New Zealand Football (NZF) have appointed Jonathan Gould as their Goalkeeping Development Manager.
The 52-year-old recently returned to Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand following a six-year coaching stint overseas with English clubs West Bromwich Albion, Middlesbrough, and most recently Preston North End.
His association with New Zealand runs deep and after briefly playing for the Napier City Rovers in 1989 before he embarked on a professional career in Europe, which included a six-year run at Scottish giants Celtic where he won two league titles.
He retired from playing professionally in 2005 and has made a successful move into coaching.
The former Scottish international has had two spells as the goalkeeping coach for the Wellington Phoenix in the A-League and was excited about his return to New Zealand.
“I’ve always had a love affair with New Zealand as a country so it’s great to have this opportunity,” he said.
“I’m now immersing myself across all levels of football like helping out with Napier City Rovers and Lindisfarne College to keep educating myself as well.”
Last year, OFC hosted its first OFC/NZF Goalkeeping C Licence coaching courses in Auckland and Christchurch led by OFC Goalkeeping Development Consultant and former All White James Bannatyne.
Gould was one of the presenters for the course, alongside Bannatyne, former All Whites goalkeeping coach Mark Oates, and OFC’s Head of Education and High Performance Owain Prosser.
Gould said he was impressed with the standard of coaches in New Zealand.
“There is a movement happening towards making sure that goalkeeping isn’t a secondary thought when it comes to development in our clubs,” he said.
“A lot of people have been waiting for more guidance, which is where I come in.
“The OFC Licences have proven that the goalkeeping pathway is crucial to our success as a Confederation and as a member of that.”
Former All Whites defender and current NZF Technical Director Andy Boyens was pleased to have Gould onboard.
“It’s fantastic to have someone of Jonathan’s quality and experience to lead the development of goalkeeping in New Zealand,” Boyens said.
“Thanks to OFC for their ongoing support of football development in Aotearoa New Zealand and across the Oceania region.”
Bannatyne said collaboration was a key focus for his network of coaches.
“I’ve got contacts at NZF to drive the overall development of goalkeeping across Oceania,” Bannatyne said.
“Our goalkeepers and coaches are fortunate to have Gould share his knowledge and experience to improve this vital position in football.
“We also have goalkeeper coach Ruben Parker working with the NZF Future Ferns Development Programme and New Zealand’s U-17 men’s team.
“Ruben recently received the OFC/NZF Goalkeeping C Licence award and has a bright future with goalkeeping development in New Zealand and Oceania.”
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