Rene Gilmartin

Rene Patrick Gilmartin (born 31 May 1987) is an Irish professional football coach and former professional footballer who is currently the goalkeeping coach at Ipswich Town.

Rene Gilmartin

Gilmartin after signing for Bristol City in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Rene Patrick Gilmartin[1]
Date of birth	(1987-05-31) 31 May 1987 (age 37)
Place of birth	Dublin, Ireland
Height	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)[2]
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team	Ipswich Town (goalkeeping coach)
Youth career
	Malahide United F.C. St. Kevin's Boys
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2005–2010	Walsall	35	(0)
2007	→ Worcester City (loan)	0	(0)
2007	→ Hednesford Town (loan)	1	(0)
2010–2012	Watford	2	(0)
2011–2012	→ Yeovil Town (loan)	8	(0)
2012	→ Crawley Town (loan)	6	(0)
2012–2013	Plymouth Argyle	13	(0)
2013–2014	St Patrick's Athletic	1	(0)
2014–2017	Watford	0	(0)
2017–2019	Colchester United	22	(0)
2019–2021	Bristol City	0	(0)
Total		87	(0)
International career
2006	Republic of Ireland U19
2006–2007	Republic of Ireland U21	1	(0)
Managerial career
2019–2024	Republic of Ireland U21 (goalkeeping coach)
2021	Swindon Town (assistant manager)
2021–	Ipswich Town (goalkeeping coach)
2024	Republic of Ireland (interim goalkeeping coach)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He has previously appeared in the Football League for Walsall, Watford, Yeovil Town, Crawley Town, Plymouth Argyle and Colchester United, and has also played for League of Ireland side St Patrick's Athletic. Gilmartin has played international football for the Republic of Ireland at under-19 and under-21 levels.

Career

Having previous played for Malahide United F.C. and St. Kevin's Boys,^[3] Gilmartin joined English League One side Walsall in the summer of 2005.^[4] He made his Walsall debut on 17 September 2005 in a 3–2 home defeat to Chesterfield, and played two further first-team matches that season.^[5] He also made his international debut for Republic of Ireland under-19s in February 2006. At the end of the 2005–06 season, Gilmartin's contract was extended, with Walsall taking up one-year option.^[6] After signing, Gilmartin said he expected to fight for the first choice goalkeeper ahead of a new season.^[7]

Gilmartin did not feature for Walsall over the next two seasons, but played for Republic of Ireland under-21s in 2007, and completed his UEFA B coaching licence in April 2008.^[3][8] During 2007, he joined Worcester City and Hednesford Town, in order to gain first team experience.^[9] In May 2008 Gilmartin signed another new 12-month contract.^[10] During the 2008–09 season, in which he made 12 appearances, Gilmartin said he would consider leaving the club if first choice goalkeeper Clayton Ince stayed on.^[5][11] Ultimately, he signed another new 12-month contract at the end of the season.^[12]

In the 2009–10 season, Gilmartin replaced Ince as a first choice goalkeeper. He credited the club's goalkeeping coach, Mick Kearns, for helping him improve as a player.^[13] In October 2009, he suffered a hamstring injury that would keep him out for three to four weeks.^[14] Despite the injury, Gilmartin played 24 times in 2009–10 season.^[5]

Gilmartin was offered a new contract by Walsall on 10 May 2010, but joined Championship side Watford on 1 July 2010.^[15][16] He made his debut in a League Cup first round tie away to Aldershot Town, keeping a clean sheet in a 3–0 Watford win. Gilmartin struggled to displace Scott Loach as Watford's goalkeeper during the 2010–11 season, but did play in all four of the club's cup games. He also won the club's community ambassador prize at the end of season awards.^[17]

Gilmartin displaced Loach to make his full league debut on 27 September 2011, in a 2–1 home victory over Millwall. He started the following game, a 3–0 defeat at Southampton, before Loach returned to the side.^[5] On 23 November 2011, Gilmartin was sent out on loan to League One side Yeovil Town until 3 January 2012.^[18] He returned to Watford on 19 January 2012, having made eight appearances for Yeovil.^[19] In February 2012 he joined League Two side Crawley Town on loan as back up to Michael Kuipers, following an injury to Scott Shearer.^[20] On 3 May 2012, Gilmartin was one of four players to be released by Watford after their contracts expired.^[21]

