Johnny McKinstry
Once the youngest manager in international football, the ex-Sierra Leone coach talks about management and youth development in Africa.
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“I’m not adverse to a challenge and new experiences. I’ve already coached on three continents, and a part of me thinks it would be nice to have been employed on all five continents.”
When you consider what a large percentage of the globe he has covered in the name of football, Johnny McKinstry is probably not the age you would think he would be. The experience of a man who’s been coaching for 30 years, combined with the ambition of a man just a couple of rungs up the career ladder, he isn’t even old enough to have reached a significant age milestone in his adult life. At just 29-years-old, the man from Lisburn, Northern Ireland is one of the younger names on the growing list of British managers to consistently try their hand at coaching abroad, driven by a desire to broaden his knowledge of the game and be the best coach he can be.
Now a household name amongst followers of African football, McKinstry’s made his name after being name manager of the Sierra Leone national team in April 2013, as he became the youngest manager to be managing in international football at the time. A surprise appointment by many, it was not for those who knew him before, following his role with the Craig Bellamy Foundation (CBF) near Freetown.
Spending time at the Right To Dream academy in Ghana whilst still at university – run by former Manchester United scout Tom Vernon –he was put in touch by Vernon when Right To Dream were hired as consultants to set up CBF. Liking what he saw, it was a challenge he could not turn down, as he became their first academy director.
“It was a blank canvas – an opportunity to make your mark on and influence the development. It was the first academy in Sierra Leone, so people said you could put ping-pong tables up and people would follow! Of course, it was a few years before we actually put up ping-pong tables…”
near Freetown.
Spending time at the Right To Dream academy in Ghana whilst still at university – run by former Manchester United scout Tom Vernon –he was put in touch by Vernon when Right To Dream were hired as consultants to set up CBF. Liking what he saw, it was a challenge he could not turn down, as he became their first academy director.
“It was a blank canvas – an opportunity to make your mark on and influence the development. It was the first academy in Sierra Leone, so people said you could put ping-pong tables up and people would follow! Of course, it was a few years before we actually put up ping-pong tables…”
Having left his job with New York Red Bulls to join CBF, it was a tough decision to leave New York, and make such a drastic lifestyle change. But CBF has gained an excellent reputation for the philosophy and the ethical vision through which it is run, prioritizing the overall development of the child, rather than an all-or-nothing attitude to the often unrealizable dream of footballing greatness, giving them a great shot at life no matter what path they end up on. Taking on boys between the ages of 11 and 16 initially, the academy is a registered international school in which they study for their international GCSEs, with scholarships in the UK and USA available based on academic performances.