A promotion from within, and a switch from the New Zealand Football Championship are the notable features of the respective appointments of Tony Readings and Dave Edmondson to head coach roles of the Junior (U-20) and Young (U-17) Football Ferns.

Readings takes the U-20s head coaching reins after a three year apprenticeship as John Herdman’s assistant coach and technical analyst for both the U-20 and senior women’s sides.

Another of Herdman’s assistant coaches for the Junior Football Ferns, Christchurch-based former international Ali Grant, continues in that capacity with the promotion of New Zealand’s U-17 World Cup head coach Paul Temple to the U-20 ranks completing a formidable coaching team.

Their first task will be qualifying for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Germany 2010 via Oceania preliminaries in October this year.

In 2008, the Junior Football Ferns recorded the best results to date of a New Zealand team at a World Cup with a 2-3 loss to Nigeria followed by a 4-3 win over hosts Chile and a heartbreaking 1-1 draw with England to miss the playoffs.

Readings – the Director of Football at Kristin School and the former head coach of United Soccer 1’s National Women’s League team – said his role was clearly defined within the national set-up.

“There’s been rapid improvement over the past three years with the U-17s, two U-20s World Cup campaigns and the Football Ferns so my role will be to ensure that progress continues,” Readings said.

Meanwhile, Edmondson will relinquish his job as head coach for national league franchise Waikato FC – who he took to within a whisker of the semi finals last season – although he will continue in a temporary advisory role to help the club prepare for the upcoming sixth season of the NZFC.

Long serving Lynn Avon and Auckland Football Federation coach Jill Gilmore has been named as Edmondson’s assistant coach, a role she also performs for the senior side.

While Edmondson admitted he was sad to leave Waikato, a club he had coached over two different spells, the excitement and challenge of taking a national team was hard to ignore.

“We had a real good year with Waikato last season, building from the verge of being non-existent and we planned to move the club on even more this year,” Edmondson said.

“That made it a difficult decision, but to be honest with the lure of international football it wasn’t that difficult in the end.”

Edmondson, a PE teacher at Hamilton Boys High School who also coaches the school’s first XI, Ngaruawahia United (men) and Claudelands Rovers (women), was already looking forward to the challenge of guiding his side through February’s Oceania qualifiers and on to the 2010 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Trinidad and Tobago.

“I don’t get involved in coaching any team unless I think we can go on and win things. My intention is firstly to qualify for the World Cup and then go and have a real good go at it. I really think the women’s game in New Zealand has real potential to challenge at the very highest levels.”

“The age-group is also the first real development window for international players so we want to instil a real passion and desire to go on and represent the full national side, and make sure they are equipped to do so.”

Summary of coaching appointments

Junior Football Ferns (U-20)

Head Coach: Tony Readings

Assistant coaches: Ali Grant & Paul Temple

Young Football Ferns (U-17)

Head Coach: Dave Edmondson

Assistant Coach: Jill Gilmore

Story and photo courtesy NZF Media

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