, gun and nail making developing. Most of the coal deposits were found below the ground a mile or so west of Broomwich Heath, and so the "new" town adopted the name ''West Bromwich''. Well before the end of the 19th century, West Bromwich had established itself as a prominent area to match older neighbouring towns including Dudley and Walsall.

+Historical population of West Bromwich
Year	Population figure

In 1888, West Bromwich became a county borough, incorporating the village of Great Barr. It was expanded in 1966, acquiring most of the borough of Tipton and Wednesbury urban district as well as a small section of Coseley urban district, before joining with the neighbouring county borough of Warley (which contained the towns of Rowley Regis, Oldbury and Smethwick) in 1974 to form the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell.

Charlemont Hall, built during the 1750s, stood on the west side of the present Charlemont Crescent, in the Charlemont and Grove Vale district of the town. Charlemont Hall was described c. 1800 as 'a lofty neat-looking house of brick, faced with stone, with iron palisades etc. in front'. An east wing was added in 1855. The last occupant was the widow of Thomas Jones, town clerk of Wednesbury 1897–1921. The house was demolished in 1948, and is now covered by a number of smaller detached homes. Much of the surrounding area was developed during the 1960s as the Charlemont Farm housing estate, which ia a mix of private and council housing.

West Bromwich suffered heavily in the Cholera epidemic of 1831 which spread northwards into the town. A temporary board of health was set up and a hospital opened in the former Revivalist chapel in Spon Lane. The natural gradual slope of the land provided drainage within the soil, however, urbanisation made this increasingly difficult and drainage along the streets was described as inadequate. The West Bromwich Town Improvement Commissioners was established in 1854, and they tackled the drainage problem in the town. They appointed members to new titles and in the 1880s bought land in Friar Park for a sewerage farm.

Under the Reform Act 1832, West Bromwich became part of the new southern division of Staffordshire, and under the Reform Act 1867 it was transferred to the parliamentary borough of Wednesbury. Under the Redistribution of Seats Act of 1885, the borough of West Bromwich became a parliamentary borough returning one member. In 1885, it was held by the Liberal Party but from 1886 to 1906 it was held by the Conservative Party before being held by the Liberal Party again until 1910 when the Conservative Party regained the area which they held until 1918 under the representation of Viscount Lewisham. In 1918, it became a Labour hold who have held it since, except for between 1931 to 1935 when it held by the National Unionists.

By the outbreak of World War I in 1914, many of the older houses that had been built to house workers during the Industrial Revolution were becoming unfit for human habitation Sanitation was inadequate, decay was rife, and the homes were becoming a danger to the health and safety of their inhabitants. After the end of the war, the local council started building new homes to rehouse people from the rundown town centre. However, there are still many late 19th century and early 20th century buildings around the centre of West Bromwich today.

Mass immigration from the Commonwealth took place in West Bromwich during the 1950s and 1960s, with most of these hailing from the Indian sub-continent, although a significant number of Afro-Caribbean immigrants also settled in West Bromwich. The majority of these immigrants settled in the older parts of the town that were mostly made up of Victorian and Edwardian terraced houses.

The local road network was also massively improved during the 1960s and 1970s. West Bromwich is located at the extreme northern end of the M5 motorway, and has had direct access to it since the early 1960s. This gave the town an immediate fast road link to faraway places including Worcester, Gloucester, Bristol and Exeter. Traffic passing through West Bromwich on the main route from Wolverhampton to Birmingham was diverted along the new dual carriageway, the ''Northern Loop Road'' (also known as ''The Expressway''), after its opening in 1972, with another dual carriageway being built to link The Expressway with neighbouring Oldbury.

As with many other parts of the Midlands, West Bromwich was hit badly by the recessions of the mid 1970s and early 1980s. Many local factories closed as there was no longer an adequate demand for the supply they were generating.

Many local towns, particularly Dudley, lost many of its major stores around the time that the Merry Hill Shopping Centre which was developed at Brierley Hill during the second half of the 1980s as businesses looked to take advantage of the Enterprise Zone incentives that the centre offered. However, the only major loss that West Bromwich suffered as a result of this development was the closure of its Marks and Spencer store which closed on 25 August 1990, along with the Dudley store, to be replaced by a new store at Merry Hill, with most of the staff at the new store being transferred from either West Bromwich or Dudley. British Home Stores also closed their store in the town around the same time, as they did the Dudley store, to be replaced by a new store at Merry Hill. The town lost another big retail name in 2005 when the Littlewoods store closed; it was later occupied by New Look. Retail developments around Oldbury since the 1980s have also affected trade in West Bromwich.

Several more factories have closed in more recent years as manufacturers look to countries where the labour is cheaper, but West Bromwich remains a busy industrial area despite the decline of the last 35 years.

West Bromwich's road links were further enhanced in 1995 on the completion of the Black Country Spine Road that gives an unbroken dual carriageway link to Bilston. The completion of this new road opened up several square miles of previously inaccessible land, and has allowed several major businesses to set up along the route. This has helped relieve some of the unemployment problems in West Bromwich, although most parts of the town still have the highest unemployment rates in the West Midlands, and unemployment has risen again since 2008 as a result of the latest recession.

West Bromwich was among the many towns and cities in England affected by the widespread rioting in August 2011. On 9 August, shops closed their doors early to combat looting and vandalism. Widespread acts of vandalism and violence followed. Police closed the main roads leading into the town until the following morning.

Governance

The town is divided into two constituencies; West Bromwich East and West Bromwich West. West Bromwich East is served by Tom Watson of Labour. He has held the position since the 2001 general election. Preceding him was Peter Snape, also of Labour, who had been MP since the 1974 general election.

West Bromwich West is served by Adrian Bailey of Labour who won a 54.3% share in the 2005 general election. He has been MP for the seat since the 2000 by-election. Preceding him, the MP for the seat was Betty Boothroyd, who for eight years served as the first female Speaker of the British House of Commons.

West Bromwich is the largest town in the United Kingdom without its own Royal Mail postcode.

Geography

Below is a list of localities:

Carters Green

Charlemont

Charlemont Farm

Grove Vale

Great Barr

Greets Green

Hill Top

Hateley Heath

Lyng

Millfields

Newton

Stone Cross

Sandwell Valley

Tantany

Yew Tree Estate

Features

The town is famous for its football club, West Bromwich Albion. The club was founded in 1878 and in 1888 it became one of the twelve founder members of the Football League. It won the league championship in 1920 and has won the FA Cup five times, most recently in 1968. The club recently won the Coca Cola Championship in 2008. Albion were based in and around the centre of West Bromwich during their formative years, but moved further out of the town in 1900 when they switched to their current ground, The Hawthorns. The Hawthorns is the highest football ground (above sea level) in the country.

Engineering and chemicals are important to the town's economy, as it played a crucial part in the Industrial Revolution during the 19th century and still retains many manufacturing jobs to this day, despite a steady nationwide decline in this sector since the 1970s.

Sandwell General Hospital (On the site of the former Hallam Hospital) is located near the town centre. It is part of the Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the United Kingdom.

William Legge, 2nd Earl of Dartmouth had his seat at Sandwell Hall. Legge was unusual as an aristocrat of this period by being a Methodist and attending the Wednesbury Methodist meetings, where fellow Methodists – many of them colliers and drovers – knew him as "Brother Earl".

West Bromwich Town Hall, situated in the centre of the High Street, is a Grade II listed building. It was built between 1874 and 1875 in brick and stone to an Italian Gothic design, and its interior reflects the Victorian interest in Gothic and Medieval architecture. Its Grand Organ, built in 1862, is considered to be of historic importance for its musical and technical qualities.

