Born in Belfast in 1969, James 'Jim' Magilton served as an apprentice at Liverpool.

However, he failed to make a single appearance for the Anfield Club and was transferred to Oxford United in 1990, at the age of 21.

He went on to make 173 appearances in all competitions, scoring 42 goals, before moving to Southampton.

Arriving at The Dell as Alan Ball's second signing following his recent appointment as Manager, Magilton established himself as a key component of the Saints' midfield, with his exquisite range of passing really coming to the forefront.

He was an ever-present for the South Coast side in the 1994/95 campaign, and went on to feature regularly under both David Merrington and Graeme Souness.

However, his decision not to sign a new contract following the appointment of Dave Jones in the summer of 1997 resulted in a £1.6million move to Sheffield Wednesday.

Magilton enjoyed mixed fortunes at Hillsborough though and soon moved to Ipswich Town on loan.

It was there that he enjoyed arguably the finest chapter of his playing career, making more than 300 appearances in all competitions, and firmly establishing his place in Tractor Boys folklore.

Sandwiched in between his time at the four aforementioned Clubs, Magilton made 52 starts for his native Northern Ireland, scoring five goals.

As his playing days reached a conclusion, Magilton made a tentative approach to fill the vacant managerial role following Joe Royle's departure and he was officially handed the role in early June 2006.

He guided the Tractor Boys to a 14th place finish in his first campaign at the helm, before leading Town to a highly satisfactory eighth place finish 12 months later.

Town were desperately unlucky not to book their place in the end of season play-off's, falling just one point shy of the top six, with an exemplary home record.

However, following changes at Boardroom level at Portman Road towards the end of last season, Magilton was relieved of his duties in April 2009, with the Club in ninth place.