MC Coaching

Final preparations are done. Tomorrow we travel to Sweden, Uddevalla 🇸🇪 to compete in UEFA Futsal Champions League with Sparta Belfast Futsal Club ❤️🖤

Trip with Larne academy over to England to play against Preston North End ⚽️

Good to see the setup and facilities Preston North End have and to gain an insight into their academy learning about their coaching methodologies and how the academy system differs in each country.

Great learning experience for all the players and coaches playing against a quality English academy team 🤝

Trip to Dublin with Playing for the Future to play against St Kevin's ⚽️

Good experience for both centres from Belfast & Lurgan to travel to Dublin to play against top opponents. Plenty of amazing individual and team qualities on show during the games involving both teams with plenty of goals 🔝
Football was a joy to watch 🙌🏻
Brilliant to see the talent on show from North and South of the Country!

Thanks to St Kevin's Football Club for the warm welcome and hosting us for a great day of football 🤝

As 2023 ends it is always a good time to reflect on the past year. Been another busy year of coaching for me which has brought plenty of learning and success.

2023 brought plenty of great memories and success with futsal. Started off with Sparta Belfast first winning the league, then that was followed up with by winning the playoffs and finally the cup to become the first team in NI futsal to win the treble. Personally, I won the NIFF Super League Manager of the year award. In August time I had the privilege of managing Sparta Belfast in the UEFA Futsal Champions League in Albania.
Football side of things saw a change of clubs for me as I left Glentoran after six years to join Larne. Took up a coaching role within the new Professional Development phase that the club launched this year. Trip away to Liverpool in October time to take on English academy teams.

I would like to thank all the players, coaches, and parents I have worked with this year for the support and believing in my work. Looking forward to seeing what 2024 brings.
Happy new year everyone! Best wishes and see you on the pitch on 2024 ⚽️❤️

Trip away with Larne academy over the Halloween break to Liverpool 🎃

Brilliant for all the players and coaches to get a trip away to take on academy teams in England. Invaluable to have trips like this for the experience and learning that both the players and coaches receive from it, while the players gain lasting memories and a taste of what life as footballer is like.

Amazing to see the setup and facilities at Blackburn Rovers and the quality they had on the pitch, individually and as a team during the game we played against them. Levels we have to aspire to reach in our country ⚽️🔝

Good win today to start the new NIFF Futsal League season with Sparta Belfast.

Today saw a beautiful moment during the match, an important step taken by the club. After all the years of work with the youth programme, today we were able to have Igor as our first player to come through the youth programme and make his senior team debut.

When I first joined Sparta Belfast Futsal Club in 2018, I began off coaching in the youth programme, aim then was to promote the game of futsal and hopefully at some point have players ready to play in the senior team. Igor was a part of the programme right from the start.

Proud moment for myself, the club and all the other coaches who have worked in the youth programme over the years. Artur, Darius & Simon who have all played a part in Igor’s futsal development over the years. Hopefully the first of many players to come through the Sparta youth programme!

Returned home from Tirana, Albania last night, which brings to an end this brilliant futsal season for Sparta Belfast Futsal Club.

I am happy with the performances, results may not have been the best in terms of numbers, but after our 2nd performance we gained so much praise and respect from the other team officials, UEFA delegate and Albanian FA. We played our game, being positive and took risks. Plenty of learning and knowledge gained during the week along with so many positives that we can use from this experience to help us moving forward.

Would like to give a massive thanks to my staff, assistant and head coach Garth, coach Horatiu, doctor Shiv, physio Chris and social media Andrew. Also thanks to Gareth Allen from IFA for his great help and support with organising the trip.

Thanks to all our sponsors for their support and without their help it wouldn’t have been possible.
ClubSportNI Movie House Cinemas Kingsbridge Private Hospital Cosmo Restaurants Blackbird Architecture AM Photography NI - Sports

Finally thanks to UEFA Futsal and our tournament hosts Tirana Futsal & Federata Shqiptare e Futbollit for their hospitality and organising the tournament.

After a very tough 1st UEFA Futsal group game. We had to regroup and be prepared to go again.

A fantastic, spirited team performance against good opposition. I couldn’t ask for anymore from my players, they left everything on the court and done myself and the club proud. Scoreline seems harsh as it was a close game, we had our chances and moments in the match. We came to have a go and we can leave the competition with no regrets.

Plenty of learning and valuable experience gained for myself and this young talented Sparta Belfast Futsal Club squad playing at the highest level which will help us massively moving forward.

Today is the day we have been waiting for, the beginning of our Champions League campaign in Tirana, Albania. Unfortunately for us we have one less game to play in our group and sadly not all players were able to be here with us.

No doubt it is the biggest challenge we have faced to date, but one the players and coaching staff are excited about. It’s a chance for us to challenge ourselves at the highest level and we have prepared to the best of our ability for it.

Proud moment for me to lead this squad out as manager in the Champions League. We will do our best for the club and to represent our country in the best possible way on the futsal court.

After a long day of travelling, we’ve arrived safely in Tirana, Albania. This evening we had a light training session to get a feel for the court at our match venue; Hall Tirana Olimpik Park.

Tomorrow evening we kick off our Champions League campaign against Bosnian champions Radnik Bijeljina @ 7.45pm BST.

Final preparations are done and bags are packed. We travel to Albania tomorrow to compete in UEFA Futsal Champions League with Sparta Belfast Futsal Club 🔴⚫️