Shelbourne appoint former Republic of Ireland manager Noel King ahead of the 2021 season
As under-17 manager, King led Ireland to the final of Euro 2010 and the World Cup finals in Trinidad and Tobago with current internationals Megan Campbell, Rianna Jarrett and Denise O’Sullivan. Credit: Extratime Team (ETPhotos)
Shelbourne have announced the appointment former Republic of Ireland manager Noel King ahead of the 2021 Women’s National League season.
The Dubliner replaces Dave Bell, who stepped down this month following successive second-place finishes.
King, who was most recently in charge of the Ireland under-21 men’s team, was briefly caretaker manager of the senior men’s team following the sacking of Giovanni Trapattoni.
He was also the FAI’s Head of Player Idenitification during his tenure with the under-21s, charged with scouting eligible players across Ireland and the UK.
As under-17 manager, he led Ireland to the final of Euro 2010 and the World Cup finals in Trinidad and Tobago with current internationals Megan Campbell, Rianna Jarrett and Denise O’Sullivan.
“You’ve some good young players there, and an existing core of players whom I know from the U17 Championships and reaching the World Cup quarter final,” King told the 1895 Shels Podcast.
“It’s a good solid strong team but obviously the aim is to pull back Peamount and that’s going to be a difficult task. I’m really looking forward to it.
“There’s a lot of structures in place but sometimes the hardest step is to turn runners up into first place and that’s the challenge, to make that step.
“The club is steeped in the tradition of football so when you start thinking of men’s football, you think of Shelbourne and that’s the way it should be.
“Now when you think of women’s football in Ireland you can think of Shelbourne too.”
Shelbourne CEO David O’Connor added: “Noel is one of the most well respected and highly regarded football minds in Ireland.
“We are absolutely over the moon to be able to announce him as the manager of our Women’s National League team.
“Noel’s vast knowledge and experience of the game, at the very highest level, will provide us with a platform to continue to push our Women’s National League team to the top of the game.
“This announcement is a statement of intent from the club in relation to how seriously we actually support our female teams at the club.
“Often, the support for women’s and girls’ football can amount to little more than PR exercises but Shels have taken initiatives that show that the club is serious, including a complete reorganisation of the club to fully integrate the female operations.
“We are really looking forward to working with Noel in continuing to move forward in this direction.”