Gilmartin signed a two-year contract with League Two side Plymouth Argyle in July 2012,^[22] and made 16 appearances in all competitions.^[23] He was transfer-listed by manager John Sheridan at the end of the 2012–13 season,^[24] and left the club by mutual consent in June 2013.^[25]

Gilmartin returned to Dublin in July, having signed an 18-month contract with League of Ireland side St Patrick's Athletic.^[26][27] He made his Pats' debut later that month in a Dublin derby at Shamrock Rovers in the League of Ireland Cup.^[28] He made his league debut the following season, on 2 June 2014 against Drogheda United, when he came on as a half-time substitute for the injured Brendan Clarke. He continued Clarke's work and kept a clean sheet as Pats won 6–0.^[29] In total, he made 10 appearances for the Saints, with nine coming in cup competitions.

Gilmartin returned to English football by re-signing with Watford on a one-year deal on 25 August 2014 as a back-up to Heurelho Gomes and Jonathan Bond, two years after he first left the club. He signed a new two-year contract in June 2015 as the club approached their first season back in the Premier League.^[30] Alongside his playing career with Watford he commentates on the club's away games for BBC Three Counties Radio, is taking further coaching qualifications and has taken training sessions for the club's academy. He left Watford at the end of the 2016–17 season.^[31]

Following his release from Watford, Gilmartin signed for League Two club Colchester United as a player-coach.^[32] He made his debut for Colchester in the EFL Trophy against Reading U23 on 29 August.^[33]

Gilmartin rejected the offer of a new contract in July 2019 and signed for Championship club Bristol City as a player with some Junior Coaching responsibilities.

Coaching career

Gilmartin began his coaching career whilst still a player at Bristol City, coaching the club's under-23 side. On 7 November 2019, it was announced that Gilmartin had taken up a role as goalkeeping coach for the Republic of Ireland under-21s under their new manager Stephen Kenny.^[34] On 1 June 2021, Gilmartin was appointed assistant manager of Swindon Town.^[35]

When John McGreal was named interim manager of Ipswich Town in December 2021, Gilmartin joined his coaching team as an interim coach, having previously been McGreal's assistant manager at Swindon.^[36] Later that month, following the appointment of Kieran McKenna, Gilmartin was named first-team goalkeeping coach at Ipswich.^[37]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Walsall	2005–06[38]	League One	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
	2006–07[39]	League Two	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2007–08[40]	League One	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2008–09[41]	League One	11	0	0	0	0	0	1[a]	0	12	0
	2009–10[42]	League One	22	0	0	0	1	0	1[a]	0	24	0
	Total		35	0	1	0	1	0	2	0	39	0
Watford	2010–11[43]	Championship	0	0	2	0	2	0	—		4	0
	2011–12[44]	Championship	2	0	0	0	1	0	—		3	0
	Total		2	0	2	0	3	0	—		7	0
Yeovil Town (loan)	2011–12[44]	League One	8	0	—		—		—		8	0
Crawley Town (loan)	2011–12[44]	League Two	6	0	1	0	—		—		7	0
Plymouth Argyle	2012–13[45]	League One	13	0	1	0	0	0	2[a]	0	16	0
St Patrick's Athletic	2013[46]	Premier Division	0	0	0	0	1	0	2[b]	0	3	0
	2014[46]	Premier Division	1	0	1	0	1	0	4[c]	0	7	0
	Total		1	0	1	0	2	0	6	0	10	0
Watford	2014–15[47]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2015–16[48]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2016–17[49]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
Colchester United	2017–18[50]	League Two	0	0	0	0	0	0	2[d]	0	2	0
	2018–19[51]	League Two	22	0	1	0	0	0	1[d]	0	24	0
	Total		22	0	1	0	0	0	3	0	26	0
Bristol City	2019–20[52]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2020–21[53]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Career total			87	0	7	0	6	0	13	0	113	0

1. Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
2. Appearances in Leinster Senior Cup
3. Three appearances in Setanta Sports Cup, one appearance in Leinster Senior Cup
4. Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy

Honours

• League of Ireland Premier Division (1):
  • St Patrick's Athletic – 2013
• President of Ireland's Cup (1):
  • St Patrick's Athletic – 2014

Personal life

Gilmartin married his wife Emma Nugent in the summer of 2015.^[54]

