THE FUTURE OF Irish football will get the chance to learn from some of our finest-ever players after an announcement from the FAI today.
Ex-senior internationals Richard Dunne (U16), Kevin Doyle (U17), Andy Reid (U18), Colin Healy (U19) and Sean St Ledger (U15) are set to take up coaching roles with the international underage sides.
It follows on from a similar move two years ago which saw Damien Duff, Kenny Cunningham, Mark Kinsella, Keith Andrews and Stephen McPhail join up with the FAI’s High Performance Director Ruud Dokter and the various youth sides.
Additionally, Kinsella will remain on as a coach with Ireland U21 boss Noel King.
“We are very grateful to Damien, Kenny, Keith and Stephen for the professionalism that they brought with them to the teams that they previously worked with, while it is fantastic that Mark is staying on with the U21s who have some important games coming up next month,” said Dokter.
“Both Colin and Andy have already been in with the U19s and U18s teams, with Tom Mohan and Jim Crawford, so it is great that they have committed to the new campaign. We will also have other coaches help out from time to time, just like Stephen Quinn who was recently involved with Paul Osam’s U16s.
“The hope is that we can help these former players improve as aspiring coaches, while also having our young international players learn from them. I have no doubt that they will have a positive impact in their roles and I look forward to working with them.”
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A step in the right direction for sure.
This is great news. Should have been done years ago, but nevertheless a step in the right direction.
@Mary O’Kane McGowan: it was done years ago. All the guys who had been coaching those teams already were former internationals too.