The former New Zealand Football Technical Director comes to the club to support Brian Shelley, who is Waitakere’s Director of Football and also acts as head coach of the first team, as well as exploring the possibility of developing a modernised overall football development plan.
Waitakere chief executive Bill MacGowan is delighted to have secured the services of Smalley and believes his input will be invaluable.
“We are thrilled by Paul’s acceptance of this role as we feel this will be an excellent support for Brian,” MacGowan says.
“He has an array of expertise with a pronounced vision and philosophy in all aspects of the game and has a wealth of experience in constructing youth systems. He has worked at the professional and international levels, and has undertaken elite qualifications in the game in many different countries.”
Player/coach Shelley has been hard at work preparing the squad for an assault on the upcoming ASB Premiership and is looking forward to Smalley coming on board.
“Paul is a true professional who will provide a depth of experience, both in the development of the players and team and the support for me on game days in the technical area,” says Shelley, who has previously worked with Smalley at club level in Australia.
Smalley certainly has the credentials to contribute much to the Waitakere cause after working in coach education and player development for a large number of years.
He had a successful four-year stint at New Zealand Football from 2002 before heading to the United States to take up the role of Executive Director for the Minnesota Soccer Association and then returning to the English Football Association – where his football development career had begun at the end of his playing days – as Regional Coach Development Manager.
The former England youth international was then appointed as Director of Youth for Portsmouth FC, at the time competing in the English Premier League.
In 2011, Smalley moved to Australia to work as a Zone Development Officer for Football Federation Victoria and also acted as Technical Director of the Ballarat Red Devils club. He worked closely in this capacity with Shelley, then player/coach of the Red Devils, and the pair achieved great success in steering the club to its highest ever finish.
Smalley then headed to North Queensland to work with Northern Fury FC as General Manager/Technical Advisor and currently consults for a variety of national organisations, clubs, teams and players. The Korean and English football associations are just two of his partners.
He will officially assume his new role with Waitakere this month but has already been working with Shelley in assembling the first team squad and laying the foundations for a successful season.
For more on New Zealand football go to www.nzfootball.co.nz

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