SHAMROCK ROVERS HAVE appointed recently-retired midfielder Stephen McPhail as the club’s sporting director.
McPhail called time on on his playing career just 10 days ago and the Hoops were quick to appoint the former Ireland international, who had spells with Leeds United and Cardiff City, in the senior role.
The 36-year-old joined Rovers in February 2014 and had been operating as a player/coach in recent times.
However, the new role will see McPhail heavily involved in improving all aspects of the club, including the appointment of a permanent first-team manager, recruitment, and the development of their Roadstone training base.
“As our sporting director, Stephen will be heavily involved throughout every aspect in improving Shamrock Rovers,” a club statement read.
“In the short term he will work very closely with the board to appoint the best person to lead the first team forward.
“Together — very quietly behind the scenes — we have been working extremely hard to identify the right man for the role and a final decision will be made on our new head coach over the next 10 days.
“The task of recruiting new players for next season is already well under way and Stephen will be central to this process.
“The continued development of our training base in Roadstone is also of extreme importance and alongside Shane Robinson and Stephen Bradley, Stephen McPhail will provide considerable influence on how that development takes shape.”
The club board impressed McPhail with their pitch and he felt it was an opportunity he couldn’t turn down.
“When I was first approached by the board a few weeks ago to see if I may be interested in taking up the role of sporting director I was hugely impressed by what they had to say,” McPhail said.
We’ve had many conversations since our initial meeting and I’ve found the club’s vision moving forward to be extremely exciting and, in many respects, ground-breaking for a professional club in this country.
“With all this in mind I felt compelled to take the club up on its offer and I am really looking forward to getting started. My aim is to help improve every facet of Shamrock Rovers for its future success.”
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