James Paul Gannon was born on 7 September 1968 and is a professional football manager and former player who most recently was manager of Hyde United.
77 Facts About Jim Gannon
2.
Jim Gannon started and finished his career as a player in Ireland, but made most of his professional appearances in the English Football League at Stockport County, where supporters elected him as a member of the Hall of Fame.
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Jim Gannon began his playing career at Dundalk, but moved to English club Sheffield United in 1989.
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Jim Gannon spent the next ten years at Stockport, becoming one of the club's most loyal servants, and helped the club to second-place finishes in both the Second Division and Fourth Division, as well as two League Trophy finals.
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Jim Gannon took charge of Championship side Peterborough United in 2010, but stayed at the struggling club for only two months, turning down a four-year contract.
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Jim Gannon returned to Stockport in November 2011, as the club's director of football and manager, before being sacked in January 2013.
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Jim Gannon took charge at Northwich Victoria in December 2013.
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Jim Gannon spent just over two years with Northwich before returning to manage Stockport County for the third time in January 2016.
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Jim Gannon left Stockport in January 2021 and took charge at Hyde United for a short spell eight months later.
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Jim Gannon was born in Southwark, South London and moved with his family to Ireland at a young age.
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Jim Gannon considers himself to be 'a working class Irish Catholic'.
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Jim Gannon remained at the club for ten years, during which the club would win promotion on two occasions, and make four Wembley appearances.
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On 10 March 1993, Jim Gannon verbally abused Stoke City player Mark Stein, who reacted by assaulting Jim Gannon.
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Jim Gannon made a formal complaint to the police and as a result Stein was later required to appear in court for the attack.
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In January 1994 Jim Gannon joined Notts County on a brief loan spell to help him overcome some personal problems.
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Jim Gannon played under the management of Danny Bergara, Dave Jones, Gary Megson, and Andy Kilner.
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Jim Gannon was awarded a testimonial against Manchester City in August 2000, but got into a dispute with the club over the financial arrangements.
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Jim Gannon then left the club in November 2000, and issued employment tribunal proceedings for unfair dismissal.
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Jim Gannon did not feature extensively in the club's 2003 League Championship winning side.
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Jim Gannon holds a unique record, having scored in all four English divisions, the FA Cup, the League Cup, the Full Members Cup, the English League play-offs, the League of Ireland, the FAI Cup, the League of Ireland Cup, and the UEFA Champions League.
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In June 2004 he was appointed to his first managerial post, taking charge of Dundalk, who were the first club in Jim Gannon's professional playing career.
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On 14 November 2005, Jim Gannon confirmed his resignation from Dundalk after his position had been called into question as his chief supporters, vice-chairman Tom Baldwin and chief executive Sean Connolly, left the club.
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In November 2005, Jim Gannon was appointed as director of Stockport County's centre of excellence for girls.
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Results on the field followed this statement of intent, with Jim Gannon leading County to a League record nine consecutive victories without conceding a goal.
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Jim Gannon lodged a complaint with The Football Association against Bristol Rovers when a fixture was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, as he felt not enough was done to ready the pitch, and a complaint with regard to the referee's handling of the situation.
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Jim Gannon branded approaches from Manchester City and Liverpool questionable and unprofessional after the two Premier League clubs swooped for youngsters being trained in Stockport County's development squads.
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The friendly was against Cardiff City, managed by Dave Jones, who managed County whilst Jim Gannon was a player at the club.
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The club had previously visited Wembley four times, and Jim Gannon had played on all four occasions.
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Jim Gannon refused to give a post-match interview to Sky Sports following a nine-month dispute with the company over a broken Skybox.
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Nevertheless, having quickly taken Stockport from the foot of League Two and into League One on a meagre budget, Jim Gannon had established himself as one of the most highly rated young managers in the lower leagues.
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Jim Gannon led County to an impressive start to the season following their promotion, and they spent Christmas in the play-off places with the best away record in the division.
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Jim Gannon stuck to his one-year rolling deal after rejecting new contract offers from the club.
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Meanwhile, Jim Gannon was left threatening police action over a strong challenge that left Stockport striker Matty McNeil unconscious and in hospital.
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Jim Gannon suggested that his family would play a large part in his decision to move clubs, with Stockport's financial troubles looming but uprooting his family to move to Brighton being undesirable.
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Knight had indicated that Jim Gannon was his first choice for the job, and former Stockport players now at Brighton had shown their desire for Jim Gannon to be given the job.
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However, Jim Gannon turned down the opportunity and vowed stay with at the Edgeley Park club.
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On 6 May 2009, soon after the final game of the season, Jim Gannon was made redundant as manager of Stockport along with assistant boss Peter Ward.
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Jim Gannon was sent to the stand in Motherwell's Europa League match against Bucharest; however Jim Gannon later stated he did not know why he, or his assistant manager were sent off by Spanish referee Carlos Clos Gomez.
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Jim Gannon was named Manager of the Month for October 2009, but he warned of a clear out in the January transfer window.