West Bromwich Manor House, Hall Green Road B71 2EA. Built by the de Marnham family in the late 13th century as the centre of their agricultural estate in West Bromwich only the Great Hall survives of the original complex of living quarters, agricultural barns, sheds and ponds. Successive occupants modernised and extended the Manor House until it was described in 1790 as “a large pile of irregular half-timbered buildings, black and white, and surrounded with numerous out-houses and lofty walls.” The Manor House was saved from demolition in the 1950s by West Bromwich Corporation which carried out an extensive and sympathetic restoration of this nationally important building.

In 2004, a modern community arts centre known as "The Public" was developed in the town centre. Designed by the architect Will Alsop, the £52 million venue consists of a massive cuboid building constructed in dark grey and silver metal cladding with irregularly-shaped windows edged in magenta. Its appearance has drawn comparisons with a fish tank. The development was beset by financial difficulties, going into administration and finally finished in 2009. Many people refuse to visit the venue as they consider it a waste of money and an extreme eyesore. A sound production and music industry practice course is run in the building by Major key studios (http://www.majorkeystudios.com) and is provided by the University of Wolverhampton.

A large portion of the town centre has been procured by Tesco for a development of a superstore. The store and its car park would have sat on the site of the current police station and the surrounding street, including the site of Cronehills Primary School. Cronehills staff and pupils have now relocated to the newly built Eaton Valley Primary School, which opened in September 2009 on the edge of Sandwell Valley Park to make way for future development.

Religion

West Bromwich is a culturally diverse area with many places of worship for several different religions.

The Church of England provides the most places of worship across the geographically wider West Bromwich Deanery (taking in West Bromwich, Hill Top, Stone Cross, Carter's Green, Holy Trinity, All Saint's, St Andrew's, St Francis, Friar Park and others) which contains nine Anglican churches and the newly formed West Bromwich Network Church. Other Christian denominations are present, including Roman Catholic, Seventh-day Adventist, Methodist, Baptist, Elim Pentecostal, Assemblies of God and other independent churches. The deanery of West Bromwich is under the Diocese of Lichfield.

West Bromwich has three main mosques, two on Dartmouth Street. 47 Dartmouth Street accommodates up to 400 worshippers during busy periods like Friday Prayers and Eid Prayers: it is mainly a Pakistani traditional mosque, soon to be reconstructed. 67 Dartmouth Street was the first mosque in the area, of Bangladeshi origin: it holds many programs and events. It will be shortly moved to a larger location. There is also another mosque, Madinatul Uloom Al-Islamiyah, which is renowned as the Madrasa of West Bromwich. It is situated at 1a-1b Moor street, and was previously a church. The transformation begin in 2001 and it now has Islamic evening classes and a big prayer facility. This mosque is also managed by Sunni Bangladeshi but attracts more citizens from all backgrounds, including Pakistanis and Arabs, because of its beautiful Qu'ran recitations. The building is also used for National Curriculum English, Maths and science tuition by members of the wider community, including people of other faiths. The tuition centre is run by an local teachers and is called Cohort Tuition.

There is also a very large number of Sikhs in the area. There are many Gurudwaras. Sikhs have settled in the area since 1950, when the first influx of immigrants came.

Hindus have had a formal place of worship in West Bromwich since the opening of the Shree Krishna Mandir in 1974, in a converted church once called Ebenezer Congregational Chapel, which had closed in 1971.

West Bromwich also has a significant black Afro-Caribbean population.

In 1875, being locked out of a packed Evangelist meeting in Birmingham caused John Blackham of Ebenezer Congregational Church to start the Pleasant Sunday Afternoon Movement.

Transport

For roads, the M5 motorway between the West Midlands and the West Country and its junction with the M6 motorway passes through the town, making West Bromwich at the hub of Britain's motorway network. West Bromwich has its own bus station in the town centre, with connections to Birmingham and other major towns in the West Midlands region.

West Bromwich railway station was opened by the Great Western Railway on its route between Birmingham Snow Hill and Wolverhampton Low Level on 14 November 1854. The trackbed of that line is now served by the Midland Metro light rail (tram) system. The nearest main-line railway station is now Sandwell and Dudley railway station, approximately one mile away in Oldbury town centre.

The nearest airport which is approximately away, is Birmingham International Airport.

Carters Green, High Street and the beginning of Birmingham Road formed the original main route through West Bromwich as part of Thomas Telford's London to Holyheadroute in the early 19th century. This later formed part of the A41 road which links London with Merseyside, taking in the midlands, Shropshire, Warwickshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire on the way. However, the route through central West Bromwich was by-passed in the 1970s on the completion of the Expressway, a two-mile (3 km) dual carriageway beginning at Carters Green and finishing at Junction 1 of the M5 motorway (which had opened a decade earlier) on Birmingham Road. The original A41 road through the centre of West Bromwich was downgraded to an unclassified route.

Around this time, West Bromwich Ringway was opened, circulating the main shopping areas.

Further revolution came to the local road network in 1995 with the completion of the Black Country Spine Road which stretches from Carters Green to Bilston via Wednesbury, forming another new section of the A41.

Education

The town is served by 4 secondary schools: Sandwell Academy, Phoenix Collegiate Academy, George Salter Collegiate Academy and Q3 Academy.

The town has 21 primary schools in total. Some of which are St. John Bosco RC Primary School, All Saints CofE Primary School, St Mary Magdalane, Hately Heath, and Eaton Valley.

Sandwell Academy serves the whole of West Bromwich (along with the rest of Sandwell), Phoenix Collegiate Academy serves the area around Hateley Heath, Tantany, Charlemont and Grove Vale. George Salter Collegiate Academy serves the west of the town near the border with Tipton. Q3 Academy serves the north-eastern part of the town around Great Barr.

The area was also served by Churchfields High School, approximately one mile to the north of the town centre. Due to constant closure rumours, less and less pupils began enrolling to attend the school and it was closed in July 2001. The site has since been redeveloped for housing.

Sport

The town's sport scene is dominated by West Bromwich Albion football club, who were founded in the town in 1879 and played at a stadium near the town centre until they moved to their current home, The Hawthorns on Birmingham Road (directly on the border with Birmingham) in 1900. Although they are now in their 109th year at the stadium, all traces of the original structures are long gone; the oldest stand is the Halfords Lane Stand that was built in 1979 and the other three stands were built between 1991 and 2001. Recently the Halfords Lane Stand was refurbished and is now called the West Stand.

Albion were among the 12 founder members of the Football League in 1888, along with their two fiercest local rivals – Aston Villa and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The club has won seven major trophies; five FA Cups, one Football League title and one Football League Cup. Their most recent major trophy came in 1968 when they won the FA Cup with a 1–0 win over Everton at Wembley Stadium. They enjoyed further success in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when they finished in the top five league positions three times in four seasons as well as reaching a UEFA Cup quarter-final. However, since relegation from the old Football League First Division in 1986 (this division became the Premier League in 1992) they have played in the top level of English football for a total of just four seasons. This spell of relatively disappointing performances included 16 successive seasons without top division football, two of which were spent in the third tier of the English professional league system.

Notable former players of West Bromwich Albion include Ronnie Allen (who later had a relatively unsuccessful spell as the club's manager), Bryan Robson (who was later the club's manager), Laurie Cunningham (one of the first black players to play for the England national football team, but who died in a car crash in 1989 aged only 33), Tony Brown (the club's all time leading goalscorer) and Jeff Astle (who scored the club's winning goal in the 1968 FA Cup final and remained a cult figure among Albion fans).

Notable people

John Bainbridge – Author and countryside access campaigner, born in West Bromwich, raised in Great Barr.

Francis Asbury – Methodist bishop

Denise Lewis – heptathlete

Robert Plant – singer with Led Zeppelin Born in West Bromwich.

Keith Law, Songwriter for Velvett Fogg born in West Bromwich.

