Greg Yelverton: 'It's remarkable for our young people to walk out in front of 80,000 people in Naples, carrying the Irish flag.'

With the chances of ‘making it’ limited to those who are exceptionally talented, dedicated and/or fortunate, a domestic career, now matter how successful, will assuredly be short in both years and financial security. All the more reason why a decent education shouldn't remain exclusive from footballing ambitions.

On the brink of progressing into Cork City's senior side, Greg Yelverton received and accepted a football scholarship to the University of North Carolina. Also while in the US, he spent four years as Director of Coaching at FC Carolina Alliance, kick-starting an interest in coaching.

“It was a huge part in shaping my career. I was playing at a decent level here: in the Cork City U-21 team and training with the first team. It was a tough decision at the time of whether I'd go to college in the States or stay and try to break into the first team. The fact that I was going to get a degree was a big part in that decision.

"The set-up was fantastic and very professional. The coach was English and I was only probably one of the few internationals in that group. While I was there, I was encouraged to get my coaching badges in the States. After I graduated, I wasn't sure what I was doing. I was at the World University Games with the Irish team and my roommate Shane Carew was living in Charlotte, North Carolina.

"An opportunity came up at the club that he was working as Director of Football, so I applied for that role, got it and that helped me get a work visa. It put me in full-time coaching and benefitted me in the long term.”

On return from the US, Greg played League of Ireland football for Cobh Ramblers and Wexford Youths, but it was his Stateside education and coaching experience which led to further work opportunities off the pitch.

“We're not really a full-time league. We need to be progressing, but every year we seem to be having the same conversations, with teams dropping out. There's not a big industry here, but some clubs try to do the right thing. In rugby and GAA a lot of players go through third level and have a job on the side … That's something we probably need our players exposed to.

"Not to put all their eggs in one basket, trying to have a career here in Ireland. They need to have something else to fall back on and I think these League of Ireland clubs should link in with third level and try to create this holistic level that everyone speaks about. Education is so important, especially now with Brexit and players not going until they're 18.”

At 35, Yelverton was appointed as Irish Colleges and Universities Men's National Team Head Coach, then a new position, emanating from the CFAI and IUFU merging their representative sides into a single third level national outfit.

“Both universities and colleges had national sides, but it wasn't really funded and the games organised were very ad hoc. Some very good people on the third level committees came up with the plan, but the FAI's National Co-ordinator Mark Scanlon pushed the agenda as well.



"Once both affiliates brought together one national team, the FAI brought it under their umbrella of capping the players and bringing it under High Performance. That was a huge step because it then became a pathway for players, similar to what the schools do. There are quite a few League of Ireland players at third level and you'd have a strong group if you got them all together.”

No stranger to the World University Games, in the summer of 2019 the Cork native led the Ireland Men's side in Naples, bowing out at the quarter-final stage to Russia.

“This tournament is similar to the Olympics and exposes Irish players to different systems and playing styles from South America and Asia, for example. These tournaments help guys to come back as better players. I've never heard anyone come back and say that they didn't enjoy it.

"It's remarkable for our young people to walk out in front of 80,000 people in Naples, carrying the Irish flag. I've been to four tournaments: one as a player and three as a coach and to represent your country is a huge honour.”

In addition to the aforementioned role, Greg also currently juggles his time between the positions of University College Cork Soccer Development Officer, FAI Football Facilitator and Cork City Academy U-13s Head Coach. Despite this heavy workload, he's quick to acknowledge how difficult it can be for Irish coaches to eke out a fruitful career without emigrating.

“At the moment I don't see any improvements. Coach education is quite good in this country, but from an industry point of view, there aren't many full-time jobs. There's more of an industry in America, for example because there are only a limited number of academies here.



"A lot of coaches are voluntary and doing it for free. The time and effort put in by some great coaches here doesn't get rewarded. We need to build an industry, get FAI and/or government funding and more collaboration between grassroots clubs. It can get disillusioning trying to get all these affiliates to come together, but at the moment I don't see it. I don't mean to be negative, but that's the way it is.”

    About Dan Lucey

    Dan Lucey is an interviewer for extraTime.com. He has penned articles for both Cork City and Luton Town’s official programmes.

    Dan has written numerous interviews and was a regular attendee at League … View Full Profile