The development of schoolboy coaching structures for association football in Ireland, 1945–1995

Abstract

This article offers a comparison in progress in developing coaching structures for schoolboys' soccer in Ireland in the period from the end of the Second World War until 1995. It will be shown that in Northern Ireland, the Belfast-based Irish Football Association's implementation of coaching courses was at a more advanced level in the decades immediately following the war, while the Dublin-centred Football Association of Ireland was hindered by a lack of facilities and funds for most of the twentieth century. In Northern Ireland, links between soccer organizers and governing bodies for physical recreation were stronger, and the IFA had begun to develop a coherent structure for the qualification of coaches by the early 1950s. This contrasted greatly to the structures put in place by the FAI and it was not until the Jack Charlton era (1986–1995) that they were able to implement a more comprehensive nationwide system.