Simon McMenemy

Simon McMenemy
McMenemy in stadium
Personal information
Full name Simon Alexander McMenemy
Date of birth (1977-12-06) 6 December 1977 (age 46)
Place of birth Aberdeen, Scotland
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Worthing
Haywards Heath
Burgess Hill
Kajaanin Haka
University of South Alabama
Managerial career
2009–2010 Worthing (assistant)
2010 Philippines
2011 Đồng Tâm Long An
2011–2012 Mitra Kukar
2013 Pelita Bandung Raya
2014 New Radiant
2014–2016 Loyola Meralco Sparks
2017–2018 Bhayangkara
2019 Indonesia
2023 Visakha
2024– Persela Lamongan (technical director)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Simon Alexander McMenemy (born 6 December 1977) is a Scottish football manager and the current technical director of Liga 2 club Persela Lamongan. Previously, he had spells as manager of Bhayangkara, Maldivian side New Radiant, Indonesia Super League club Pelita Bandung Raya, Mitra Kukar in Indonesia, Đồng Tâm Long An in Vietnam, Loyola Meralco Sparks in Philippines, the Philippines national team and the Indonesia national team.[1][2][3]

He rejoined Bhayangkara in 2021 as technical director[4]

His first job in football was for Brighton & Hove Albion as a development officer.[5] McMenemy then worked for sportswear giant Nike.[5] He was the assistant coach of English non-League football side Worthing before moving on to management.[5] Previously, he applied for the Clyde vacancy in his native Scotland in 2014 but lost out to Barry Ferguson.[5]

Coaching career

Haywards Heath Town

McMenemy started his career in coaching as manager of Sussex County League club Haywards Heath Town.[6]

Philippines

Through Chris Greatwich, one of his former players at club Lewes, McMenemy heard about the vacant coaching job in the Philippines. Five weeks after applying, he received an offer from the Philippine Football Federation, the governing body of football in the country, to coach the Philippines national team.[7]

After an undefeated group campaign, one win and two draws, the Philippines qualified second in the group to face the Indonesia national team in the semi-finals. The team was eventually defeated 2–0 on aggregate with Indonesia's Cristian Gonzáles scoring a goal in each leg of the semi-final. Both the home and away legs were held in Indonesia as the Philippines didn't have a stadium that met the international standard set by AFF.[8]

The win of the Philippines over the Vietnam national football team during the group phase of the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup was ranked as one of the "Top 10 soccer stories of 2010" by columnist Georgina Turner of American sports magazine Sports Illustrated.[9]

McMenemy left the Philippines in January 2011 and was replaced by German manager Michael Weiß.[10]

Loyola Meralco Sparks

On 26 August 2014, McMenemy was named head coach of the Loyola Meralco Sparks of the United Football League, replacing Vince Santos, who led the team to the 2013 Cup title but was unable to win the more prestigious UFL league titles in the past two years.[11]

On 31 January 2015, McMenemy won his first silverware as a professional coach and as a Sparks manager.[12] In December 2016, Loyola announced that McMenemy had left the club.[13]

Bhayangkara

Indonesian club Bhayangkara appointed McMenemy to lead the club as its head coach on 23 December 2016. Bhayangkara won the Indonesian Liga 1 on that moment.[14][15]

Indonesia

On 20 December 2018, McMenemy was appointed by the Football Association of Indonesia as the head coach of the national team, replacing Bima Sakti.[3] PSSI decided to sack McMenemy on 6 November 2019 over the national team's deteriorating performance during 2022 World Cup qualification, shortly after Indonesia was awarded hosting rights for the 2021 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[16]

Managerial statistics

As of 5 December 2023
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record Ref.
P W D L Win %
Philippines 28 August 2010 31 December 2010 5 1 2 2 020.00
New Radiant 13 March 2014 10 May 2014 4 0 0 4 000.00
Loyola 26 August 2014 31 December 2016 31 21 3 7 067.74
Bhayangkara 1 January 2017 31 December 2018 68 37 10 21 054.41
Indonesia 1 January 2019 14 November 2019 7 2 0 5 028.57
Visakha 31 December 2022 5 December 2023 13 7 2 4 053.85
Total 125 67 16 42 053.60

Honours

Loyola Meralco Sparks

Bhayangkara

Individual

References

  1. ^ "McMenemy hoping football can thrill the Manilans". ESPN Soccernet. 13 October 2010. Archived from the original on 16 October 2010. Retrieved 31 December 2010.
  2. ^ "The best British coach you've never heard of?" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  3. ^ a b "PSSI Tunjuk Simon McMenemy Jadi Pelatih Timnas Indonesia". detik.com (in Indonesian). 20 December 2018.
  4. ^ "Simon McMenemy Officially Re-joins Bhayangkara Solo FC". Neutral News. 23 February 2021. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d "I don't think there's anything in Scottish football that'd intimidate me'". Press & Journal. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  6. ^ "Topic: Simon Mcmenemy". Usapang Football. 11 September 2010. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
  7. ^ "Simon McMenemy is the new PHL national team head coach". Filipino Football. 28 August 2010. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
  8. ^ "Press statement from AFF – Confirmed venues for knock-out stages". AFFSuzukiCup.com. 9 December 2010. Archived from the original on 10 December 2010.
  9. ^ "Top 10 soccer stories of 2010". Sports Illustrated Online. 22 December 2010. Archived from the original on 26 December 2010. Retrieved 31 December 2010.
  10. ^ "Macca's reign as Philippines coach ends". Worthing Herald. 7 February 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
  11. ^ "Simon McMenemy, architect of Azkals' miracle run, to coach Loyola in the UFL". PH Sports Yahoo. 26 August 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  12. ^ "Loyola Meralco Sparks bag PFF-Smart National Title". Rappler. 31 January 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  13. ^ "McMenemy leaves Meralco Sparks". Manila Bulletin. 25 December 2016. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  14. ^ "Simon McMenemy Pelatih Anyar Bhayangkara FC" (in Indonesian). Goal Indonesia. 23 December 2016. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  15. ^ Setiawan, Massy (27 December 2016). "Simon McMenemy, Sosok yang Ideal untuk Menangani Youngsters Bhayangkara FC" [Simon McMenemy, ideal for Bhayangkara FC's Youngsters]. Okezone.com (in Indonesian). Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  16. ^ Ramadani Saputra (6 November 2019). "PSSI fires national team coach McMenemy over 'unsatisfactory performance'". The Jakarta Post. Retrieved 11 November 2019.