Cork City legend Anthony Kenneally helping to put Mayfield on the front foot

HE'S almost a year into his new role as Director of Coaching and Anthony Kenneally is thrilled to play his part in the progression of Mayfield soccer club.

"Through my experience of coaching for over 30 years Tadhg O'Neill felt my knowledge could be a help to the club and after almost a year in the role I certainly feel I've played my part in the development of both players and coaches," explained Kenneally.

"We have a certain number of teams playing at different levels and my role is to support the managers and coaches of these sides. There is a lot of talent at the club in terms of players and coaches and we are all working hard to improve in every area of the game. 

"We have a certain philosophy of football we want to try and implement which will take time but we are definitely moving in the right direction. There is a lot of hard work going on behind the scenes too as we speak, and the club is investing a lot of time and money in enhancing the already great facilities."

Kenneally never played with Mayfield club himself, but he certainly is a proud local man and delighted to help develop the talent of players and coaches.

"I'm a Mayfield boy born and bred, and while I never played with the club I have great memories playing in my area. When we were kids, we played tournaments between different estates during the summer up at Tinkers Cross and these were taken real seriously with lots of top talent who went on to play at a high level. 

Roy Keane, Eric Hogan and Fergie O'Donoghue to name a few and I ended up playing for a team called Albert Rovers when I was asked by a friend and I enjoyed every second of it to be fair, great days."

Having managed and coached teams in the past, his current role is entirely different in the sense that he isn't assigned to any one particular team but instead oversees all the teams in the club. A different role from what he's been used to but one he's thoroughly enjoying.

"It's quite different to what I've been used to as I'm not assigned to any one team in particular. I'm not involved in any of the decision-making in terms of team selection unless the manager of each team asks me, but I might say a few words like a manager would before, during and after the game and get involved with the warm-ups so it would be similar in that area. 

"The most important message we have on match day is about having the right mentality and preparing properly for the game which means the right structure and organisation on game day. 

As Director of Coaching, I make sure we all are as professional as we possibly can and have high standards in everything we do. If we are consistent with our message over a period, we'll make good progress in all these different areas.

PASSION

"I'm really enjoying my role and that's down the great people involved in the club. There are great people doing a lot of great work and everybody has been good with me since I've come into the coaching role. 

"I'm not sure if I'm bringing anything different to be honest as football is a package deal and if you're not doing the right things in all areas of the game then you'll be found out. But what I am giving is 100% in what I do and am very passionate about it. Eventually from the ground up, the club is working hard to get things right and I'm grateful to be given the opportunity to play my part as best I can.

"My aim for the role short term is to see progress in every area of the game, players to improve, coaches to become more knowledgeable, facilities to improve and an all-round better football environment so we can develop the huge amount of footballing talent we have in terms of players and coaches. 

"Long term I hope we can produce elite footballers and teams that play attacking football and are competing to win trophies for Mayfield United AFC."