Major Nichols – lightweight Racing bicycle manufacturer

Dr. Stewart Donaldson – Author, psychologist, evaluation research scientist

Madeleine Carroll – actor

Jana Bellin – chess grandmaster

Phil Lynott – Thin Lizzy

Ian Hill – Judas Priest bassist

K.K. Downing – Judas Priest guitarist

Dr Karl Shuker – zoologist, cryptozoologist and author

Frank Skinner – comedian

Brian Walden – Member of Parliament, journalist and broadcaster

Matthew Marsden – actor

Cindy Kent – former singer with The Settlers and currently a broadcaster

Steve Webb – Member of Parliament, and Liberal Democrat

John Byrne – comic book artist (Moved to Canada when 8)

Lee Woodley – boxer

Gary Bull – footballer

Anne Aston – Real name Anne Lloyd. TV presenter and actress. Lived in Old Meeting Street.

Thomas Guinane – Winner of the military medal in World War One

Mike Collins – Comic book artist, attended Churchfields High School

Reuben Farley – First Mayor of West Bromwich

Al Atkins Founder member of Judas Priest,and still lives in West Bromwich.

Quotes

"I would rather spend a holiday in Tuscany than in the Black Country, but if I were compelled to chose between living in West Bromwich or Florence, I would make straight for West Bromwich." J.B. Priestley, ''English Journey''

See also

West Bromwich Building Society

Charlemont and Grove Vale

West Bromwich Mountaineering Club

Primary schools in Sandwell

References

'West Bromwich: Social life', A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 17: Offlow hundred (part) (1976), pp. 70–74. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=36169. Date accessed: 23 April 2008.

External links

Sandwell MBC

Major Nichols cycles

Major Nichols history

Category:Towns in the West Midlands (county) Category:Areas of Sandwell Category:Articles including recorded pronunciations (UK English)

bg:Уест Бромич ca:West Bromwich da:West Bromwich de:West Bromwich es:West Bromwich fa:وست برومویچ fr:West Bromwich id:West Bromwich it:West Bromwich lt:Vest Bromičas nl:West Bromwich no:West Bromwich nn:West Bromwich pl:West Bromwich pt:West Bromwich ro:West Bromwich ru:Уэст-Бромидж fi:West Bromwich sv:West Bromwich uk:Вест-Бромвіч th:เวสต์บรอมมิช war:West Bromwich

In mathematics, the inverse Laplace transform of ''F''(''s'') is the function ''f''(''t'') which has the property

:$\backslash mathcal\{L\}\backslash left\backslash \{\; f(t)\backslash right\backslash \}\; =\; F(s),$

where $\backslash mathcal\{L\}$ is the Laplace transform.

It can be proven, that if a function $F(s)$ has the inverse Laplace transform $f(t)$, i.e. $f$ is a piecewise-continuous and exponentially-restricted real function $f$ satisfying the condition

:$\backslash mathcal\{L\}\backslash \{f(t)\backslash \}\; =\; F(s)$

then $f(t)$ is uniquely determined (considering functions which differ from each other only on a point set having Lebesgue measure zero as the same).

The Laplace transform and the inverse Laplace transform together have a number of properties that make them useful for analysing linear dynamic systems.

Integral form

An integral formula for the inverse Laplace transform, called the Bromwich integral, the Fourier–Mellin integral, and Mellin's inverse formula, is given by the line integral:

:$\backslash mathcal\{L\}^\{-1\}\; \backslash \{F(s)\backslash \}\; =\; f(t)\; =\; \backslash frac\{1\}\{2\backslash pi\; i\}\backslash lim\_\{T\backslash to\backslash infty\}\backslash int\_\{\backslash gamma-iT\}^\{\backslash gamma+iT\}e^\{st\}F(s)\backslash ,ds,$

where the integration is done along the vertical line $Re(s)=\backslash gamma$ in the complex plane such that $\backslash gamma$ is greater than the real part of all singularities of ''F''(''s''). This ensures that the contour path is in the region of convergence. If all singularities are in the left half-plane, or ''F''(''s'') is a smooth function on - ∞ < ''Re''(''s'') < ∞ (i.e. no singularities), then $\backslash gamma$ can be set to zero and the above inverse integral formula above becomes identical to the inverse Fourier transform.

In practice, computing the complex integral can be done by using the Cauchy residue theorem.

It is named after Hjalmar Mellin, Joseph Fourier and Thomas John I'Anson Bromwich.

Post's inversion formula

An alternative formula for the inverse Laplace transform is given by Post's inversion formula.

See also

Inverse Fourier transform

References

External links

Tables of Integral Transforms at EqWorld: The World of Mathematical Equations.

Rational inversion of the Laplace Transform

Category:Transforms Category:Complex analysis Category:Integral transforms

es:Transformada inversa de Laplace it:Trasformata inversa di Laplace nl:Inverse Laplacetransformatie pl:Odwrotna transformata Laplace'a

Coordinates	29°25′″N98°30′″N
{{infobox football biography | name	Roberto Mancini | image

Roberto Mancini (born 27 November 1964) is an Italian football manager, formerly an international player and current manager of Premier League club Manchester City.

As a player Mancini was best known for his time at Sampdoria, where he played more than 550 league matches, and helped them win the Serie A league title, four Coppa Italias and the Cup Winners Cup, whilst being capped 36 times by Italy. As a player he gained a penchant as a future manager and would often give team talks at half-time and ultimately became an assistant to Sven Goran Eriksson at Lazio in the twilight of his playing career. After his retirement, Mancini embarked on a successful managerial career. A cup specialist, Mancini has never failed to reach a semi-final of a major cup competition in every season he has managed and has guided the clubs he managed to a record 5 consecutive Coppa Italia finals from 2004 to 2008, with Lazio once in 2004 and with Inter in the following 4 seasons.

Mancini's first managerial role was at a cash stricken Fiorentina at only 35 years old and managed to win a Coppa Italia, but left with Fiorentina facing bankruptcy. Months later, he took over as manager at Lazio, where again he inherited financial constraints and was forced to lose a number of key players. With limited resources during his two season tenure, he still managed to win another Coppa Italia, reach a UEFA Cup semi-final, and secure a lucrative Champions League place.

In 2004, Mancini was given the chance to manage a major club, being offered the manager's job at Internazionale. During his tenure at Inter, the club won 3 consecutive Serie A titles (an Inter club record) and a European record 17 consecutive league game victories stretching nearly half a season. and became Inter's most successful manager in 30 years. Despite his domestic success, many pundits saw the repeated failure to win the coveted Champions League as the main reason for his sacking in 2008.

After being out of football for over a year, Mancini was appointed Manchester City manager in December 2009 and his team-building achievements at Lazio and Inter were a factor in his appointment. In the 2010-11 season, his first full season at City, Mancini guided the club to lucrative Champions League football and the FA Cup, and has moulded City into a sound defensive unit. He maintains a tradition of wearing a scarf of his club's colours, something which has been continued at Manchester City.

Early life

Mancini was born in the small town of Jesi, Italy in 1964 but then moved onto the mountain town of Rocadaspida, Italy and was raised by Aldo and Marianna Mancini along with his younger sister, Stephanie. Raised a Roman Catholic, his young life in Jesi revolved around religion and football. He was an altar boy and played for the local ''Aurora Calcio'' football team in his youth. On one occasion a fixture clashed with his first Holy Communion. Halfway through the ceremony the young eight year old Mancini was nowhere to be seen. His local priest who was administering his first communion frequently coached ''Calcio'', he heard they were losing 2–0 at half-time and so he asked a young Mancini quietly after receiving his communion if he had his football kit and boots with him. Roberto said they were in the changing rooms and so he told him to sneak out of the side door and put them on because his team needed him unbeknownst to his father. Roberto Mancini used to be as a pizza delivery boy

Playing career

Overview

Mancini debuted in the Italian Serie A for Bologna on 12 September 1981. The following year he was bought by Sampdoria, for whom he played until 1997. Later he played for Lazio (1997–2000) and Leicester City (2001).

In Italy

With Sampdoria, he formed a dynamic strike partnership with Gianluca Vialli, and helped the club to its only league title in 1991, four Coppa Italias (1985, 1988, 1989 and 1994) and a Cup Winners' Cup in 1990. He also appeared in the final of the 1991–1992 European Cup against Barcelona.

