Our dedicated team of coaches, combining youth and experience, work closely together to ensure our organisation of coaching is of the highest standards. We have an age appropriate comprehensive technical programme which has a guided repetition style of coaching where players are exposed to a number of technical sessions on a consistent basis. The sessions replicate situations which occur during games, specific to a player’s general role on the filed. We mix technical ball warm ups with small sided games during our sessions and a large emphasis is placed on the development of the “whole player”.
This year we are very lucky to have recruited some new young promising coaches, Craig Anderson, Blair Kelly, Ross Knight, Euan McLeod & Dylan Campbell. Their profiles will be posted along with Scott Campbell & Dunky McEachran whenever they are made available.
Des McCole
07903 815779
Coaching Qualifications
SFA “B” Licence
Coaching in the Game
FA Level 1 Psychology in Football
Child Protection in Sport Level 1
Safeguarding and Protecting Children
Playing Experience
Gourock Amateurs 1978-1995
Club Chairman, Des has almost 20 years experience of amateur football and is one of the founders of First Touch. Des says “I really enjoy seeing the players mature. They come in when they are very nervous, through to them gaining in confidence. To watch them perform in games, beating someone with a step over or making a great pass or scoring a goal, gives me a great deal of personal satisfaction. Knowing that I have had some influence on their development gives me a great feeling of personal satisfaction.”
John McClurg
07713 643599
Coaching Qualifications
SFA “B, D, E & G”
Coaching in the Game
Child Protection in Sport
Level 1 & 2
Appointed Persons First Aid Certificate
Playing Experience
Port Glasgow Rangers 72-76
Port Glasgow Rovers 76-78
Kilmarnock FC 78-84
Morton FC 84-85
Pollok 85-86
Cambuslang Rangers 86-87
Largs Thistle 87-90
Club Secretary, John, is another co-founder of First Touch and enjoyed a successful playing career with Kilmarnock FC for 6 years during more than 20 years as a footballer. “When it is time for the youngsters to leave us, I feel a great deal of personal satisfaction, as I have been able to measure their development from the ages of 6 through to 11 or 12. I have always been fortunate to work with a fantastic bunch of kids who are always willing to learn, and their behaviour has been exemplary both on and off the park.”
It’s a fantastic sense of achievement for everyone connected to First Touch when you hear former players such as Robbie Crawford, Ryan Sinnamon & Jamie Mills sign pro contracts with Glasgow Rangers and also Mikey McKitrick with Kilmarnock FC
Davie Jamieson
01475 638747
Coaching Qualifications
E – Early Touches
D – Development
Coaching Young Footballers
Coaching in the Game
Courses
Child Protection Level 1-
In Safe Hands
Children 1st First Aid -
Valid to Feb 2010
Playing Experience
Co-op B 1971-1972
Shamrock BC 1973-1974
Pele Athletic 1975-1977
Port Juniors 1978-1982
Pollok Juniors 1983-1990
A Scottish Junior Cup medallist and boasting the worst joke collection in the club, David is also our Child Protection Officer and a member of our management committee. “Kids love fun and football. I am very aware of the responsibilities we have to provide a welcoming and safe environment within which our players enjoy their coaching.”
Des McColl
07804371268
Coaching Qualifications
SFA Level 1 & Level 2
SFA Level 1 Early Touches
Child Protection in Sport
Level 1 & 2
Appointed Persons First Aid Certificate
Playing Experience
Inverkip Thistle 1988- 1992
Whinhill 1992-1994
Des shows terrific enthusiasm and interest in developing our approach to coaching. He says there is nothing more satisfying than to work with the kids during various stages of the coaching programme and then watch them apply what they have learned in a game situation.
John Hampsey
07944061993
Coaching Qualifications
SFA Level 1 Early Touches
Child Protection in Sport Level 1
Playing Experience
Still waiting for a team to make me the right offer
John is the club Treasurer and still waiting on the right offer before considering his next playing career move (he is over 40 or is it 50!). John sees at first hand, the progress each player makes from one stage to the next as he moves around and often coaches them as they progress through the club. “ I am always delighted by the enthusiasm and energy that the players show and am never disappointed by the skills that they demonstrate. It is an enjoyable role to be a coach when you see such good talent that you are working with.”
Ben Barrs
07815047557
Coaching Qualifications
SFA Level 1 Early Touches
SFA Level 2
Playing Experience
10 years right half for Caddlehill Street in West of Scotland Churches league – does that count?
