Norbert Ratsirahonana and Alan McLoughlin: Difference between pages

Revision as of 01:09, 11 November 2005

Revision as of 03:58, 15 November 2005

Line 1:

'''Alan McLoughlin''' (born 20 April 1967) is an [[Republic of Ireland|Irish]] coach, and former player, of [[association football]] (soccer).

'''Norbert Lala Ratsirahonana''' (born [[November 18]] [[1938]]) was a [[Madagascar|Madagascan]] politician.

McLoughlin began his career as a trainee at [[Manchester United F.C.]], before joining [[Swindon Town F.C.]] in August [[1986]]. However, he didn't fit in well with manager [[Lou Macari]]'s long ball style, and just seven months and nine appearances later, he moved to [[Torquay United F.C.]] on loan.

He was born in [[Antsiranana]]. He founded and led the Asa Vita no Ifapitsarana (Judged By Your Work) Party, which opposed President [[Didier Ratsiraka]]. He and his party were part of the coalition which elected [[Albert Zafy]] to the presidency in 1993. Ratsirahonana then became president of the constitutional court.

His Swindon career looked to be over when he returned to Torquay at the start of the following season for another loan spell, but following suspensions to other players McLoughlin was given another chance in the first team and soon established himself.

On [[May 28]] [[1996]], when the prime minister was deposed by Parliament in a no confidence vote, Zafy appointed Ratsirahonana to the post. Soon afterward, Zafy was impeached, and on September 5, 1996, Ratsirahonana became acting President of Madagascar. Presidential elections were held in December 1996, in which Ratsirahonana ran, against four other candidates including former Presidents Zafy and Ratsiraka. Ratsirahonana received fourth place and 10% of the vote. Ratsiraka won and Ratsirahonana left office as President on February 9, 1997. Twelve days later, he also lost his position as prime ministerr when Ratsiraka appointed one of his own allies. The AVI then became the main opposition party, though it became very weak, winning only 13 of the 150 seats in the 1998 parliamentary elections.

It was under Macari's sucessor as manager, [[Ossie Ardiles]], that McLoughlin really blossomed. He was an ever present in Ardiles' first season, and scored sixteen goals. He capped off a fine season by scoring the winning goal in the Play-Off final at [[Wembley Stadium]] against [[Sunderland AFC]].

In 2001, Ratsirahonana and the AVI supported [[Marc Ravalomanana]] in the presidential elections. When he won, Ratsirahonana had the AVI disbanded.

[[Category:Madagascar]]

McLoughlin's performances won him international recognition, and he was named in the [[Republic of Ireland national football team|Ireland squad]] for the [[Football World Cup 1990|1990 World Cup]] in [[Italy]]. He made two appearances in the tournament, coming on as a substitute in the matches with [[England national football team|England]] and [[Egypt national football team|Egypt]].

However, before the next season began, Swindon were demoted by the [[Football League]] for making irregular payments to players. With the club in financial trouble, players had to be sold, and McLoughlin's left for Southampton in December 1990, for a club record £1 million.

However he failed to show the level of form that he had at Swindon, and he was loaned to first [[Aston Villa F.C.]] then [[Portsmouth F.C.]]. The latter were impressed enough by McLoughlin to make a bid for him, and so in Febuary 1992 he moved to [[Fratton Park]] for £400,000 after making only 29 appearances for the Saints.

It was at Portsmouth that he enjoyed his finest years as a player. Whilst at the club McLoughlin represented Ireland at the [[Football World Cup 1994|1994 World Cup]].

In December 1999 he was sold to [[Wigan Athletic F.C.]] for £260,000. However injuries prevented him from making a major impact and he moved on a free transfer to [[Rochdale F.C.]] in December 2001, having made only 12 starts (plus 10 as a sub) for Wigan, scoring one goal.

With his career winding down McLoughlin joined [[Forest Green Rovers F.C.]] as a player-coach for the 2002/03 season. At the end of the season McLoughlin retired from playing to concentrate on coaching with the club.

He was capped 42 times for the Republic of Ireland.