Dundalk coach Vinny Perth and Robbie Keane among those enrolled on the latest UEFA Pro Licence course

Dundalk coach Vinny Perth and former Republic of Ireland internationals Robbie Keane and Damien Duff are among those undertaking the new UEFA Pro Licence course with the FAI.

Keith Andrews will also pursue the accolade alongside former St Patrick’s Athletic caretaker boss Ger O’Brien and current Longford Town manager Neale Fenn.

Former All-Ireland-winning coach with Donegal Jim McGuinness, who recently accepted his first head coach role with Charlottesville City in the US, is also enrolled on the 18-month course.

John Cotter, assistant to John Caulfield at Cork City, and Paul Hegarty, the Finn Harps number two, will also be seeking to make their mark in the coming year.

Former Shelbourne and Dundalk man Dave Rogers and former Shamrock Rovers captain Stephen Rice have also been confirmed on the list of applicants for the course by the FAI.

Among those travelling to Ireland to take part in the course are Szilard Suto, who coaches in Hungary with Diosgyori VTK, and Iceland-based Serbian coach Srdjan Tufegdzic.

FAI High Performance Director Ruud Dokter noted his excitement in being able to work with this new raft of candidates looking for the UEFA Pro License.

"This will be our sixth group at Pro Licence level, and it includes candidates from various backgrounds, including various former international players, coaches excelling in the SSE Airtricity League, and others who are making an impact further afield in places like the United States.

"The FAI has placed a strong emphasis on coach education and development - under the guidance of Niall O'Regan - and previous graduates from this course, which is the highest level in Europe, have been able to progress in their respective careers. I look forward to working with this new group."

FAI Coach Education manager Niall O'Regan added: "We are delighted to announce the group entering the 2019-2020 UEFA Pro Licence.

“After the success of the previous courses and, most recently the course which finished in 2018, it is great to see the coaches all actively working and putting their learnings into practice," said O'Regan.

"For us to have so many graduates working in the SSE Airtricity League is a real success of the programme, while many others are involved with the international teams which is a credit to each of the coaches.

"It is fantastic to welcome a coach from the Icelandic League, who we are happy to assist. The course will see the coaches challenged on all aspects of the game and we look forward to working towards graduating the group and increasing our number of Pro Licence holders to 96 by 2020."