Lions FC is excited to announce the appointment of a new Club Technical Director in Martin Docherty for the 2021 season and beyond. Martin comes to Lions after an extremely successful period as Zone Director of Coaching with Football Brisbane and running their Football FUNdamentals program.
Martin is a qualified FFA/AFC A Licensed coach and an FFA Advanced Coach Instructor (AFC C Licenses) with certificates also in Football Conditioning and Goalkeeping. Martin will certainly help bring a well-rounded approach to our program.
Martin has also coached at NPL and representative level while he was in Cairns and was the FNQ Heat coach when they had a great run in the FFA Cup a number of years back.
Martin is excited by what the future holds and said “The National Premier League is entering another exciting phase and I feel now is a great time to be part of this with Lions FC. The opportunity to work closely with coaches on a daily basis and see them develop and grow was a major factor in me stepping back into a club environment.”
On reasons why Martin has come back to club football, he stated “Lions has a reputation of being an ambitious, progressive & organised club with strong family ties to the community. This is something that fits very well with me and my values.”
General Manager of Lions FC, Rob Scanlon said “Martin brings a different experience and skill set to the club to help take us to the next level. After interviewing a number of candidates and speaking with others in the Football community, Martin is certainly held in high esteem for his football knowledge and his ethics. I am excited to see Martin work his magic in our community space and work with our coaches to give them a better understanding of the game in both planning and implementing sessions whilst continuing the strong work in NPL”
Current Club Technical Director, John Sime will work alongside Martin to help in a cross over phase with a view to Martin taking the reins for the 2021 season. John will not be lost to the club and will be using his vast experience and knowledge to help assist coaches in a Coaching mentor position in the club. The effort and planning John has given the club over the past two and a half years has put us in a great place to move forward as a club.
John took over in a tricky period when we had just been accepted into the NPL and we had to play catch up with those already established. John has put a great coaching roster together this year and that will help Martin in his role moving forward.
Martin will start at the club on Monday 26th October.