Ian Greenwood

Ian Greenwood (born 6 March 1985, in Leeds) is an English professional football coach and is the Technical Director of the Guyana Football Federation who will officially begin his tenure on the 8th October, 2016.^[1] Former footballer who played as a Defender or as a defensive Midfielder.

Coaching career

Ian Greenwood is an English UEFA-Qualified Professional Football Coach, with over 10 years of coaching/management experience at various levels of the sport including the U-14, U-15, U-16, U-18 and U-21 teams at Leeds United. In his career he has functioned as a Development Coach, Head Coach and Academy Coach for a number of English Football Clubs including Huddersfield Town – of the English Championship, 2007 – 2014 (Academy Coach) where he coached and developed young professional players to become capable of playing in the English Championship; Leeds City College Football Academy, 2010 – 2012 (Head Coach) where he managed and coached players in both the British College football leagues and in the British Universities and Colleges Sport leagues; and Leeds United (English Championship) – his last place of employment – as a Development Coach (2004 – 2007) and as Academy Coach (2014 – 2016) respectively. As part of his job, he designed club curriculum and technical programmes. He also supported squad and team management at various levels of the academy to progress players to the first team and youth international squads.^[2] In the summer of 2016 he worked as a Technical Advisor to the Grenada Football Association on a short term basis.

GFF Appoints New Technical Director

The Guyana Football Federation received 13 applications from eight countries including Guyana, England, Scotland, Portugal and the Philippines. Of the total received, six were shortlisted. The interview was done in two-parts; the first beginning in July and the final in August 2016.^[3]

Playing career

He played as either a centre back or holding midfielder during his playing time. He spent 2003-2004 with FC KooTeePee in Finland. In 2005 he went out and played in the NCAA on a scholarship to Heidelberg in the USA.^[4][5] In the USA he also had spells in the lower leagues of the USL with Toledo and Cincinnati. After time in the USA he returned to England to play semi-professional football due to persistent knee injuries in America and concentrated on coaching. Upon returning to England he played for Pontefract Collieries before transferring to Yorkshire Amateur during the 2007 season.^[6] In 2008 he played for Glasshoughton Welfare.^[7][8]

Coach Education

Greenwood, who has an MSc Degree in Sports Coaching, has seven years’ experience of being involved in coach education in the capacity of Club / Professional Coach Mentor as well as Coaching Lecturer at the following institutions – Leeds City College, Huddersfield Town Football Club, The Football Association and Leeds Beckett University. As a coach educator he is continually engaged in monitoring & analysing modern football trends and technical reports. At Leeds Beckett University he delivered coach education on the BSc Sports Coaching degree.^[9] As a club coach mentor he delivered CPD events and mentor youth coaches to help support the England DNA, as well as assisting on the development and implementation of club philosophy and curriculum. At Leeds City College he delivered on the football coach education programme; delivering and assessing coaching courses.^[10]

References