With Lazio he won his second ''scudetto'' (2000) and Cup Winners' Cup titles (1999) as well as two more Coppa Italias (1998 and 2000). In the 1999–2000 season, Lazio won the Scudetto and Coppa Italia, but Mancini failed to score in 20 matches and he announced his playing retirement. He joined Lazio’s coaching staff as Sven-Goran Eriksson’s number two.

Leicester City

Joining Leicester City in January 2001, Mancini made his Premier League debut against Arsenal at the age of 36, but failed to complete 90 minutes in his five appearances for the club. In early February, he was given leave of absence, citing personal reasons. However, he telephoned the club on 14 February, and informed them he would not be returning to England (he had been offered the manager's job at Fiorentina). Despite this, he cites his time at Leicester as the period during which he fell in love with the English game, and which later prompted him to accept the job at Manchester City.

International career

Despite success at club level, Mancini never became a regular for Italy. At U-21 level, Mancini was part of the team which reached the semi-finals in UEFA U-21 Championship 1984 and finished runners-up in UEFA U-21 Championship 1986. He made his international debut in 1984 against Canada, won 36 caps and scored four goals for his country (including a goal against West Germany at Euro 88). He was also a non-playing member of the Italian squad at 1990 World Cup, being kept out of the side by Gianluca Vialli and Roberto Baggio. His international career ended after a dispute with national team coach Arrigo Sacchi, when Mancini was upset because he would not be guaranteed a first team place at the 1994 World Cup. Fierce competition for places hindered his international opportunities with forward players like Gianfranco Zola, Roberto Baggio and later Francesco Totti and Alessandro Del Piero hastened his self-imposed exile from the Italian national team.

Managerial career

Fiorentina

Although Mancini had written a research pamphlet entitled "Il Trequartista". which examined the role of an attacking midfielder, he had not as yet attained the necessary coaching badges to become a manager. He therefore needed special dispensation from the Italian football authorities to take the post at Fiorentina. Fiorentina was plagued by financial problems. He made occasional playing appearances himself. According to various sources, Mancini sometimes worked unpaid and even received death threats as key players such as Rui Costa and Francesco Toldo had to be sold. Despite this, Mancini managed to win the Coppa Italia before quitting in January 2002, after just 10 months in the job, with Fiorentina in the relegation zone of Serie A. Fiorentina were subsequently relegated in June 2002.

Lazio

In May 2002, Mancini was appointed manager of Lazio. He was again restricted by financial considerations, having to sell key players such as Hernan Crespo and Alessandro Nesta, and players were forced to take an 80% pay cut. However, in his first season with Lazio, the club reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup. In the 2003–2004, Lazio won the Coppa Italia. Lazio finished fourth in 2003 and sixth in 2004. Before the start of the 2004–05 season, rumours circulated in the Italian press that Inter had approached Mancini to fill the recently vacated managerial position at the club. Shortly after, Mancini quit Lazio and announced that he would be joining Inter.

Internazionale

Under Mancini, Inter soon won the club's first domestic trophy since 1989. Inter became the dominant team in Italy.

In Mancini's first season, Inter won the Coppa Italia with a 3–0 victory over Roma at the San Siro Stadium. Inter finished third in Serie A and reached the Champions League quarter-finals only to be knocked out by city rivals AC Milan 3–0 on aggregate. In August 2005, Inter won the Italian Super Cup for the second time in their history with a 1–0 victory over Juventus.

Inter again won the Italian Cups and Italian Super Cup. Following the Calciopoli scandal, Juventus were stripped of the Scudetto title which was handed to Inter instead.

Inter achieved a record-breaking run of 17 consecutive victories in Serie A, starting on 25 September 2006 with a 4–1 home win over Livorno and ending on 28 February 2007 after a 1–1 draw at home to Udinese. The run lasted for almost five months and is among the best in European league football history. Inter won a second successive league title with 5 games to spare and only losing one league game all season. Inter finished with a record-breaking 97 points, which is an Italian football record and, until 2010, was a European record.

Mancini became the third coach in Inter history to win back-to-back league titles after Alfredo Foni (1952–53 and 1953–54) and Helenio Herrera (1964–65 and 1965–66).

Inter also progressed to the Coppa Italia and Italian Super Cup for the third consecutive season, but were beaten in both finals by AS Roma. However, once again, Inter struggled in Europe. In the Champions League they were knocked out in the first round by Valencia. At the end of the game there was a mass brawl involving both sets of players. Mancini was not involved in the incident, but camera footage showed him attempting to block a camera's view, before he was seen shrugging his shoulders and walking away.

This was Mancini's fourth, and final, season in charge of Inter. His reputation continued to grow as he added a third consecutive Serie A title to his honours. Again he guided Inter to the Coppa Italia final, but lost for a second consecutive season to Roma, 2–1 at the Stadio Olimpico.

Despite his successes, the inability to make any real progress in the Champions League displeased Inter owner Massimo Moratti. Inter were knocked out in the Second Round of the UEFA Champions League by Liverpool. In March 2008, amid rumours that he was to be sacked and replaced by José Mourinho at the end of the season, Mancini announced his intention to step down at the end of the 2007–08 season. He rescinded this decision a day later after meeting with Inter president Massimo Moratti.

On 29 May 2008, Inter officially announced the sacking of Mancini. Club Chairman Massimo Moratti justified the sacking by pointing to Mancini's negative comments after the Liverpool defeat. He was replaced by Jose Mourinho.

Out of football

Mancini was linked to the vacant Chelsea job in May 2008 and then the Notts County job On 30 October 2009, Mancini won compensation for his sacking by Inter. However, the contract settlement meant Mancini was actually unemployable by any other club from May 2008 to October 2009. It was rumoured that Mancini was entitled to a €16m pay-off, in the end he reportedly settled for a €5m.

Manchester City

On 19 December 2009, Mancini was publicly revealed to be taking over as manager of Manchester City on a three and a half year deal following the sacking of Mark Hughes. With wealthy Arab owners who were willing to invest heavily in the team, Manchester City had become a club expectant of success.

2009–10

Having been appointed half-way through the season, Mancini's arrival had an immediate impact on City's form, with four consecutive wins. Mancini won his first ever Manchester Derby 2–1 in a Carling Cup semi-final first leg. However United won the second-leg 3–1, and eliminated City from the competition.

In April, Manchester City moved into fourth place in the Premier League. However, on May 5, a single goal defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur meant that City missed out on a Champions League place. City finished the season in 5th place, their highest Premier League finish. There had been speculation that Mancini might lose his job if Manchester City did not to secure Champions League Football, but chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak gave his support to Mancini.

2010–11

Mancini spent heavily during the summer transfer window. He signed German international defender Jerome Boateng from Hamburg for approximately £10.64m, Spanish World Cup winner David Silva from Valencia for approximately £24m, Yaya Toure from Barcelona for around £24m and Aleksandar Kolarov from Lazio for approximately £19m.

The 2010-11 season Premier League season was marked by a run of good form and poor form. A 2-0 win away at Wigan Athletic on 19 September 2010, City went 4th in the 2010-11 Premier League and did not drop out of the top 4 which offers lucrative Champions League football throughout the rest of the season. However the team struggled for form in October and November putting pressure on Mancini to deliver with his tactics criticised following two consecutive 0–0 home draws at home to Manchester United and Birmingham in November 2010.

However a fine run of form in the weeks running up to Christmas meant City occupied 1st place twice over the Christmas period, although City missed the opportunity to be 1st at on Christmas Day with a 2-1 defeat to Everton days before. In the ten games before the 15 January 2011, City won 7 times, drew twice and lost only once as they surged into title contention, whilst also securing passage into the Round of 32 of the Europa League as group winners. As a result of strong league form, Mancini was awarded the Premier League Manager of the Month award for December.

