Football Coaches Australia (FCA) has strongly endorsed Football Australia’s appointment of Ernie Merrick OAM as (the inaugural) Chief Football Officer.
FCA – Australia’s national Association for supporting qualified coaches at professional, semi-professional and community levels – welcomed the news, having witnessed first-hand the outstanding work the former premiership and championship-winning A-League Men’s coach has contributed as an FCA Ambassador over the past 12 months.
FCA acknowledged the privilege and an honour of having Ernie as an FCA Ambassador and wished him all the success in his new role – a critical one for taking the game in Australia to new heights, coming in at a time of unprecedented opportunity for our code.
The representative body for football coaches in Australia noted Ernie’s leadership and ability to bring people together and simplify the complex as standout traits during his time with FCA, further adding that these attributes were no doubt major contributing factors to his successful tenure as Chief Football Officer at FA.
Ernie was also a part of the FCA Technical Committee and delivered online and face-to-face professional development workshops to aspiring coaches.
FCA looks forward to working with him at Football Australia to advance Advocacy, Professional development, Equity and Well-being on behalf of coaches.
Phil Moss, Football Coaches Australia President, stated:
“This is a brilliant appointment on so many levels for Australian football and we applaud FA CEO James Johnston, his executive leadership team and the board for returning a football person of Ernie’s experience, expertise and standing in the game – and Australian sport more broadly – to a position of real influence.
“Ernie’s coaching, mentoring and leadership CV speaks for itself and the work he has done as an FCA ambassador has been outstanding. His willingness to engage with coaches and stakeholders to share his knowledge has benefitted so many with a passion for Australian football that is second to none.
“We couldn’t be happier for Ernie on his appointment to this new and exciting role.
“We genuinely and collectively thank Ernie for his significant contribution to our organization and look forward to working closely with him to ensure coaches continue to be enabled to play a key part in taking the game forward.”
Since FCA’s inception, the organisation have always sought to elevate a ‘coaches voice’ to FIFA and Football Australia’s decision-making levels. FCA founder(s) and former board members and Ambassadors have transitioned into roles at FIFA (James Kitching and Belinda Wilson) and Football Australia (Heather Garriock, Ron Smith and now Ernie Merrick).