References

1. "Player Details: Rene Gilmartin". The English National Football Archive. SoccerData. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
2. "Rene Gilmartin". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
3. "Exciting UEFA Championship qualifier in prospect in Kilkenny". Football Association of Ireland. 18 May 2006. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
4. "Gilmartin earns contract reward". BBC Sport. 14 September 2005. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
5. "Rene Gilmartin". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
6. "Four depart Bescot". Sky Sports. 8 May 2006. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
7. "Gilmartin ready to push for place". BBC Sport. 13 June 2006. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
8. "45 seconds with Rene Gilmartin". The Football League. 29 March 2010. Archived from the original on 1 April 2010. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
9. "Gilmartin loaned to Pitmen". Sky Sports. 14 July 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
10. "Gilmartin pens new Walsall deal". Sky Sports. 26 May 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
11. "Keeper considers Saddlers future". Sky Sports. 18 February 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
12. "Saddlers secure quintet". Sky Sports. 8 June 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
13. "Gilmartin praises keeper coach". Sky Sports. 15 October 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
14. "Gilmartin injury blow for Walsall". BBC Sport. 21 October 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
15. "Walsall release seven including Dwayne Mattis". BBC Sport. 10 May 2010. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
16. "Watford's first transfer is not Carlisle's Tom Aldred but Walsall keeper Rene Gilmartin". Watford Observer. 1 July 2010. Retrieved 9 March 2011.
17. "Will Buckley one of the winners at Watford Awards Dinner". Watford Observer. 2 May 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
18. "Rene signs in at Huish Park". Yeovil Town F.C. 23 November 2011. Archived from the original on 15 December 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
19. "Gilmartin returns to Watford". Sky Sports. 19 January 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
20. "Official: Gilmartin Joins Crawley". Watford Football Club. 16 February 2012. Archived from the original on 20 July 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
21. Smith, Frank (3 May 2012). "Watford confirm release of quintet". Watford Observer. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
22. "Plymouth sign former Watford goalkeeper Rene Gilmartin". BBC Sport. 4 July 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
23. "Rene Gilmartin". Greens on Screen. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
24. Errington, Chris (30 April 2013). "John Sheridan announces retained list at Plymouth Argyle". The Herald. Archived from the original on 3 May 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
25. "Goalkeeper Rene Gilmartin leaves Plymouth Argyle". The Herald. 24 June 2013. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
26. "Gilmartin signs for Pats". St Patrick's Athletic F.C. 18 July 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
27. "Former Plymouth Argyle goalkeeper Rene Gilmartin returns to his Irish homeland". The Herald. 18 July 2013. Archived from the original on 21 July 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
28. "Rene on joining Saints". St Patrick's Athletic F.C. 25 July 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
29. "Extratime.ie – Live Updates – 2014 League of Ireland Premier Division – St. Patrick's Athletic -v- Drogheda United". extratime.ie.
30. "Goalkeeper signs two-year deal with the Hornets". Watford FC. 11 June 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
31. "Confirmed Retained List". Watford FC. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
32. "Rene Gilmartin: Colchester United sign goalkeeper as Dean Brill leaves". BBC Sport. 7 July 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
33. "Colchester United 2 Reading U21 2". Sky Sports. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
34. Doyle, Stephen (7 November 2019). "Rene Gilmartin takes up goalkeeping coach post with under-21s". Newstalk. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
35. "RENE GILMARTIN APPOINTED ASSISTANT MANAGER TO JOHN MCGREAL". Swindon Town F.C. 1 June 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
36. "John McGreal Named Interim Manager". Ipswich Town F.C. 6 December 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
37. "Gilmartin Keeper-Coach With One More Set to Join Backroom Team". TWTD. 20 December 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
38. "Games played by Rene Gilmartin in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
39. "Games played by Rene Gilmartin in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
40. "Games played by Rene Gilmartin in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
41. "Games played by Rene Gilmartin in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
42. "Games played by Rene Gilmartin in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
43. "Games played by Rene Gilmartin in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
44. "Games played by Rene Gilmartin in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
45. "Games played by Rene Gilmartin in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
46. "Republic of Ireland – R. Gilmartin – Profile". Soccerway. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
47. "Games played by Rene Gilmartin in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
48. "Games played by Rene Gilmartin in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
49. "Games played by Rene Gilmartin in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
50. "Games played by Rene Gilmartin in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 October 2017.
51. "Games played by Rene Gilmartin in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
52. "Games played by Rene Gilmartin in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
53. "Games played by Rene Gilmartin in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
54. "The strange life of the footballer who never plays". The Times. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2015.

External links

• Rene Gilmartin at Soccerbase