Premier League form tailed off in the new year with City jointly contesting the FA Cup and Europa League with Mancini citing burnout for losing ground in the title race. City were eliminated from the Europa League by Dynamo Kiev in March, but City replied strongly winning 8 out of the next 10 matches with a FA Cup semi-final victory at Wembley over rivals Manchester United in April. A win over Tottenham Hotspur in May 2011 guaranteed City 2011-12 Champions League football. The win was followed with City winning the 2010-11 FA Cup with a 1-0 win over Stoke City on the weekend after the Tottenham victory. The FA Cup truimph meant Mancini joined five other City managers who have won major honours and had ended the club's longest trophy drought in its history. Thanks to their strong run of form finished 3rd ahead of Arsenal on the last day of the season with a 2-0 win over Bolton, thus avoiding a play-off round to progress to the group stages, with only goal difference separating City from a 2nd place finish over Chelsea.

Management style

Defensive emphasis

Mancini places great emphasis on building from the back, stressing the importance of not conceding a goal means the team will always have an opportunity to win, going as far to say, 'I like 1-0 wins. When you don't concede a goal and you have players like Edin Dzeko, Carlos Tevez or David Silva, you win 90%. I prefer we are boring for two to three matches and we win 1-0... If you watch teams that won titles, they conceded very few goals.' Despite this, some argue Mancini is more of a "''defense first''" manager, rather than a "''win first''" manager. A style that has been criticised by some in the British media. However, others believe his pragmatic and cautious approach is what the team lacked, and that Mancini is adopting a style to ensure City can challenge for trophies regularly.

Although Mancini has been defensive in some fixtures at Manchester City which has attracted criticism. Mancini did inherit a team from Mark Hughes, which whilst showing great prolifigacy and potential in front of goal, had a very insecure defence. Months of intensively coaching his defence, even throwing young Dedryck Boyata into the fray from the youth team in Mancini's first few weeks enabled him to get his tenure at City off to a positive start.

In Internazionale's Serie A winning season 2007-08, Inter conceded the fewest goals in the league - 26 to be precise, 11 fewer than Juventus and Roma. At Manchester City, his team has gradually garnered a reputation as being well organised defensively and tough to break down. In Mancini's first full season in charge at City, they conceded 33 goals in the Premier League, fewest conceded along with Chelsea and 18 clean sheets, the highest in the 2010-11 Premier League season.

Training methods

Mancini's training methods have been criticised by some City players and especially by ex-Manchester City fitness coach Raymond Verheijen, who is a personal fitness coach for Craig Bellamy.. The training sessions are known for being very competitive and has led to well publicised bust ups leading to City earning the nickname of "Fight Club" and recently Mancini was left nursing a sore calf after being flattened by summer signing Stefan Savic who was taking part in his first training session as a City player.

Attitude to players

During his time at Manchester City, Mancini has tried to stamp his authority with rebellious players who are unhappy or are not performing and has stated "''If a top player is not happy then it's better to go''". It has been alleged that Mancini has had frosty relationships with Craig Bellamy, club doctor Jamie Murphy and Emmanuel Adebayor who was unhappy at not getting first team football. Manchester City players have alluded to Mancini's occasional "''hairdryer treatment''" at half-time if he feels his team are not playing well.

Personal life

Mancini has been married for nearly 20 years to his wife, Federica. They have a daughter and two sons, Filippo and Andrea, who have both played in the Internazionale youth ranks, where Filippo has played 10 minutes in a Coppa Italia match. Both of his sons have at one point been a part of Manchester City's youth set-up. Filippo trained with the City academy for several months of the 2007–08 season, while Andrea was signed by his father for the Manchester City under-21 Elite Development Squad in November 2010 after being released from Bologna.

Statistics

Player stats

:''As of 27 November 2009''

Bologna Football Club 1909 rowspan=151983–84 Serie A1984–85 Serie A1985–86 Serie A1986–87 Serie A1987–88 Serie A1988–89 Serie A1989–90 Serie A1990–91 Serie A1991–92 Serie A1992–93 Serie A1993–94 Serie A1994–95 Serie A1995–96 Serie A1996–97 Serie A !colspan="3" rowspan=31998–99 Serie A1999–2000 Serie A !colspan="3"Leicester City F.C.

Season	Club	Championship	Coppa Italia	!colspan="3"	Supercoppa Italiana	Total
!Comp	!Apps	!Goals	!Comp	!Apps	!Goals	!Comp	!Apps	!Goals	!Comp	!Apps	!Goals	!Apps	!Goals
Bologna Football Club 1981–1982	1981–1982	Bologna||	1981–82 Serie A>A	30	9	Coppa Italia 1981–82>CI	1	0
1982–1983	Sampdoria||	1982–83 Serie A>A	22	4	Coppa Italia 1982–83>CI	5	1
1983–1984	A||	30	8	Coppa Italia 1983–84>CI	8	2
Unione Calcio Sampdoria 1984–1985	1984–1985	A||	24	3	Coppa Italia 1984–85>CI	11	3
Unione Calcio Sampdoria 1985–1986	1985–1986	A||	23	6	Coppa Italia 1985–86>CI	11	4	1985–86 European Cup Winners' Cup>EWC	4	2
Unione Calcio Sampdoria 1986–1987	1986–1987	A||	26	6	Coppa Italia 1986–87>CI	5	0
Unione Calcio Sampdoria 1987–1988	1987–1988	A||	30	5	Coppa Italia 1987–88>CI	13	3
Unione Calcio Sampdoria 1988–1989	1988–1989	A||	29	9	Coppa Italia 1988–89>CI	11	5	1988–89 European Cup Winners' Cup>EWC	8	0	1988 Supercoppa Italiana>SI	0	0	48	14
Unione Calcio Sampdoria 1989–1990	1989–1990	A||	31	11	Coppa Italia 1989-90>CI	3	2	1989–90 European Cup Winners' Cup>EWC	9	2	1989 Supercoppa Italiana>SI	1	0	44	15
Unione Calcio Sampdoria 1990–1991	1990–1991	A||	30	12	Coppa Italia 1990–91>CI	10	2	1990–91 European Cup Winners' Cup>EWC	5	2	1990 European Super Cup>SE	2	0	47	16
Unione Calcio Sampdoria 1991–1992	1991–1992	A||	29	6	Coppa Italia 1991-92>CI	6	2	1991–92 European Cup>EC	9	4	1991 Supercoppa Italiana>SI	1	1	45	13
Unione Calcio Sampdoria 1992–1993	1992–1993	A||	30	15	Coppa Italia 1992-93>CI	2	0
Unione Calcio Sampdoria 1993–1994	1993–1994	A||	30	12	Coppa Italia 1993-94>CI	7	0
Unione Calcio Sampdoria 1994–1995	1994–1995	A||	31	9	Coppa Italia 1994-95>CI	2	1	1994–95 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup>EWC	4	2	1994 Supercoppa Italiana>SI	1	0	38	12
Unione Calcio Sampdoria 1995–1996	1995–1996	A||	26	11	Coppa Italia 1995-96>CI	2	1
Unione Calcio Sampdoria 1996–1997	1996–1997	A||	33	15	Coppa Italia 1996-97>CI	2	0
Total – Sampdoria ||	424	132		98	26		39	12		5	1	566	171
Società Sportiva Lazio 1997–1998	1997–1998	Lazio||	1997–98 Serie A>A	34	5	Coppa Italia 1997-98>CI	8	1	1997–98 UEFA Cup>UC	10	3
Società Sportiva Lazio 1998–1999	1998–1999	A||	33	10	Coppa Italia 1998-99>CI	6	2	1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup>EWC	7	0	1998 Supercoppa Italiana>SI	1	0	47	12
Società Sportiva Lazio 1999–2000	1999–2000	A||	20	0	Coppa Italia 1999-2000>CI	7	3	UEFA Champions League 1999-2000>UCL	9	0	1999 UEFA Super Cup>SE	1	0	37	3
Total – Lazio ||	87	15		21	6		26	3		2	0	136	24
2001	Leicester City||	2000–01 FA Premier League>PL	4	0	2000–01 FA Cup>FAC	1	0		0	0		0	0	5	0
colspan="2"	Total – Career	|	545	156		121	32		65	15		7	1	738	204

