Becky Sauerbrunn, Christine Sinclair, Lindsey Horan, and Tobin Heath. They are just four names that Richard Gunney has had the pleasure of working with at Portland Thorns.
Horan and Sauerbrunn have had the privilege of lifting Women’s football’s biggest prize, the FIFA Women’s World Cup, meanwhile, Tobin Heath, who plays for Manchester United Women, is a two-time Gold Medal winner after success in two consecutive Olympic games.
Away from the USA national team, Christine Sinclair, an Olympic medalist herself and a hall-of-famer in her home country of Canada.
All four players have been coached by perhaps the lesser familiar name of Richard Gunney, the Welshman who is looking to craft his name in the coaching game after crafting his trade both in his homeland and across the pond.
“It’s really enjoyable but also really challenging which is exactly what you want. I think in coaching you have to keep pushing yourself, it helps to work closely with players that have that quality and drive to push the boundaries to be the very best.
“When I got into coaching that’s exactly what I wanted to do and now I’m fortunate to do so, this is my fifth season in the league, and I’ve been lucky to coach a number of the top players in the world.”
Embed from Getty ImagesGurney’s footballing journey, like most, started by playing with friends of the playground at primary school before he joined local youth club Heol Hir Llanishen where he played for a number of years.
“I didn’t realise at the time that I was going to be looking for a career in football, I probably was hoping that I’d be able to play professionally in any sport,
“It was really University when I figured out that it was possible to pursue a career in sport. I went to university aiming to achieve that, but I didn’t know that it was going to be in coaching.”
It was whilst studying Sport and Exercise Science at Staffordshire University that Gunney enrolled in the first level FA Coaching course and began his coaching career.
“I had kind of the lightbulb moment, the tutor presented to us that there were opportunities to coach and work within in the game.
“It was just something that I found easier than anything else I worked on. It was something that I had a passion for and I found easy to relate to and work hard at.”
Following the end of his time at university, Gunney returned home to Cardiff in search of career opportunities. But, with not much available in the South Wales area he had to spread his wings and look further afield.
His journey took him down the M4 to Surrey where he worked for both the Surrey County Council and Surrey county Football Association.
“I was really fortunate that my first role was as a full-time coach. I was employed to go around the county working in schools and youth clubs and deliver football activities and other kinds of sporting activities.
Soon after arriving in South East England, Gunney got involved with Fulham FC as a part of their girl’s centre of excellence, where he would work for five years, eventually ending up as a technical director.
“I had some great years with Fulham,” he said.
“That was my first real experience of working with elite players, a number of those players are playing in the professional Women’s Leagues in the UK now and have represented England youth national team levels.”
Embed from Getty ImagesWhen the chance to return to Cardiff and work with the FAW Gunney couldn’t turn it down. He left his roles with Fulham and in Surrey to become a part of the Wales’ plan to develop Futsal – a five-a-side version of football played indoors with a heavier ball – across the country.
When the FAW announced the creation of the Wales Futsal team in late 2011, Gunney was hired as their first head coach. In their first game in September 2012, Wales lost 2-1 to the already established Andorra national team.
Four years later and Wales hosted the inaugural Futsal Home Championships in Cardiff, a chance to impress Welsh football bosses.
“It was the first tournament of its kind. I was quite heavily involved in tying that together and bringing the four nations together.
“I worked closely with Mark Evans at the international department. Mark was great during that period of time and offered to host the first tournament.”
Wales would go on to win the competition beating Scotland and Northern Ireland before their crowning 6-2 victory over England in their final game.
“Performance-wise we’d be progressing extremely well; we were competitive from the very first international game we played. It just took us a period of time to really learn and understand all the dynamics of the game.
“Bringing that team together and equipping them with the tools and preparing them for the demands of the game just took a bit of time. But it all came to fruition in our fifth year together in with the Home Nations.”
The squad that lifted the trophy in Cardiff was littered with players familiar to fans of the Cymru Premier and the Cymru North and South leagues.
Cymru Premier regulars Naim Arsan and Chris Hugh – who captained the team – were joined by Tyrell Webbe and Jamal Easter among others.
“The story of the players is generally that they’d been in involved with academies, Cardiff City, most of them had been released from professional clubs. So, they all had a good grounding and a good base in terms of their development as players.
