Candystripes fail to end their home campaign on a high note
ty players to Lakeview Park such as scanning the teams in the old Ireland’s Saturday Night newspaper to see which influential stars had been left out before making his move. His first B Division title, courtesy of a final match victory over RUC, as they were called then, remains one of his favourite moments.
Wylie largely relished his spell as boss of Newry from 2000 to 2002. Next up was a coaching job under Marty Quinn at Coleraine during which time the Bannsiders won the Irish Cup in 2003.
“That was a brilliant team and working with Marty Quinn was a great experience,” says Wylie, whose recollect of players, games and results from the past is staggering.
“Marty did the team talks and let me get on with the coaching. I loved him and the players.”
After being in charge of Glenavon for a short, testing time, he took up a coaching role with David Jeffrey’s Linfield in 2004. He was there until the summer with current boss David Healy deciding he wanted to re-shape his backroom staff.
As a sign of appreciation for his efforts, Wylie received Linfield Life Membership.
“Linfield was an unbelievable club to work at. David Jeffrey, his assistant Brian McLaughlin and myself just clicked. David was superb with the man management, Brian had the organisational skills and I got on with the coaching. We also had fabulous players like Glenn Ferguson, Noel Bailie and many more, a good board and it just clicked.
“We won everything, the clean sweep, trebles, doubles, you name it and I like to think I played a part. It was high pressure too though. I remember in my first year at Windsor a fan shouted to David, ‘Hi Jeffrey, it’s time to go and take those two muppets with you’ referring to me and Brian.
“We were 2-0 up against Crusaders at the time! The demands of the club were and still are huge.
“When I left in the summer in fairness to David Healy I respected his decision because I had been away with the Northern Ireland women’s teams a lot but it was still very sad for me to go because I enjoyed my time there so much.”
Wylie has coached or managed at every level of international football for males and females for Northern Ireland except for the men’s senior side, so are women or men harder to manage?
“The girls will want to know why you are doing something and the rationale behind it,” he says. “They’ll ask, ‘Why are we passing from here or why are we running to there?’
“When I first got the job in women’s football I already had my Pro Licence and had managed in the Irish League but they didn’t care at the beginning what I was like as a coach.
“In my experience they weren’t bothered how much I knew until they knew how much I cared so you had to take more of a personal interest in the girls. Once they could see I was genuine, they would say, ‘By the way, he’s not a bad coach is he?’
“In a men’s changing room you can maybe say something and not worry about sensitivities as much.
“I have had some fabulous players in the women’s game and I think I am the only person to have given one international, in Julie Nelson, all 100 of her caps.
“When you coach the Northern Ireland women’s team you aren’t going to win medals so it is the job satisfaction and knowing you have made your best efforts to improve players, especially exciting young players that are coming through now. For me, coaching both men and women has been rewarding.” What’s next for Alfie?
“I have no intention to retire. I want to keep developing women’s football and I love doing coach education as well, helping to develop and mentor young coaches,” he says.
“I guess I just like helping people be the best they can be. I was honoured to be given Linfield Life Membership lately and sent a letter to the board to thank them.
“In it I wrote, ‘Some day you will only be a memory for someone…make sure it is a good one’. I hope I have been a good memory for people over the years.” DERRY City’s final home match of the season — their first campaign back at the Brandywell — ended with their fifth successive home defeat as Cork City comfortably collected the points.
It was a bleak night all round for Derry, who again could not rouse themselves to challenge Cork.
It did not take Cork long to break the deadlock and it came courtesy of something the Brandywell fans have seen time and time again — a sumptuous left-footed finish from former Candystripes star Barry McNamee.
The goal owed everything to a surging run through midfield from Garry Buckley after a Derry attack broke down. The Cork man ran 40 yards before finding McNamee, who simply strolled into the area and casually curled the ball past Gerard Doherty.
Any hope the Candystripes had of making a game of it in the second half ended before some players had even touched the ball as Kieran Sadlier’s corner kick was punched into his own net by Doherty, who got his bearings all wrong.
Derry were slow in rousing themselves after that unexpected blow but they very nearly pulled one back on 57 minutes when Ben Fisk’s lay-off was hit first time by Aaron McEneff, forcing a good save from Cork goalkeeper Peter Cherrie, who had to grab the ball at the second attempt with Ronan Hale closing in looking for a rebound.
The final say of the evening went to Cork substitute Shane Daly-Butz, who scored within seconds of arriving on the pitch.
His piledriver from the right caught out Derry goalkeeper Doherty, who was off his line, three minutes from time to put the icing on Cork’s victory.
DERRY CITY: Doherty, Toal, Cole, McHattie, McDonagh, Rory Hale, Low (Shiels, 48 mins), McEneff (McNamee, 83 mins), Fisk (Delap, 76 mins), Ronan Hale, Roy.
CORK CITY: Cherrie, Barry, Morrissey, Keohane, Cummins (Murphy, 80 mins), Sadlier, Delaney, McCarthy, McNamee, Buckley (Daly-Butz, 85 mins), Hurley (Griffin, 63 mins).
The pathway we are producing for NI female players to make a career in the game is great