Managerial statistics

:''Competitive games only – as of 28 August 2011''

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
G	W	D	L	Win %
align=left
align=left
align=left
align=left
Total

Honours

As player

;Italy ;Serie A (2)

Sampdoria: 1990-91

Lazio: 1999-2000

;Coppa Italia (6)

Sampdoria: 1984-85, 1987-88, 1988-89, 1993-94

Lazio: 1997-98, 1999-2000

;Supercoppa Italiana (2)

Sampdoria: 1991

Lazio: 1998

;UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (2)

Sampdoria: 1989-90

Lazio: 1998-99

;UEFA Super Cup (1)

Lazio: 1999

;Italy national team

1990 FIFA World Cup: Bronze medal - Third place

;Individual

Guerin d'Oro: 1988, 1991

Serie A Footballer of the Year: 1997

Italian Footballer of the Year: 1997

As manager

;Italy ;Serie A (3)

Internazionale: 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08

;Coppa Italia (4)

Fiorentina: 2000–01

Lazio: 2003–04

Internazionale: 2004–05, 2005–06

;Supercoppa Italiana (2)

Internazionale: 2005, 2006

;England ;FA Cup (1)

Manchester City: 2010–11

;Individual ;Manchester City

Premier League Manager of the Month: December 2010

References

External links

Official website

Profile on Manchester City Official Website

Carlo AncelottiChelsea}}

Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:People from Jesi Category:Italian footballers Category:Italy international footballers Category:Italy under-21 international footballers Category:Bologna F.C. 1909 players Category:U.C. Sampdoria players Category:S.S. Lazio players Category:Leicester City F.C. players Category:Serie A footballers Category:UEFA Euro 1988 players Category:1990 FIFA World Cup players Category:Italian football managers Category:S.S. Lazio managers Category:ACF Fiorentina managers Category:F.C. Internazionale Milano managers Category:Serie A managers Category:Premier League players Category:Italian expatriate footballers Category:Expatriate footballers in England Category:Italian expatriate sportspeople in the United Kingdom Category:Premier League managers Category:Expatriate football managers in England

ar:روبيرتو مانشيني bn:রবের্তো মানচিনি bg:Роберто Манчини cs:Roberto Mancini da:Roberto Mancini de:Roberto Mancini et:Roberto Mancini es:Roberto Mancini fa:روبرتو مانچینی fr:Roberto Mancini ko:로베르토 만치니 id:Roberto Mancini it:Roberto Mancini hu:Roberto Mancini nl:Roberto Mancini ja:ロベルト・マンチーニ no:Roberto Mancini pl:Roberto Mancini pt:Roberto Mancini ro:Roberto Mancini ru:Манчини, Роберто sq:Roberto Mancini simple:Roberto Mancini sk:Roberto Mancini sl:Roberto Mancini fi:Roberto Mancini sv:Roberto Mancini th:โรแบร์โต มันชีนี tr:Roberto Mancini uk:Роберто Манчіні zh:羅拔圖·文仙尼

Coordinates	29°25′″N98°30′″N
playername	Shane Long
fullname	Shane Patrick Long
dateofbirth	January 22, 1987
cityofbirth	Gortnahoe
countryofbirth	Ireland
height	5 ft 11 in (1.79 m)
position	Striker
currentclub	West Bromwich Albion
clubnumber	9
youthyears1	1994–2000
youthclubs1	St. Kevin
youthyears2	2000–2004
youthclubs2	Saint Michaels
years1	2004–2005
years2	2005–2011
years3	2011–
clubs1	Cork City
clubs2	Reading
clubs3	West Bromwich Albion
caps1	1
goals1	0
caps2	173
goals2	44
caps3	3
goals3	2
nationalyears1	2006
nationalyears2	2007–
nationalteam1	Republic of Ireland U21
nationalteam2	Republic of Ireland
nationalcaps2	22
nationalgoals2	6
pcupdate	23:00, 3 September 2011 (UTC)
ntupdate	22:00, 2 September 2011 (UTC) }}

Shane Patrick Long (born 22 January 1987) is an Irish footballer who plays as a striker for West Bromwich Albion and the Republic of Ireland national team.

Early life

Long was born in Gortnahoe, County Tipperary, Ireland. He was a talented hurler and appeared in two All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship (Under 18) semi-finals with Tipperary at Croke Park, and was regarded as a pacey and promising forward. Long was also playing football at this time, and started his career in the game with Tipperary club St Kevin's in 1998, joining Saint Michaels in 2000.

Club career

Cork City

Long was discovered and brought to Cork City with a scholarship on 1 July 2004 by Pat Dolan. When ready, Long was called to the first team squad for the 2005 season when manager Dolan was replaced by Damien Richardson, and the new manager awarded him his senior League of Ireland début on 25 March 2005 as a substitute for Joe Gamble. His only other appearance was again as a substitute in the Setanta Sports Cup on 2 May. However, following Dolan's consultation with his brother, Reading coach Eamonn Dolan, Reading made bids for both Long and Kevin Doyle. Cork were forced to sell Doyle due to a contract clause, but the circumstances surrounding Long's transfer were not disclosed. Long signed as a Reading player on 7 June 2005.

Reading

In Reading's Championship-winning 2005–06 campaign, Long scored three goals in 10 substitute appearances, making his first league start on 17 April 2006 in the 3–1 home victory against Stoke City. For the first season, he was mostly second choice in the pecking order behind fellow Irishman Kevin Doyle, Dave Kitson and Leroy Lita. He started all of the games in Reading's FA Cup campaign and scored one goal.

On 4 July 2007, Long signed an improved four-year contract to keep him at Reading until the end of the 2010–11 season.

On 16 March 2008, in a 2–1 defeat at Anfield against Liverpool Long was involved in an incident as to where he flung his shirt to the ground, citing frustration at his performance and frustration with the match officials, after being subbed by manager Steve Coppell. In the post match interview, Steve Coppell made a stern point in that "It will not happen again." Long made a full apology on the official club website.

His 2008-09 season ended happily after scoring an equaliser in a 1–1 draw at Southampton, before ending the season with a brace in a 2–0 victory at Norwich City.

In 2010 FA Cup third round replay match against Liverpool, Long was clipped by Yossi Benayoun to win a 93rd minute penalty as Liverpool led 1–0 at Anfield to bring the match into extra time. Long then scored a glancing header in the 100th minute in front of the Anfield Kop from a cross supplied by Gunarsson, which sent Reading into the Fourth round of the FA Cup to play at home against Burnley.

On 30 January 2010 Long scored a crucial goal at home to strugglers Barnsley which gifted Reading all three points, in a 1–0 win for the Royals. The following Saturday his good run of form continued with an opening goal which contributed to a 2–1 win away to Doncaster at the Keepmoat Stadium. His goalscoring prowess saw no end and on 9 February 2010 he scored a brace in a 2–1 win at home to Plymouth, giving Reading their third consecutive league victory and Long's fourth goal in three games.

However, on 13 February 2010 in an FA Cup fifth round match at home to West Bromwich Albion, Long was sent off for a careless lunge at West Brom Ivorian defender Abdoulaye Meite. It was his second straight dismissable offence of the season, the first procured away to Derby County in a Championship match in November. On 7 March 2010 in Reading's FA Cup Quarter Final against Aston Villa, Long scored a brace in the first half which saw Reading leading 2–0 at half time. However a hat-trick from Norwegian striker John Carew and a strike from Ashley Young in the second half saw Long's brace go to waste as Aston Villa booked themselves a place in the semi-finals. On 2 May 2010, Long played his 150th game for Reading in the 4–1 Championship win over Preston North End at the Madejski Stadium.