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Jim Gannon had a dispute with the SFA head of referee development Hugh Dallas, following Jim Gannon's criticism of Scottish referees.
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Jim Gannon had claimed the standard of refereeing was "bringing the game into disrepute".
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Jim Gannon then felt the official response to his criticisms to be disrespectful.
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Jim Gannon criticised his predecessor Mark McGhee, after McGhee speculated in the press on possible transfers of Motherwell players.
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Jim Gannon had been rumoured to be looking for other jobs.
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Jim Gannon was reportedly working under a temporary contract, and was yet to sign a longer-term deal as had been expected.
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On 2 February 2010 Jim Gannon was appointed manager of Peterborough United, following the sacking of Mark Cooper.
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Jim Gannon aimed to restore 'pride' in the club, and offered a fresh start to unsettled players.
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Jim Gannon utilised unique tactical formations, which earned him comparisons to Martin O'Neill.
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Jim Gannon was particularly experimental with the front line, and was willing to use the loan market to bring in fresh talent.
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Jim Gannon had been satisfied with the board's contract offer, but his family still resided in Stockport.
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Striker Liam Dickinson was sad to see him go, and told the media that Jim Gannon would have little trouble finding a new management post.
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In January 2011, Jim Gannon was one of three candidates reported to have impressed in interviews for the vacant Port Vale job, making him one of the favourites for the position.
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Jim Gannon was confirmed as the manager of Port Vale on 6 January 2011, succeeding Micky Adams at the helm of the promotion chasing club, signing a contract that lasted until summer 2012.
54.
Jim Gannon then brought in Romaine Sawyers and Kayleden Brown on loan from West Bromwich Albion, Jay O'Shea on loan from Birmingham City, Exodus Geohaghon on loan from Peterborough United, and striker Tom Pope on loan from Rotherham United.
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However tension remained, as proven at the end of the month when it was reported that Jim Gannon left the team bus on a pre-match journey after rowing with assistant manager Geoff Horsfield.
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Jim Gannon continued to exploit the loan market, signing Dominic Blizzard from Bristol Rovers, a midfielder who played under him at Stockport.
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Ugly post-match scenes at the Crown Ground saw Geohaghon confront fans who singled him out for abuse, whilst Jim Gannon was ushered quietly out of the back door.
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Jim Gannon himself made a statement on his website declaring his disappointment in the club's decision to terminate his contract after such a short period of time, and bemoaned that he "wasn't able to add many new players [to the squad]".
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Jim Gannon then signed defender Joe Connor on non-contract terms, and teenagers Aaron Cole and Danny Rowe on loan.
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Jim Gannon then re-signed former players Paul Turnbull and Matty Mainwaring on loan.
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Worried by the situation at crisis clubs Darlington and Kettering Town, Jim Gannon cancelled the contracts of veterans Matt Glennon, John Miles, Mark Lynch, and Ryan McCann.
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Jim Gannon brought in 23-year-old Telford defender Sean Newton and 18-year-old Sunderland keeper Lewis King on loan, whilst signing 19-year-old Lancaster City midfielder Danny Hattersley on a permanent transfer.
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Jim Gannon appointed long-time associate Alan Lord as his assistant.
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However County found themselves struggling in the league, and Jim Gannon blamed the predicament on the board's decision to slash the wage budget in the summer.
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On 9 December 2013 it was announced that Jim Gannon would become the new manager of Northern Premier League Division One North side Northwich Victoria.
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Jim Gannon became manager of Stockport County, now in the National League North, for the third time in his career on 18 January 2016.
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Jim Gannon started off well, taking the team to the Cheshire Senior Cup final and up to ninth in the table with a sequence of seven games unbeaten, including five victories, in the run up to Easter.
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Jim Gannon was credited with turning around the career of Danny Lloyd, who signed for Peterborough United in May 2017,12 months after Jim Gannon had persuaded him to play for County rather than quit the game altogether.
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Jim Gannon said that he was pleased with his defence, but wanted to overhaul the attacking side so as to reach the play-offs the following season.
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Jim Gannon was named as Manager of the Month award in the National League North for December 2018 after his team rose from the bottom half of the table to the top three and advanced in the FA Trophy.
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On 31 August 2021, Jim Gannon was announced as the new manager of Northern Premier League Premier Division side Hyde United.
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Jim Gannon is one of few managers in the lower leagues to hold a full UEFA Pro Licence.
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Priding himself on playing flowing football in the lower leagues of the English game, Jim Gannon has repeatedly spoken out against clubs he feels play too physically, and referees he feels do not give his players enough protection.
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Jim Gannon has stated that this fair play approach is based on his belief that it is "good principles that lead to good football".
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Jim Gannon has been called a 'tactical maverick' due to his unusual formations.
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Jim Gannon has stated that he prefers formations that use four lines of players due to the added depth in defence and presence in midfield, and was inspired to use the formations by Carlo Ancelotti.
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Jim Gannon is known to be extremely thorough and meticulous in preparing his players for games.