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Brian McIver is a Gaelic football manager who has been in charge of two county teams and been part of another that played in an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final. He was the 2007 National Football League-winning manager.
A Tyrone native, McIver led Ballinderry Shamrocks to an All-Ireland Senior Club Football Championship.[1] Appointed manager of Donegal (in what was his first involvement at inter-county level), McIver led Donegal to an Ulster Senior Football Championship final in his first championship campaign.[2] He then led Donegal to a National League title in 2007.[3] His time as Donegal manager also saw him give a 17-year-old Michael Murphy his debut and he gave Neil McGee, Frank McGlynn, Rory Kavanagh and Anthony Thompson their first championship starts.[2]
McIver received a degree from Coleraine, a PGCE from Queen's University and a master's from Jordanstown.[4] He headed to St Mary's, where his involvement with Paddy Tally began.[4] Tally got involved with Down and brought McIver in along with him.[4] McIver was part of the Down backroom team for the 2010 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final.[3] McIver said in 2022 that he still thought Down would have won that game if Ambrose Rogers hadn't injured himself.[4]
McIver was appointed Derry manager in 2012,[3] being announced in the same month Jim McGuinness led McIver's former Donegal players to an All-Ireland Senior Football Championship title.[2] Joe Brolly was particularly critical of McIver's management.[1] McIver brought Derry to a Division 1 final in 2014.[1] He quit the Derry management role in 2015, criticising Conor Lane on live television in his parting interview while confirming his departure.[5][6][7][8] Earlier that season, he had criticised David Coldrick and then Ciaran Brannigan.[9]
But McIver remained as Oak Leaf Director of Football.[10] He spent three years as Oak Leaf Director of Football after quitting as Derry manager.[4] He was reported to be stepping down after four years in 2019.[1]
McIver's son Michael is a Gaelic footballer, and McIver has managed him.[11]
The outgoing boss announced it in his post-game interview with RTE, which was a bizarre lambasting of the referee over his handling of the game, with focus on the black card and the lack of a penalty to Derry in the game.