“A few of them were playing in the Welsh Premier League at the time. Chris and Naim are probably the most notable because of how much they’ve played in the league.”
Embed from Getty ImagesGiven the nature of Futsal being less popular with the Welsh people the national team would only meet up a handful of times a year for matches and training camps. After six years in his role with Wales Gunney sought after a full-time coaching role with a professional team.
An opportunity presented itself 5,000 miles away from his home in Cardiff. In 2016, he moved to the Stateside to become a coach with National Women’s Soccer League side Portland Thorns.
Gunney explains how the move came about: “I was on my UEFA A licence course, back in 2010, and I worked closely with a couple of coaches, one of them was Mark Parsons, the head coach of the Portland Thorns. We kept a close connection and a close friendship.
“In 2016 an opportunity came up for me to work with the youth club which I undertook but my aim was to workday today with an elite professional team. So Mark asked me to come out here and join the team.”
Despite an upward movement in the coaching world, Gunney admits it wasn’t easy leaving his role as head coach of the Wales Futsal team: “It was tough to leave the Futsal team, but I thought it was a great chance for me to broaden my horizons.
“I think it really enhanced my knowledge and ability to work in football, I’ll definitely draw upon those experiences for the rest of my career.”
In his first season in America, the Thorns won the NWSL Play-Offs. After finishing second in the league standings, missing out on the NWSL shield to North Carolina Courage by two points, they enacted their revenge in the Play Off final, beating North Carolina 1-0.
In the two proper seasons since the Thorns and the Courage have battled it out for supremacy in the NWSL with the North Carolinian side claiming the 2018 and 2019 NWSL Championships before coronavirus halted the 2020 season.
Portland got off to a great start to this season. They won the Challenge Cup in April-May, beating Gotham FC in the final 6-5 on penalties. They took that win into the opening game of the season against Chicago Red Stars who they beat 5-0, scoring four goals in the opening 30 minutes.
“We’re in a really strong position, we’ve had a long pre-season because of the pandemic and for other reasons, the structure of the season has been adapted which has given us a lot of time to work together.
“The group is collectively a really strong group. Individually, the players are developing extremely well and progressing really well. This has been brewing for a while. We performed well in the challenge up but we still felt we could improve a little because we weren’t firing on all cylinders. “
Embed from Getty ImagesIt all came together in their opening game against Chicago Red Stars with a 5-0 win. Their firepower was on show in the first half as they went 3-0 up in the opening half-hour.
However, they have since fallen to two successive 2-1 defeats including one over Jess Fishlock’s OL Reign in the Cascadia Derby.
Over the past few years, the number of Welsh players and coaches in the NWSL has grown. Alongside Gunney and Fishlock, Angharad James has signed with North Carolina Courage and Huw Williams is the head coach at Kansas City.
“It’s great,” said Gunney. “I think that until a few years ago in terms of football we were always seen as a smaller nation. The 2016 European Championship got us on the map and now hopefully the women’s team can get over that hurdle and qualify for a major tournament.
“Jess has been in the league for a number of years and has had a stellar career. She’s really highly regarded out here.
“She’s got a huge reputation as one of the most dominant players in the league. It’s great to see her flying the flag.
“I’m also really looking forward to seeing how Angharad does out here. North Carolina is a fierce rival of ours. It’s been a real tussle with them for the last couple of years.
“It’s great to see that Huw’s re-emerged in Kansas and is leading the charge over there. There are a growing number of Welsh players and coaches involved in the league. I’m sure there are opportunities for a few more players here too.
Last month Gunney’s long-term friend and colleague Mark Parsons was announced as the new head coach of the Dutch national team. He will depart the Thorns and replace England-bound Sarina Weigman at the end of the season.
Going forward Gunney is hoping to land a full-time role as a head coach as he continues his coaching career. “The dynamics of the game is that you never know exactly what opportunities are going to arise and present themselves.
“I think in terms of moving forward, I think I have a huge wealth of experiencing a skill set to really make a huge impact and make a big difference.
“I’d love to make a contribution to Wales again, in the future. I’d never rule it out if the time is right, and the opportunity is right.”
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