Role: Director of Football Development
Company: Irish FA
Track Record:
What does your job entail?
My job entails leading on football development across Northern Ireland. I am part of the IFA Strategic Leadership Team and work with other Directors to give leadership and to ensure we are inspiring every child in Northern Ireland to be part of our football family and to dream of wearing the famous green jersey. We have a team of seventy staff delivering football development programmes across Northern Ireland that reach over 30,000 people every week.
The Referee Manager, Schools and Futsal Manager, Football For All Development Manager, Grassroots Manager and Women’s Football Performance Manager all work alongside me to deliver our Let Them Play Youth Football Strategy 2015-2025, our Every Referee a Better Referee Strategic Plan 2016-2020 and Girls and Women’s Football Plan 2014-2018. Working alongside the managers I set the targets for the team to make sure we promote, foster and develop football for all in Northern Ireland. I am very lucky to have such a strong management team working with me. Both Jim Magilton and Michael O’Neill have helped shape our new plans and continue to be a great support. It is fantastic to be able to call on their experience when required. They fully understand the importance of having a comprehensive youth strategy and get the significance in the bigger picture. The IFA CEO, Board and Football Committee have also endorsed our plans and they offer invaluable support and guidance on a monthly basis as we review and evaluate progress made. We are all committed to serving the community through football and education.
An important part of my job is to drive up participation levels while developing sustainable systems which enable and empower young people to maximise their potential both on and off the pitch. Futsal, girls football, schools football, disability football, youth coach education, club and volunteer development are key areas of priority for us moving forward and we have set challenging targets to achieve. With qualification for the Euros, the move into the new stadium and the launch of the new youth football strategy Let Them Play there has never been a better time to work in football!
Is it 9-5?
No, when you work in development it is about working the hours that suit the volunteers and participants. There is a lot of evening and weekend work. It is a good mix of working in the office and being out in the community. I consider myself very lucky to work in sport and we love being able to serve the community through football.
How did you get into this line of work?
I have a degree in sport studies and masters in communications from the University of Ulster. While studying I always used football where I could for dissertations and research topics. While completing my degree I specialised in notational analysis of Irish League Reserve Team Players then when completing my masters I specialised in analysing the impact of the IFA’s Football For All campaign in its first year, alongside researching coaching in women’s football. I started at the IFA as a volunteer student in my placement year in 1998 and worked in the mini-soccer team. It was an exciting time for me and I helped start some of the IFA’s early community projects, disability and girls only programmes. In 2000 I was employed by the IFA as Community Relations Officer and I designed the IFA’s first ever Football For All Strategy which aimed to make the sport more fun, safe and inclusive.
Outline your career to date?
In July 1999 I became one of the youngest ever European A Licence Coaches in Northern Ireland and while studying I ran a number of Soccer Schools across Northern Ireland offering fun, safe and inclusive value based coaching. These were highly successful and led to me being asked to coach in the United States, China and Israel, which were wonderful experiences. I was then offered the job at the IFA as Community Relations Officer in 2000. In 2004 I was promoted to Head of Community Relations and was the youngest member of the IFA Senior Management Team. I led the international award winning EU Peace funded Football For All campaign working alongside staff, fans, volunteers and community groups using football to promote respect for diversity and transforming the face of Northern Ireland football. In 2013 I applied for and was successful in securing the new Director of Football Development role in the Irish FA. I played a lead role developing the new IFA Youth Football Strategy 2015-2025, Let Them Play. This is the IFA’s first ever comprehensive youth football strategy and brings new jobs to the area of development. There has never been a better time to work in football here in Northern Ireland.
Tell us about your qualifications/training.
I studied at the University of Ulster, Huntingdon College (Alabama) and Columbia University (New York). I have a degree in Sports Studies, masters in Communication and Advanced Diploma in Strategic Leadership. I also have Mediation and Facilitation skills from Tides Training in Northern Ireland. I am very proud of my association with Tides as I feel they have played a strategic role supporting the Peace Process here in Northern Ireland. I am also a European A Licence Coach and have recently completed my Introduction to Futsal Course with the Irish FA. I am excited about the potential of Futsal here in Northern Ireland and want to play my part growing the game.
What qualities are required for your job – personal and professional?
You need to lead by example. I like to work hard, have fun and make a positive difference. The key to working in development is to enjoy serving the community. It is important to me that we make a positive difference to the community. I am lucky to be part of an amazing team at the IFA. We have some incredible staff and volunteers who are totally committed to delivering Let Them Play.
What are the biggest challenges and rewards of your work?
The biggest challenge is to make sure that my team have all the support and encouragement they need to be successful. My job is to give leadership and support my managers so that they can work with the wider team to deliver on the targets set. A key challenge is to get more volunteers, girls and people with disabilities involved in the game here. We are leading in these areas but there is much scope for improvement. Through Let Them Play we have mainstreamed targets for Volunteer Development, Girls Football and Disability Football into the work of all staff. Through Let Them Play we have set challenging but realistic targets for these areas. I am confident that the staff are committed and motivated to work with key stakeholders to achieve these targets. Through Let Them Play we are changing the landscape and culture of youth football here in Northern Ireland. Central to this is creating positive mind-sets and embedding a value based approach.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I volunteer on the Board of Street Soccer NI, a charity which uses football as a hook to help homeless people get back into education and employment. I also play Veterans football when I can. However my main love is spending time with my wife Cathy and my girls Rachael (3) and Olivia (1). My girls are my world.
Tell us an interesting fact about yourself.
I once received a death threat in the early days of Football For All.
Who has inspired you most in your life?
My Mum brought me and my three older brothers up on her own. With support from my Granny she went back to school and ended up with a PhD. She went on to have a great career as a Lecturer. My Mum and my Granny are the two people who inspired me most growing up and I will always be grateful to have such strong women in my life. I am very proud of my family.