Before Ben joined as a coach, he was around First Touch as the dad of Adam & Matthew, former players. Not only is he a main source of providing new members, he is also actively involved in our self funding activities. All that aside, he can also be credited with playing for 10 years at right half in the West of Scotland Churches league and feels he has found his true calling by transferring his skills and knowledge to our Under 11′s. Ben is a Thursday night superstar at the over 50′s seven a side where he picks up Man Of The Match awards almost every week so he informs us even in the presence of old pro’s Craig McPherson, Stuart Rafferty & Davy Hopkins.
Mick Harrington
07941 095101
Coaching Qualifications
SFA Level 1 & 2 & 3.
Scottish Athletics Coach Level 1
Playing Experience
Inverkip Thistle 1989-1992,
Gourock Ex-Service 1992-1996,
Whinhill, IBM and Inverclyde Amatuers 1996-2002
A keen amateur player in his day, Mick is also our resident fitness coach and is responsible for putting our players through their paces on Sunday mornings before their normal coaching football sessions. A well known “veteran” athlete himself, Mick concentrates on improving pace and stamina and provides appropriate fitness training that can be transferred into the game situation. “ It is really refreshing to be part of an organisation that truly concentrates on teaching core skills and techniques and then to watch football being played the way it should be played.”
Marc McGhee(Sir Alex)Head of Youth Recruitment
07932 675694
Coaching Qualifications
Children’s Pathway
level 1/1.1, level 2/1.2,level 3/1.3.
Youth Pathway
level 1/1.1, level 2/1.2,level 3/1.3
Child Protection
safeguarding and protection of chilren
HNC & HND Sports Coaching and Development of Sport
Playing experience
Gourock yac 2003-2010,
St andrews 2010-2012
Larkfield Amateurs 2012-Present
A very enthusiastic young coach, full of enthusiasm to learn from the old masters. May choose to go down the road of coaching as he seeks employment. Mark works with two of our most experienced coaches Bidge Clark and Des McCole. Marc is also the main man with our young Kickers group who are coached indoors at Aileymill Primary on Weds evenings. Likes to be known as “Sir Alex” when amongst First Touch coaches for a youngster he certainly doesn’t lack confidence.
Ross Gourdie
It is Inspiring to see that young players in the West of Scotland will be coached and supervised by all of the Coaches portrayed here.
I was a friend of most of these guys and indeed played with a few as well.
Following the national standard practices{S.F.A.} is the way forward for Scottish football ,patience is needed to understand that Long term development has a multiple stages to complete the process before the outcome is achieved.
Australia is an example of a country once a retired footballers haven to now a leader in World youth Football Development processes.
Australia is now in the midst of a second cycle of development and like Scotland we have the Dutch F.A.{K.N.V.B.} overseeing our restructure.
I am visiting China again soon to further improve our relationship with China in Coach EDUCATION and youth development methodology. The emerging countries of Asia will be forces to be reckoned with in the very near future Korea and Japan are now being challenged regularly by countries such as Oman & Qatar.
The game waits for no one and perhaps that is why Scotland is now suffering as a football competitor ,when we were great in the sixties and seventies we did not plan and prepare for the future ,and so countries like DENMARK,NORWAY AND SWEDEN who invested in their youth and not their CLUBS benefitted from their players playing in foreign leagues with good players and against good players. The only player to do this in recent history of Scottish football and be successful was Paul Lambert.
One of the situations Australia discovered early on in its development assessment of the football programmes was the need to play regularly against quality opponents. This led to the discovery of where we were deficient mainly Technical and game sense outcomes of better decision making execution with the ball.
The Australian strength of its early playing style was the superb Athleticism of its players{many factors here Ethnic diversity,Outdoor sports at school and an excellent nutritional choice of diet. The team would lose out to opponents with naive defensive errors or lack of tactical nous on many occasions.
However regular entry into the u17 & u20 world cups and mixing it with the likes of Argentina,brazil ,Holland etc etc improved the learning and evaluation processes for the planning for the next world cup. Australia lost in a penalty shootout to Brasil in an an u17 world Cup final after being in 3 semi finals preceding that occasion.
Scott Mcdonald who,s family lives close to my suburb was part of that team at that time. Since then many Australian players have played in many of the best leagues in the world and are now coming back to Coach in Australia. Viduka, Bosnich,Kewell, Okon Mitchell ,Edwards and more are now sharing much knowledge of their International experiences and coaching Methodology with the new generation of youth players here .
If Scotland can export more of their young players outside of Scotland to better club competitions in Europe then you will undoubtedly see a re emergence of the national team qualifying for a world cup.
Good luck with program and best wishes to all young Scottish players.
“we arra peeple”
Harry