On 11 September 2010, Long won two penalties and converted the first in Reading's 3–0 win over Crystal Palace.

On 04 November 2010 Shane Long signed a one year contract extension valid until 2012.

On 18 December 2010, Long scored twice against Derby County which led to his best goal-scoring form of his life. He followed up with a brace against Bristol City on Boxing Day. On 3 January 2011, Long scored another brace to give Reading the three points against Burnley in a 2-1 victory. On 8 January 2011, Long then hit the only goal in the FA Cup's third round encounter with West Bromwich Albion.

After an impressive season for Reading, Long won the player of the season award, beating Jimmy Kebe and Jem Karacan.

Shane Long netted 2 goals for Reading on 17th May 2011 in a 3-0 away win against Cardiff City in the second leg of the Championship Play-Off semi finals. One goal came from the penalty spot and the other a lob after a blocked clearance from Cardiff goalkeeper Stephen Bywater. Long received the Man of the Match award.

Long finished the season with 28 goals in 58 matches for club and country. This being his best season so far in his career.

After the play-off final defeat against Swansea, chairman John Madejski declared Long to be world class. "What is the value I would place on him? £20m."

West Bromwich Albion

On 9 August 2011, Long signed for Premier League side West Bromwich Albion on a three-year deal, with a further year’s option. Although the fee was undisclosed, it is believed to be £4.5m, with add-ons that could eventually rise to £6.5m, which would be a record fee for West Bromwich, surpassing the £4.7m paid for Spanish international midfielder Borja Valero from Real Mallorca in 2008 . On 12 August he was handed the number 9 shirt. Long made his debut on 14 August 2011 in the league opener against Manchester United at home. He marked his debut scoring an equalising goal that went past Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea. United won the match 2-1. Long scored again in the fourth minute of his second match, against Chelsea on 20 August 2011, in what proved to be yet another 2-1 defeat.

International career

Long's form for Reading in the 2005–06 season earned him four Republic of Ireland U19 caps.

Due to injuries to his Reading team mate Kevin Doyle and Sunderland's Stephen Elliott, he earned his first senior cap for the Republic of Ireland in their 2–1 win away to San Marino on 7 February 2007.

When Long earned his second cap as a substitute against Slovakia on 28 March 2007 he became the first person to play both hurling and international football at Croke Park, having been part of the Tipperary team for the All-Ireland Minor semi-finals in 2003 and 2004. Long scored his first international goal in a friendly 1–1 draw against Bolivia on 26 May 2007., and followed this with a brace in Ireland's 4–0 win over Denmark on 22 August 2007.

He was nominated as the Football Association of Ireland ''Young Player of the Year'' for 2007.

In March 2011, Long was brought on early to replace the injured Kevin Doyle in a Euro 2012 qualifier against Macedonia in Dublin. His performance was rewarded with a start in Ireland's next game against Uruguay in which Long scored the first of Ireland's goals with a header in a 2-3 loss.

Club statistics

''Statistics accurate as of 28 August 2011'' |- |2005–06||rowspan=6|Reading|||Championship||11||3||4||1||0||0||0||0||15||4 |- |2006-07||rowspan=2|Premier League||21||2||1||1||2||1||0||0||26||4 |- |2007-08||29||3||2||0||1||0||0||0||32||3 |- |2008-09||rowspan=3|Championship||39||9||1||0||3||0||0||0||43||9 |- |2009-10||31||6||5||3||0||0||0||0||36||9 |- |2010-11||45||23||4||2||1||0||0||0||50||25 |- !colspan="3"|Reading Total !177!!46!!17!!7!!7!!1!!0!!0!!200!!54 |- |2011–12||rowspan=1|West Brom|||Premier League||3||2||0||0||0||0||0||0||3||2 |- !colspan="3"|West Brom Total !3!!2!!0!!0!!0!!0!!0!!0!!3!!2 |- !colspan="3"|Career Total !179!!48!!17!!7!!7!!1!!0!!0!!203!!56 |}

Honours

Club

;Reading

Football League Championship (1): 2005–06

Individual

Reading Player of the Season (1): 2010–11

FAI Young International Player of the Year (1): 2010

References

External links

Shane Long profile Reading FC

Category:Living people Category:1987 births Category:People from County Tipperary Category:Tipperary hurlers Category:Association football forwards Category:Republic of Ireland association footballers Category:Republic of Ireland international footballers Category:Republic of Ireland under-21 international footballers Category:Republic of Ireland B international footballers Category:Cork City F.C. players Category:League of Ireland players Category:Reading F.C. players Category:West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Category:Premier League players

ar:شان لونغ bg:Шейн Лонг de:Shane Long fr:Shane Long ga:Shane Long it:Shane Long pl:Shane Long pt:Shane Long ru:Лонг, Шейн sv:Shane Long zh:谢恩·朗

Coordinates	29°25′″N98°30′″N
name	Kevin Doyle
fullname	Kevin Edward Doyle
birth date	September 18, 1983
birth place	Adamstown, Ireland
height
position	Forward
currentclub	Wolverhampton Wanderers
clubnumber	29
youthclubs1	Wexford Youths
years1	2002–2003
years2	2003–2005
years3	2005–2009
years4	2009–
clubs1	St Patrick's Athletic
clubs2	Cork City
clubs3	Reading
clubs4	Wolverhampton Wanderers
caps1	10
caps2	76
caps3	155
caps4	63
goals1	0
goals2	25
goals3	55
goals4	15
nationalyears1	2002–2005
nationalyears2	2006–
nationalteam1	Republic of Ireland U21
nationalteam2	Republic of Ireland
nationalcaps1	11
nationalcaps2	41
nationalgoals1	6
nationalgoals2	9
pcupdate	21 August 2011
ntupdate	29 March 2011 }}

Kevin Edward Doyle (Irish: ''Caoimhín Ó Dubhghaill''; born 18 September 1983) is an Irish international footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers.

He played for St Patrick's Athletic, and Cork City in his homeland before he moved to English side Reading. He was part of Reading's record-breaking promotion to the Premier League in 2006. In June 2009, he moved to Wolverhampton Wanderers for a club record £6.5 million.

Club career

Early career

Doyle signed for his first professional club St Patrick's Athletic in September 2001 on a free agent. Doyle initially played for the club's under 18 side but within months had made his League of Ireland début.

Cork City

He then had a successful spell with Cork City, who he joined in February 2003, linking up with his former St. Patrick's Athletic manager Pat Dolan, who had recently taken over at Turner's Cross. Doyle scored 25 goals for Cork City where he began playing on the right-wing but soon reverted to his natural position of striker. He also scored two goals from six appearances in the 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup, including the winner against Dutch side NEC Nijmegen.

Reading

On 7 June 2005, Doyle signed for Reading on a two year deal from Cork City Ireland for €117,000 (about £78,000). Despite having left Cork City, Doyle received a championship medal when they won the League of Ireland Premier Division in November 2005. Originally, he was signed as a back-up, but an injury to Dave Kitson gave him an opportunity in the first team which he retained thanks to a number of important goals along the way. He scored 19 in total including the equalising goal at Leicester City on the day the Royals were promoted to the Premier League for the first time in their history, 25 March 2006. He became an intrinsic part of Reading's Championship-winning 2005–06 squad, and according to the Actim Index was the top player in the Championship. He was named the official Reading FC player of the season for 2005–06. In April 2006, he was also named as ''Championship Fans' Player Of The Year'' and one of the ''Championship Team of the Year'' by the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA).

Doyle played an important role for Reading in the 2006–07 Premier League season. His first Premiership goal came in the Royals' 2–1 defeat at Aston Villa, when he headed Reading in to a third-minute lead. Doyle began to show a great threat in the air, during the year 2007 he scored more headers than any other player in England's leagues.He was nominated for the young pfa player of the year but lost out to Cesc Fabregas. He finished the season with 13 premier league goals after being curtailed with a torn hamstring for two months.Reading were relegated in the 2007–08 season, but they decided to hold onto Doyle and many of their top players.

