International call up for Northumbria lecturer

Northumbria University lecturer Andy Coyles has been appointed as the Head Coach for the English Universities Men’s National Football Team.

Andy, who teaches within the department of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation, led the English Universities Team at the Home Nations Tournament on the 10th – 13th April 2017 in Edinburgh. 

The English Universities programme seeks to develop talented individuals and selects top athletes from universities across the country to make up a National squad to represent England in the Home Nations tournament.

With close to 200 of the best footballers in the English Higher Education sector, Andy finalised a 16-man squad, ready for competition against Scotland and Wales. 

 In addition to his work at Northumbria, Andy has been heavily involved working within high performance environments, having coached at three of the leading Premier League football academies. Prior to relocating to the North East, Andy's most recent club was Stoke City FC, working with their Under 16's.

Having coached young elite footballers at academy level over a ten-year period, Andy has nurtured the best young talent in Manchester, Stoke-on-Trent and the surrounding areas, while also recruiting the best young players.

Andy said: “I was delighted to be appointed as the Head Coach for the England University side. To represent your country at any level is an honour and an absolute privilege. Within my role, I will be working with a number of talented individuals who will be looking to showcase their talents at International level. Since my appointment, the squad has begun to forge a real togetherness and there is a positive atmosphere both on and off the field.”

Prior to Andy’s appointment at Northumbria, he was the area lead in Exercise and Sports Coaching at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU). 

Alongside Andy’s teaching commitments at MMU, he had huge amounts of success in all BUCS competitions as the Head Coach for their men’s footballing side, working with players over a nine-year period. Over those nine seasons, the team achieved five league titles and were winners in three National finals.  

His primary responsibilities at Northumbria include teaching on the BSc programme in Sport Coaching, with further teaching and research interests lying predominantly within coach education, coaching behaviours, sports pedagogy and social integration of sports students.

Andy is a keen sportsman alongside his academic duties and has played football semi-professionally for Workington AFC prior to taking up a number of coaching roles.