Former Manchester United coach Mike Phelan hosts masterclass at Leafair

Local football coaches were treated to a masterclass by former Manchester United player and coach Mike Phelan, who visited the city on Tuesday evening.

The former Manchester United player has progressed to one of the world’s most experienced coaches, having served under Sir Alex Ferguson for 12 years between 2001-2013, during which time he helped United achieve great success, winning 6 Premier Leagues, 2 FA Cups, 4 League Cups, a Champions League and a Club World Cup.

Phelan left United just last year and is now a director of Sensible Soccer, a company that works with grass roots football. Sensible Soccer partnered locally with the Ryan McBride Foundation for two events in Derry on Tuesday, a coaching session for coaches and kids at Leafair, followed by a Q&A at the Cosh Bar.

Phelan explained that having coached at the very top, he and his team wanted to give something back to the game.

“As a company, Sensible Soccer, we’ve decided that we want to put something back into grassroots all over the country really and wherever it takes us,” he said. “It has taken us to Belfast, now to Derry I’ve been here before with the team and I really enjoy coming to these parts. It was a long time, but everything is a long time ago when it comes to me.

“It’s great because I like the grassroots element and I want to offer the opportunity for the kids to see how we coach. It’s very difficult for the grassroots coaches at times, and they are underestimated from the point of view of what they put into grassroots football. It’s just supporting that environment and hopefully I can come here and reinforce what they are trying to do. I’m not going to teach them how to coach, but I can certainly reinforce their belief in coaching and let the kids enjoy themselves.”

Local coaches were given a talk by Phelan and his team ahead of the session at Leafair Playing Pitches, where he put youngsters from Foyle Harps through a series of drills. In an ever-evolving game, there is always more to learn.

He continued: “Grassroots coaching for me is a challenge because I have worked through the levels to get to the top, but this gives me a challenge because you turn up and you don’t know what you’ve got, you don’t know what your expectation is and then you find it surprises you and the kids can get something a little bit more than what they are probably getting in a normal grassroots coaching session. 

“It also helps the coaches to understand a little bit about the way we set things up, or the way you can set things up. There is no right or wrong, but it can just energise them to go away and think about what they are doing and how they can do it, and that benefits the kids.”

Phelan regaled United fans with stories from is playing and coaching career at the Cosh Bar afterwards, and while he can certainly reflect on a career that has been more successful than most, he still retains the love of the game he had when he was a youngster.

“It’s been my life right from school, playing, managing, coaching. It’s been a long journey and it’s not over yet, but it’s something that I really feel passionate about and giving something back at a level where I began,” he said.

“Everybody just sometimes thinks Mick Phelan, Man. United, but there were a lot of things that happened in that process and certainly in a grassroots level where I started. I get that, I get how difficult it is and it’s a credit to those people, the mums, dads, coaches, to actually turn up and put something on for kids and it could be the best hour of the kids’ lives, but hopefully they take something out of it.”

Privilege

Emmet Friars, Head of Business Development for the UK and Ireland for the Coaching Manual, played a key role in getting Phelan to the city this week, and he admitted it was a n opportunity not to be missed by local coaches.

“It’s brilliant just to get someone of Mike’s experience and calibre coming across,” he stated.” He’s so enthusiastic about coming and doing it. He just wants to work and coach as much as he can and I think the local coaches can see that no matter how high you go, just getting out there on the grass is the best thing.

“Being able to see a coach like Mike on the pitch and see how he does it and how simple he makes it. There’s nothing massively complicated about it, but it’s the little bits of information he’s giving that are key. It’s just great to be able to get the locals here to do it and the support of it has been brilliant.”