On 1 September 2008, he was linked with a move to Aston Villa but in the end the striker remained at Reading.

Doyle remained at Reading to try and help them bounce back to the top flight in the 2008–09 season.He scored 18 league goals but the club failed to achieve promotion after finishing fourth and losing in the play-offs to .

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Ireland international Doyle joined newly promoted Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers on 30 June 2009. He signed a four-year contract for a reported club record fee, £6.5 million. He immediately underwent an operation to remove a Hernia, which hindered his first pre-season at his new club. He picked up another minor injury while on International duty with Ireland, which made Doyle miss the start of the season. He finally made his debut for Wolves against on 22 August 2009, coming on as a half time substitute. He scored his first goal for Wolves against Fulham on 20 September 2009, earning his side a 2–1 win at Molineux. Throughout the first half of the season Doyle was mainly used as a lone striker in a 4–5–1 formation, picking up 5 league goals before Christmas. These goals came against Sunderland, Everton, Tottenham and Burnley. Doyle impressed in his lone striker role due to his quality and sheer work rate, which made Mick McCarthy stick with his successful 4–5–1 formation until the end of the season. His contribution helped the club finish 15th in their first season in the Premier League, picking up another 4 league goals on the way. These goals came against Birmingham, West Ham, Portsmouth and Sunderland. He also won the clubs Player’s Player of the Season Award and the Top Goalscorer Award after a hugely impressive first season at Wolves.

Doyle continued to play the lone striker role throughout most of the 2010/11 season, despite the arrival of Steven Fletcher and the good early form from Sylvan Ebanks-Blake at the start of the season. As Mick McCarthy rotated through using the three strikers, he eventually stuck with his previously successful 4–5–1 formation, with Doyle playing the lone front man role. He went on to score 5 goals for Wolves in the second half of the season. These goals came against Blackpool, Man City, the winner against Man Utd ending their 29 match unbeaten run, and a brace against Tottenham at Molineux. On 26 March 2011, Doyle tore a knee ligament while on international duty with Ireland, which kept him out of action for up to 6 weeks. Doyle returned to action on 14 May against Sunderland, coming on as a substitute in the 70th minute.

International career

Doyle has played for the Republic of Ireland U21 team, making his debut on 2 February 2004 against Portugal. With 11 caps, and scoring six goals making him joint top scorer at that grade, he was also a member of the Irish FIFA World Youth Championship squad in 2003. Scored against Colombia

He was called up to the senior Republic of Ireland squad in October 2005, making his full international debut against Sweden at Lansdowne Road on 1 March 2006. His first start in a competitive international was against Germany on 2 September 2006 in a Euro 2008 qualifier. With this appearance, his family also won a €100 bet at 100/1 they had placed two years earlier on Doyle playing competitively for Ireland.

Doyle scored his first goal for Ireland against San Marino in November 2006. He was then named the official Football Association of Ireland ''Young Player of 2006'' on 4 February 2007, also receiving a nomination for the senior award.

His second goal came in a 1–0 victory over Slovakia at Croke Park in March 2007. He also scored against Ecuador on 23 May 2007 securing a valiant 1–1 draw against the South Americans, and he scored his best goal for Ireland, with a long-range left-foot shot into the top corner to the keeper's right, in a 2–2 draw against Slovakia on 9 September 2007 in the 2008 European Championships qualifying game in Bratislava. His fifth international goal and fourth in the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign came away to Wales as Ireland drew 2–2.

During 2010 World Cup qualifying, Doyle established himself as Robbie Keane's ideal strike partner in the national team's attacking quartet that included Damien Duff and Aiden McGeady. He played in 8 of the 10 games, scoring two goals, including the first in a 2–1 win in the opening game against Georgia. He also scored against Cyprus, his seventh international goal, in a 2–1 win in Nicosia. In the absence of Robbie Keane, Shay Given and other players who had been allowed to return to their clubs, Doyle captained Ireland for the first time in a friendly against South Africa on the 8 September 2009.

Doyle has been nominated as the Football Association of Ireland ''Player of the Year'' for 2007 and won the award in 2009, as well as for ''Goal of the Year'' for his goal against Slovakia in September 2007. Doyle scored his ninth international goal, and first in 2012 European Championships qualification, against Andorra at the Aviva Stadium on 7 September 2010. On 6 February 2011, Doyle was named Republic Of Ireland Player of the Year for 2010, while he also earned the Goal of the Year award for Ireland, for his superb strike in last September's Euro 2012 qualifier against Andorra.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Ireland's goal tally first.'' Croke Park, Dublin Giants Stadium, New YorkTehelné Pole, BratislavaMillennium Stadium, CardiffStadion am Bruchweg, MainzNeo GSP Stadium, NicosiaRDS Arena, Dublin Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Date !! Venue !! Opponent !! Score !! Result !! Competition !! (Tally)
2006-11-15	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	|	2–0	5–0	Euro 2008 qualifying	1
2007-03-28	|		1–0	1–0	Euro 2008 qualifying	2
2007-05-23	|		1–1	1–1	Friendly match	3
2007-09-09	|		1–2	2–2	Euro 2008 qualifying	4
2007-11-17	|		1–2	2–2	Euro 2008 qualifying	5
2008-09-06	|		0–1	1–2	2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying	6
2009-09-05	|		0–1	2–1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying	7
2010-05-25	|		1–0	2–1	Friendly match	8
2010-09-07	|		2–0	3–1	Euro 2012 qualifying	9

Career statistics

Club

5 13 7 18 13 6 18 9 5

Club	Season	League	Cup	League Cup	Other	Total
!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals
rowspan="4"	Cork City		?	|	?	?	?	?	–		?	19
2004 League of Ireland	2004	?	|	?	?	?	?	–		?	13
2005 League of Ireland	2005	?	|	?	?	?	?	6	2	?	6
!Total	!76!!25!!?!!?!!?!!?!!6!!2!!82!!27
rowspan="5"	Reading		45	|	3	1	3	0	–		41	19
2006–07 FA Premier League	2006–07	32	|	1	0	1	0	–		34	13
2007–08 Premier League	2007–08	36	|	0	0	0	0	–		36	6
2008–09 Football League Championship	2008–09	42	|	0	0	0	0	1	0	43	18
!Total	!155!!55!!4!!1!!4!!0!!1!!0!!164!!56
rowspan="3"	Wolves		34	|	1	0	2	0	–		37	9
2010–11 Premier League	2010–11	26	|	2	1	3	2	–		31	8
!Total	–!!68!!17
Career total	!291!!94!!7!!2!!9!!2!!7!!2!!314!!100

''Statistics accurate as of match played 14 May 2011''

International

National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals
rowspan="6"	Republic of Ireland	2006	5	1
2007	10
2008	8
2009	9
2010	7
2011	2
Total!!41!!9

''Statistics accurate as of match played 29 March 2011''

Honours

Club

;Cork City

League of Ireland (1): 2005

;Reading

Football League Championship (1): 2005–06

Individual

PFA Championship Team of the Year (1): 2005–06

Reading Player of the Season (1): 2005–06

FAI Under 21 International Player of the Year (1): 2005

FAI Young International Player of the Year (1): 2006

FAI Senior International Player of the Year (2): 2008, 2010

FAI International Goal of the Year (1): 2010 ''vs. Andorra''

Football League Championship Player of the Month (1): September 2008

References

External links

Official club profile

Category:1983 births Category:Living people Category:People from County Wexford Category:Republic of Ireland association footballers Category:Association football forwards Category:Gaelic footballers who switched code Category:St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players Category:Cork City F.C. players Category:Reading F.C. players Category:Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Category:Republic of Ireland international footballers Category:Republic of Ireland under-21 international footballers Category:Premier League players Category:League of Ireland players

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