Noureddine "Dino" Maamria (born 18 February 1974) is a Tunisian football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the manager of club Burton Albion.
Maamria started his playing career with AS Marsa of Tunisia. He left the club in 1994, and spent a season at CO Transports. He moved to England in 1996, and joined Burnley. Maamria subsequently signed for Glentoran of the IFA Premiership, spending the remainder of 1996–97 season with the club. He joined Conference National club Doncaster Rovers in 1998, spending two years there. He spent the 2000–01 season at Southport, before signing for Leigh RMI in July 2001. After two seasons at Leigh, Maamria signed for Stevenage Borough for a five-figure fee in February 2003. He left the club after making 11 appearances, joining Charleston Battery of the USL First Division. He made nine appearances for Charleston, before rejoining Stevenage in September 2003. Maamria went on to spend three seasons with Stevenage. In July 2006, he rejoined Southport, before signing for Rushden & Diamonds on a free transfer in January 2007. After being released by Rushden at the end of the 2006–07 season, Maamria signed for Northwich Victoria in August 2007.
He made the transition from playing to coaching and management, managing Northwich Victoria, Southport and Nuneaton Town in non-League. During his time as manager of Northwich, Maamria won the Conference Premier Manager of the Year award for the 2007–08 season, during which he guided Northwich to Conference Premier safety having been in administration and 15 points adrift of safety at the time of his appointment. In March 2018, he was appointed as manager of League Two club Stevenage, a position he held until September 2019. Later that month, Maamria was appointed as head coach of Oldham Athletic. He has also been a first-team coach and assistant manager at Stevenage, Preston North End, Newport County and Burton Albion.
Early life
Maamria was born and raised in Tunisia. He is the youngest of seven siblings, having five brothers and one sister. Maamria stated he came from a "poor background", living in a tent until he was four years old. Of his upbringing, Maamria stated — "Yes, I was poor but I loved it and I wouldn’t swap it for the world." He and his siblings would run the 20-mile round trip to school. The family owned two goats, one of which Maamria named 'Gary' after footballer Gary Lineker. Maamria's father worked in the phosphate mines. He always wanted to be a footballer since watching the 1978 FIFA World Cup in which the Tunisian team made their first appearance in the finals. His footballing hero is Diego Maradona, and believes that Maradona is "the best player to have ever played the game".
Club career
Early career
Maamria came through the youth system at AS Marsa in his native Tunisia, making his first-team debut in 1992. He spent two years with the club. One of his final games for AS Marsa was in the Tunisian President Cup Final in 1994, played at Stade El Menzah, beating Étoile Sportive du Sahel 1–0. Maamria has described it as one of the "proudest moments" of his career, owing this to the match being played in front of the Tunisian President, as well as the stadium being full of spectators. He briefly played for CO Transports, who also played in the Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1, leaving the club in 1995.
Move to England
He started his English career with Burnley in 1996. While playing for AS Marsa in an away match against Étoile Sportive du Sahel, a tourist resort in the north of Tunisia, he was watched by Burnley's chief scout at the time, Brian Miller, who was on holiday. Miller offered Maamria a two-week trial at Burnley. After scoring in a reserve match against Bradford City, he earned a short-term contract at Burnley, although he failed to make a first-team appearance for the club after he suffered a broken leg. After being released by Burnley at the end of 1996, Maamria signed for Glentoran of the IFA Premiership. Burnley caretaker manager Clive Middlemass had recommended Maamria to Glentoran manager Tommy Cassidy, with the player spending the remainder of the 1996–97 campaign with the club.