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Spanish armada to take over at Armagh



A Spanish football invasion is on its way to Armagh.
Championship club Armagh City have tied in to a long term deal with a Barcelona-based coaching academy which will see Brazilian and Spanish players and coaches at Holm Park.

The club have appointed Brazilian Thiago Denardin and his assistant Luis Fernando to take over all football duties from Ivor McGucken and in Tuesday night's Mid-Ulster Cup defeat by Annagh United, gave two young Brazilians a run out.

Armagh officials have been in talks for some time with the Marcet Foundation formed by former Real Madrid, Barcelona and Espanyol player Javier Marcet.

Renowned for his technical prowess, he was known as the 'Teacher' and took his technical skills to Marcet academies throughout the world.

There are no costs involved for City as the players who arrive in the Cathedral City will be paid for and kept by the Foundation, which is now run by Javier's son.

Nine players are expected to join Armagh in the coming weeks and already two have. A few players have already arrived and two have gained international clearance through the Irish FA.

Club secretary and vice-chairman John Hynds spent part of February in Spain with his 13-year-old son Christopher and was very impressed.

"We had a ball and so far they have delivered on everything they have promised. We see the whole programme being very beneficial to Armagh City and with the influx of overseas players combining with our current squad, we stand a chance of avoiding relegation to Championship 2 with 12 matches still to go."

City have not won a league fixture this season but it is the long term future which concerns the club which has struggled financially to keep players on board while at the same time, having a flourishing youth development programme.

"The owner of the Marcet Foundation sent his two daughters to Armagh Royal to learn English and then his son followed," continued John.

"The boy joined his local friends at our coaching programme and one day his father arrived to pick him up and we got chatting.

"There were a few raised eyebrows when he said he owned a foundation in Barcelona and then invited us over. It has all developed from that."

Committee member Aidan Murphy has described the link-up as a working partnership covering a period between six and 10 years.

"It is exciting and not mesmeric in the sense that we have weighed up the pros and cons. The club members have backed the programme and as far as running the club is concerned, everything stays as it is. There is no change in that and I think it is a case of them needing us as much as we need them," said Aidan.

"The big thing for them is giving their players the chance to develop their English and to experience the different nature of the British game.

"The players will be living in rented accommodation, paid for by the foundation and they will train and coach on a full-time basis. Technically the players are very good and they should be effective in helping us to bring our own youngsters through as we seek to build for the future."

City have found the going tough in the Championship since losing senior status with the advent of the 12-team Premiership.

However, there appears, now, to be a silver lining to their cloud.