Head coach Ernie Merrick is delighted that Paul Temple has agreed to take on the role of head coach at the Wellington Phoenix Football Academy. IMAGE: Getty Images
Temple, 33, comes to the Academy with an impressive cv working with young players and having coached at four Fifa World Cup tournaments for New Zealand Football.
The English-born coach who moved to New Zealand as an 18-year-old to play in the National League (now the ASB Championship) already knows some of the Phoenix Academy players having worked with the likes of Sarpreet Singh, Logan Rogerson and James McGarry while coaching the New Zealand under-17 national team.
Merrick said that Temple would be a major asset to the Phoenix Academy and he was looking forward to working with him.
“Paul has got a great cv and is very well qualified,” Merrick said.
“He also has the experience of working with New Zealand international teams and that will be a valuable asset at our Academy which is growing at a great rate.”
Temple said he was excited at the prospect of joining the Wellington Phoenix and working alongside Merrick, Chris Greenacre and Andy Hedge and felt it was a good career move for him.
“The obvious next step for me was to work in a professional environment and is something I’ve always wanted,” Temple, who is currently working with the North Shore club in Auckland, said.
“Working with the best young players in the country and with the other professional coaches is a great opportunity and will help me develop as a coach.
“I know the domestic players and have a pretty good handle on the best young players.
“There is a lot of exciting young talent in New Zealand and my job will be to help them achieve their ambitions.
“I love working with young players and seeing them progress when they apply themselves.
“It is a privilege to help shape their future because you are building them as a young man as well as a footballer.”
Temple said he was also looking forward to moulding players to play the style of football Merrick had brought to the Phoenix.
“That is important because it is a style that players enjoy,” he said.
Temple has coached at four Fifa World Cup tournaments.
He was the youngest ever Head coach at a Fifa World Cup event, male or female at age 26 in 2008.
Temple has a Uefa A Licence, the New Zealand Football Senior Level 3 and is a qualified Coach Educator for the Northern Football Federation.
