A new chapter for Jamaica’s football was confirmed on Thursday as new Reggae Boyz Head Coach, Stephen McClaren, was officially introduced at the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) headquarters in Kingston.
McClaren was announced as the new Head Coach of the Jamaica Men’s Senior National team last week, replacing former head man Heimir Hallgrimsson, who has since taken up the position of Head Coach of Ireland.
The 63-year-old, who has 35 years of managerial experience with clubs like Middlesbrough, FC Twente with whom he won the Dutch Eredivisie in 2009-2010, Newcastle United and Manchester United who he left to take up this job.
The Fulford-born McClaren also has experience at the international level, serving in the roles of coach and assistant manager for England from 2000-2007.
He has signed on as Head Coach for Jamaica for the next 18 months, with his main objective being to lead the Caribbean Island nation to the 2026 FIFA World Cup to be hosted jointly by the USA, Canada and Mexico. Jamaica’s only previous trip to a World Cup was back in 1998.
“The moment I got on the plane to come over yesterday, through the airport, at the hotel and coming to meet the staff this morning, I’ve had a real warm welcome and a really good feeling about coming here and taking this job with the vision of the World Cup in 2026,” McClaren said at Thursday’s press conference.
McClaren first became aware of Jamaica during his stint as a technical expert for FIFA analyzing the FIFA ecosystem.
“I always knew that this country had unbelievable potential and talent because I was technical expert for FIFA for two years working on the ecosystem which really analyzed every country in the world. We analyzed 210 countries. I analyzed about 20 of which Jamaica was one of them,” he said.
“After doing the analysis and the report three years ago, Jamaica has always been in the back of my mind because it was the one country in which the potential and talent is here and there is such a lot to do. What I’ve seen over the last two years is unbelievable development. It’s my job now to take the baton and carry that on,” McClaren added.
One of the main questions posed to McClaren during Thursday’s proceeding was the fact that he left a club like Manchester United to come and coach Jamaica, a third world country.
McClaren insists that resources are not the main drivers to success of national teams.
“It’s not about resources. It’s about people, it’s about behaviors and it’s about standards. They are the three main things that will be targeted. We might not have the greatest resources but it’s the people, commitment, standards and behaviours that will make the difference that we are all here to work towards,” he said.
President of the JFF, Michael Ricketts, is excited for the future of the National Team under McClaren’s leadership.
“When you think of Mr. McClaren’s achievements as a coach, it gives us reason to feel extremely optimistic. The big picture here is the 2026 World Cup and coach will be charged with getting us there,” he said.
Chairman of the JFF Technical Committee, Rudolph Speid, commented about the process of hiring McClaren.
“We got people from all over the world but at the end of the day it was always going to be one coach. He literally ticked all the boxes,” he said.
“It was a no-brainer to choose him,” he added.
McClaren’s first assignment will be a CONCACAF Nations League clash with Cuba on September 6.