Pat Rice

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Personal information
Pat Rice
Full name	Patrick James Rice
Date of birth	March 17, 1949 (age 58)
Place of birth	Belfast, Northern Ireland
Playing position	Assistant manager
Club information
Current club	Arsenal
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1964-80 1980-84	Arsenal Watford	528 (?) 137 (?)
National team
1968-79	Northern Ireland	49 (?)
Teams managed
1984-96 Sep 1996 1996-	Arsenal (youth team coach) Arsenal (caretaker manager) Arsenal (assistant manager)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Patrick James Rice (born March 17, 1949 in Belfast) is a Northern Ireland football player and coach. He is currently assistant manager of Arsenal.

[edit] Playing career

Pat Rice has spent most of his footballing career at Arsenal. Though born in Belfast, he grew up in London, and after working at a greengrocers on Gillespie Road he joined the Gunners as an apprentice in 1964. He made his debut in the League Cup against Burnley on 5 December 1967. Playing at right-back, he was a stalwart at the club through the 1970s, eventually becoming club captain. Rice won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1970 and was part of the League and FA Cup Double-winning side of 1971; in all he appeared in five FA Cup finals, but only won two (1971 and 1979).

Rice played 528 games in total for the Gunners, before moving to Watford in 1980. He played 137 times for the Hornets, helping the club gain promotion to the First Division, and becoming captain, before retiring from playing in 1984. Rice also won 49 international caps for Northern Ireland between 1968 and 1979.

[edit] Coaching career

Rice rejoined Arsenal in 1984 as youth team coach, a post he held for the next 12 years, winning the FA Youth Cup twice in 1988 and 1994. In September 1996 Rice was briefly caretaker manager of the club after the resignation of Stewart Houston (who himself was caretaker after the sacking of Bruce Rioch). He managed the side for three FA Premier League matches (all of which Arsenal won) and a 3-2 defeat in the UEFA Cup away to Borussia Mönchengladbach. Upon the arrival of Arsène Wenger at the end of the month, Rice became his assistant, and has since played a key role in helping the club to their success in the 1990s and 2000s, including the Doubles of 1997-98 and 2001-02. He holds the distinction (along with Bob Wilson) of having taken part, as player or coach, in all three of Arsenal's Doubles.