Kevin McHugh would love to wind the clock back 20 years, but the former Finn Harps striker, in his role as the Head of Academy at Finn Park, hopes to give tomorrow’s players a chance he never had.
McHugh scored 186 goals in 438 appearances for Harps in two spells between 1998 and 2016 and is now overseeing the club’s development.
Last evening, at the academy offices in Stranorlar, McHugh outlined a revamp of sorts that will see Pól Mac Giolla Bhríde take over from McHugh as the club’s Under-15 manager. McHugh will take charge of the new Under-13 team with Conrad Clarke set to manage the Under-12 Development Squad.
“I would love to play now and how much an opportunity players have now,” McHugh said.
“You’re coming into a good level of coaching and playing at a good standard – that can only make you better.”
Harps revealed a new vision for the academy, which will have Development squads at Under-12, Under-14 and Under-16 levels, all feeding into the club’s League of Ireland teams at Under-13, Under-15 and Under-17 grade.
McHugh said: “A lot of work has been put into it, going as far back as October and November when we heard the Under-13s was coming in. We decided to tweak things here and there to keep more consistent players coming through.”
Listen to the full interview below …
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