James Magilton (born 6 May 1969) is a Northern Irish former professional football player and current manager of NIFL Premiership side Cliftonville.

He started his playing career in the Irish League with Distillery then signed for Liverpool but would fail to make an appearance.

[3] Magilton was a gifted midfield player with an exquisite range of passing who represented Northern Ireland 52 times.

Magilton started his playing career with Distillery[4] in the Irish League, making his senior debut as a substitute against Newry Town in March 1985, aged just 15.

He turned professional in 1988 but never made a first team appearance, although he was selected as a (non-playing) substitute in both the 1988 and 1990 Charity Shields.

[citation needed] Magilton was Alan Ball's second signing a month after being appointed as Southampton's manager, costing the Saints £600,000.

Magilton made his first Saints appearance in a 4–2 victory at The Dell over Liverpool on 14 February 1994 in which match Matthew Le Tissier scored a hat-trick.

Following Dave Jones' appointment in the summer of 1997, Magilton rejected the offer of a new contract and, after making 156 appearances with Southampton.

Magilton started in the final at Wembley Stadium as Ipswich beat Barnsley 4–2, earning promotion to the Premier League as a result.

"[20] He scored 3 goals in 44 appearances over the course of the season, leading the team to 3rd in the Championship, narrowly missing out on automatic promotion.

After spending some time considering his future, the 36 year old veteran midfielder eventually signed a new one-year contract on 8 July.

[24] Magilton originally intended to secure a coaching role at another club, but made a tentative approach to the Board at Ipswich to fill the managerial vacancy after Joe Royle's departure prior to the 2006–07 season.

Although registered as a player, Magilton stated that he would play no more games for the first team during the 2006–07 season, but hoped to turn out for the reserve side.

[26] In May 2007, Magilton was linked with the Northern Ireland manager's job after it was vacated by Lawrie Sanchez, but the ex-international decided against taking the post,[27] due to his lack of experience.

[32][33] On 6 July 2011, Magilton was appointed as Shamrock Rovers Assistant manager on a caretaker basis after Trevor Croly resigned.

[34] On 7 January 2012, Magilton was signed as head coach of A-League club Melbourne Victory for the remainder of the 2011–12 season, following the dismissal of Mehmet Durakovic.

[35] He took over from interim head coach Kevin Muscat after Melbourne Victory's home game on 7 January 2012 against the Newcastle Jets.

Upon being appointed the new coach of Melbourne Victory, Magilton immediately went to work strengthening the squad, signing Australian international defender Mark Milligan on loan from JEF United Ichihara Chiba, Hong Kong based Spanish midfielder Ubay Luzardo on loan from Kitchee SC, and Sierra Leonean-Australian midfielder Julius Davies.

[37] It was speculated that Magilton attempted to pursue legal action against the club, on the basis that he had been offered a three-year contract extension, that had then been rescinded.,[38] which was confirmed to be a false rumour.

On 21 June 2013, Magilton was appointed the elite performance director by the Irish Football Association, signing a four-year contract.