Pat Rice Biography

Name :
Pat Rice

Born :
March 17th, 1949

Birth place :
Belfast

Previous clubs as player :
Arsenal, Watford

Joined Arsenal :
(For the second time) July 1984

Honours as player :
League Championship medal 1971. F.A. Cup winner's medal 1971, 1979. 49 caps for Northern Ireland

Clubs as coach :
Arsenal

Honours as coach :
F.A. Youth Cup winner 1988,
1994. League Championship 1998,
2002, 2004. F.A. Cup winners 1998,
2002, 2003, 2005

Media speculation that last season would be Pat Rice’s final campaign as Arsène Wenger’s right-hand man proved to be just that, as the experienced coach signed on for another season in the dugout.

Pat has a rich history with the Club, having first joined as a player back in 1964. A Northern Ireland international right-back, he was a Double winner in 1971 and skippered the side to FA Cup glory in 1979.

In total, he made 528 appearances for the first team across 14 years, including five FA Cup Finals and one European Fairs Cup Final.

After a spell with Watford, playing under Graham Taylor, he returned to Arsenal in 1984 as youth team coach, winning two FA Youth Cups before taking up a senior coaching role when Arsène arrived at Highbury in 1996.

Prior to Arsène’s arrival, Pat had in fact briefly taken the reins as caretaker manager of the Club. His deep knowledge of both the game and the Club remain invaluable.