Sean Kimberley - A wealth of experience and big ambitions that underlines United's progress

Sean Kimberley, pictured following his appointment to the role of Academy Manager in Eamonn Deacy Park. Photo: Galway United.

Sean Kimberley, pictured following his appointment to the role of Academy Manager in Eamonn Deacy Park. Photo: Galway United.

Football fans at this time of year can almost be animalistic in their desire for transfer news. The phoney war of pre-season does little to satiate their desires. The advent of social media has done less for quality control on the rumour mill.

One capture that should not go unnoticed at Galway United is the arrival of Sean Kimberley as Academy Manager. Occupying the role formerly held by club legend Johnny Glynn, a lifetime operating at the highest levels of the game means that Kimberley has the profile and pedigree to excite administrators, supporters, parents and players.

A conversation with Kimberley is an education. There is a clarity and confidence to his words that reflect the experience he has gained. His presence feels like another leap forward in developing standards at the club. Yet he remains modest and complimentary of what he has already inherited.

“I feel very fortunate that I have inherited a good staff right across the academy in terms of their commitment and desire to work with me moving the club forward from the good base I inherited.

“I’ve had to trust the people that are in situ. I haven’t had a great deal of input in terms of this assessment period because I’ve literally landed in the middle of it. I’ve relied on the experience and knowledge of people within the club.”

Kimberley isn’t entering the job blind and has had working experience with Irish youngsters, Irish clubs and Irish underage setups.

“I remember, when working for Celtic, coming and watching Alex Murphy and people like Johnny Kenny. I had a working knowledge of the League of Ireland. I had been to a lot of games, including at youth international level. At various times, I would have dealt with quite a few of the clubs in terms of recruitment, the likes of Graham Burke and Derek Williams.

“I would have a number of connections, a working knowledge and good relationships with people like Niall Harrison and Tom Mohan. I’m very fortunate to be able to use that vast experience.

“I have been very fortunate to have worked in football at various levels, at Champions League clubs, at Premier League clubs and at Championship clubs and to work with good people from varied backgrounds. The opportunity to work in youth development at places like Aston Villa, Celtic, Blackburn, Wolverhampton Wanderers when the likes of Robbie Keane was coming through, has given me knowledge and experience that hopefully I can pass on to the players and staff of Galway United.”

With such a pedigree, it is a natural curiosity as to what attraction there might be across the water for Irish football.

“The attraction for me was multi-level. I always found myself wanting to take on a challenge. I mean that in a positive way.

"It is an exciting time for the club and the league’s academies in terms of future potential investment. That was an attraction, as was the belief within the club, and the club’s backers, that they want to invest in the underage programmes and want to build facilities and move it forward.

“The timing felt right. It was no hardship whatsoever to come to Galway. I know Galway as a vibrant city, as a young city but also a sporting city right across the different codes.”

Defining success can be difficult, with so many competing and sometimes conflicting goals. The Academy Manager acknowledges this but is also clear on how he views and values success.

“The definition of success, in my opinion, is very broad. Success might be developing a member of staff to go on and progress. It might be a young man or woman progressing through the levels of the game. That might be them earning a scholarship. That might be signing a professional contract and playing with our first team in the League of Ireland.

“Success might be the talent spotted, recruited and transferred Europe-wide or even further afield. Success could be as an individual player progressing from a certain ability level to the next level, regardless of results or team selection.

“It's very important that all strands of the academy are aligned with the senior teams. The definition of alignment is based on access to opportunity. As they get closer to the senior team, it might be alignment in terms of systems of play.

“Actually, my belief is that when you are teaching the game, my job is to put in place a programme of development that educates our young people, that there are various themes that are important regardless of who the senior managers are and regardless of the system of play.

“I am a big believer in the culture and mindset of each different football club. A lot of things are transferrable, but a lot aren’t. I don’t intend to apply a Club X model to Galway United. I don’t believe in that.

"Galway United has its own identity. We have to build on that, shape that and communicate that. Yes, I will take things from having travelled all over the world, and having coached with and for Martin O’Neill, Steve Bruce, Graeme Souness, Mark Hughes and Ange Postecoglou. The trick for me, is to roll that knowledge up and put it into a Galway United brand.”

It is telling that these names got only a brief airing, at the end of a conversation, after being pushed. That is because the focus is firmly on the future. Names like Kyle Fitzgerald and Cillian Tollett are among those being discussed by supporters currently.

Sean Kimberley is getting to grips with hundreds of names across six teams, hundreds of families, and hundreds of opportunities for success.

 

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