Pat Rice
Pat Rice is a Northern Irish former football player and coach famous for his long association with Arsenal. Born in Belfast on 17 March 1949 and raised in London, he began as an Arsenal apprentice in 1964 and turned professional in 1966.
As a player, Rice spent most of his career at Arsenal (1967–1980), making 397 league appearances and scoring 12 goals. He was a key right-back and became club captain in 1977. He helped Arsenal win the League and FA Cup Double in 1971 and played in five FA Cup finals, including the 1979 victory as captain. He also led Arsenal to the 1980 Cup Winners’ Cup final. In 1980 he left Arsenal and joined Watford, where he played 112 league games and helped them gain promotion to the First Division in 1981–82, scoring in Watford’s first top-flight game in 1982–83. He retired from playing in 1984.
Internationally, Rice earned 49 caps for Northern Ireland from 1968 to 1979.
After retiring, he returned to Arsenal in 1984 as a youth coach, helping the club win the FA Youth Cup in 1987–88 and 1993–94. In September 1996, he briefly served as caretaker manager after Stewart Houston, then became Arsène Wenger’s long-time assistant. He played a crucial role in Arsenal’s successes in the late 1990s and 2000s, including the Doubles in 1997–98 and 2001–02 and the unbeaten 2003–04 season. Rice left his coaching role in May 2012 after 44 years with Arsenal, with Steve Bould taking over as his successor.
In 2013, Pat Rice was awarded the MBE for services to sport. He later faced cancer treatment in 2013 but recovered.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 05:33 (CET).