The fulltime role is a newly-created position and will see Shelley, who is also a key player and co-coach of the first team which is about to take part in the group stages of the OFC Champions League in Fiji next week, taking responsibility for all on-field matters at the club.
He is excited at that prospect as he feels there is a huge amount of potential at Fred Taylor Park.
“I don’t think it’s ever been tapped into fully,” he says.
“What we do have is the finished product with the first team and we also have a youth team but there’s not really anything below that. For me, to do well any club needs to have a pathway from the ground up that leads right through to the first team,” he adds.
“From the outside looking in, people will say, ‘What do they need a Director of Football for? They’ve only got two teams’. That’s true at the moment but I see it differently because I see a club with massive potential and scope for academies and programmes.”
The 33-year-old is nearing the end of his second season at Waitakere – the campaign will wrap up at the conclusion of the OFC Champions League next month – and says his new role has been on the cards for some time.
“To be honest, when I first came to Waitakere I had a role of that nature in mind. That didn’t materialise at the time for a number of different reasons,” he says.
“But there were positive aspects to that because it meant I’ve been able to spend 15 months running the football programme at Rangitoto College and that experience has been brilliant. I’ve put academies in place at the school and started a lot of initiatives. Now I’ll look to do similar things within the Waitakere structure.”
Shelley has previous experience of working on a fulltime basis at club level after a stint with Ballarat Red Devils in Australia.
“I was there for a few years and that involved setting up academies, programmes and skill centres. When I came here I wanted to continue working in the game if that was possible and thankfully it has been.”
Despite stepping up to the Director of Football role, Shelley has no plans to hang up his boots or hand over the first-team coaching reins.
“When I feel like I’m not adding value on the pitch and am getting in the way of the younger players coming through then I’ll look at it. But I’m still young so I’m not going to decide anything just yet – it’s about making the right decision at the right time. But I’ll be very much focused on carrying out the Director of Football role to the best of my ability and making a difference at the club,” he says.
“I’ve said from day one that I see my time with Waitakere United as a journey and I’m just taking another step into that now with this role. There’s no reason why we can’t make things a success here and push the club forward.”
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