INTERNATIONAL SOCCER: BRIAN KERR made no secret of his desire to return to international management and a two-and-a-half year contract with the Faroe Islands sees him back competing with the likes of France and Serbia, albeit with severely limited resources.
After drawing with Austria and losing their three other opening World Cup Group Seven qualifiers, the Faroe Islands’ next competitive outing is at home in Torshavn against the Serbians on June 10th, a match that marks the 56-year-old Dubliner’s return to the international arena.
The position not only encompasses the national team but that of general overseer of Fifa’s 185th-ranked football nation. This provides an opportunity for Kerr to work again in youth development, the area in which he carved out a highly-respected reputation before an ultimately unsuccessful stint as senior Republic of Ireland manager between January 2003 and October 2005.
“I’ve given this a lot of thought and international football is what I want to be involved in,” said Kerr yesterday. “I didn’t want to go back into coaching at club level or in the League of Ireland.
“I just feel this is the right move. Sure, it will be a difficult challenge with a small pool of players but the chance to develop the underage structures was what attracted me.
“I am taking on a wider role with the Faroe Islands and it will not be easy to get respectable results. The main attraction is it’s an international job relatively near Ireland.”
There are no direct flights from Dublin, rather a change-over in Copenhagen or London during the summer months. Believed to be on an annual salary of almost €200,000, Kerr will spend much of his time in Torshavn, in what he surely identifies as a stepping stone to a higher-profile international position after the European Championship qualification campaign ends in November 2011.
He recently completed his Fifa pro licence after serving another spell at St Patrick’s Athletic as director of football alongside manager John McDonnell until last May.
He at least has prior experience of managing a team in the Faroe Islands having brought Ireland there during the 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign. “We beat them 2-0 both home and away, in difficult games against nearly all local players. Goalkeeper Gunnar Nielsen is at Wrexham, midfielder Claus Jorgensen is with Blackpool, while another four players are in the Danish lower leagues so I will be focusing on the semi-professional domestic competition and youth development.
At least Kerr is aware of the massive task he is undertaking: “I’ve spent 10 years in international football and I’m aware what is necessary to lay the foundations at youth level. They beat Iceland in a friendly recently and the draw with Austria (1-1, last October) shows potential. “I intend to help an association badly handicapped by a lack of grass pitches. Nearly all the local league matches are played on all-weather pitches. It rains 260 days of the year and the temperature is rarely over 10 degrees but it is an extraordinary place with natural, unspoiled qualities.”
It also has a population of just 50,000 and a tiny player pool compared to the countries they will be competing with. “It will be a very interesting and difficult challenge, but one I look forward to,” continued Kerr. “I have been extremely impressed with the ambition and enthusiasm shown by everyone at the Faroese FA, and other key figures I have met who are involved in the development of the game there.
“Serbia are first up in June before another home tie against France. That’s what I want; to be back competing with the best coaches in Europe.”
The position came about after an agent put him in touch with the general secretary of the Faroe Islands FA, Isaac Mikladal, who was impressed by Kerr’s international underage record that includes a bronze medal at the 1997 World Youth championships followed by European titles at under-16 and under-18 levels in 1998.
Rough Guide to Faroe Islands
BRIAN KERR’S decision to take over as manager of the Faroe Islands football team makes him something of a big fish in a rather small pond. In total, the islands have a population of 50,000 – roughly equivalent to that of Co Carlow while Torshavn, billed as the smallest capital city in the world, is, with 12,500 residents, about the size of Longford town, reports Emmet Malone.
The islands, though, are wild and beautiful while the town is quirky and picturesque. Its “capital” status brings considerable advantages with the consulates of Nordic countries, offices of major foreign (mainly Danish companies) and government departments supporting an array of upmarket restaurants, bars, etc that would struggle to survive in their absence.
Farming and fishing are still important to island life but the weather is critical to everyone, with local and international travel regularly hit by adverse conditions.
When the Republic of Ireland played there in 2005 about half the fans who had intended to travel for the game never made it with most watching it on TV wherever they were due to make connecting flights.
Klaksvík is the next biggest town with around 4,700 inhabitants – and the country’s 10-team premier league is less concentrated on its capital than Ireland’s. A glance at a list of its population centres reveals, however, that many fall well short of being able to field a team with Nesvík, like Mjørkadalur, having an official population of just one.
The national team have just one point from four games in the current campaign but have conceded just five goals after meetings with Serbia, Austria (draw), Romania and Lithuania. The Serbs come visiting in June with the French due back in August.
